Kevin Lee is really trying to lure Nate Diaz into a fight.
On Thursday, top-five UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee sent out a tweet to Dana White and Sean Shelby calling for a fight with Nate Diaz.
@danawhite @seanshelby if y’all really want @NateDiaz209 to fight you know who to come to
— Kevin MTP Lee (@MoTownPhenom) May 3, 2018
‘The Motown Phenom’ also gave an interview with Miesha Tate and Sean O’Connell on Sirius XM’s MMA Tonight and said that, after his five-round thrashing of Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 128, he’s turned his crosshairs on Diaz and hopes to fight the Californian at UFC 227 on Aug. 4.
According to Lee, Diaz has ‘already run away’ from him in the past and turned down the opportunity to fight.
“I’m turning my focus to Nate,” Lee said on MMA Tonight, per MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn. “I think that Nate fight is out there to be had. He’s already run away from me once. Now they’ve got Aug. 4 coming up that he’s looking to get on.”
“I’m turning my focus to Nate … I think the Khabib fight is the right one to make but the Nate fight is out there to be had.” — @MoTownPhenom to @MieshaTate & @realOCsports on who he wants next. pic.twitter.com/HRZddbq9NR
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) May 3, 2018
Lee’s efforts to lure the younger Diaz brother back into the Octagon might be in vain, however, as UFC head promoter White said the former lightweight title challenger has no interest in returning to the UFC and turns down every fight they offer him.
Earlier this year, Diaz himself teased at a return in May or June, but the 33-year-old hasn’t given any updates on his timeline or revealed an interest in fighting anyone not named Conor McGregor. Diaz hasn’t fought since August 2016, when he dropped a majority decision to McGregor in the pay-per-view smashing rematch at UFC 202.