ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Kevin Lee believes his dominant performance over Edson Barboza in the UFC Fight Night 128 main event should put him at the front of the queue in the lightweight title picture.

Lee (17-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) earned a one-sided TKO over Barboza (19-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) in the fifth round of their FS1-televised bout on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

After falling short of the interim 155-pound belt against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216 in October, Lee rebounded with arguably his best performance to date. Assuming Conor McGregor doesn’t return to the UFC soon and with Ferguson recovering from knee surgery, the win puts Lee in the discussion to fight UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, alongside the likes of Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez. “The Motown Phenom” said he should skip ahead of everyone, though.

“Here’s the thing: Eddie was too fat to take a fight less than a month ago (at UFC 223),” Lee told MMAjunkie post-fight. “When you say something like that and you do that, your opportunity pass you by. The man already had his shot, and he lost it, and done lost it and lost it embarrassingly. It is what it is. He was too fat a while ago. If he want the work, he can get it. Dustin, if the folks want to see Dustin then they will, but I don’t feel like he raise as many question that really need to be answered.

“I feel like I bring a complete style to this game, and I can raise up a lot of questions that people want answers for, especially with people like Khabib. He can’t outwrestle me, he can’t outwork me, he can’t out-strike me. So we’re going to see what the better fight (is) and what the UFC really wants, because that’s what really matters.”

If Lee doesn’t get a title shot against Nurmagomedov (26-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) next, he said he’s willing to fight any of his fellow contenders next. From Poirier (23-5 MMA, 15-4 UFC) to Alvarez  (29-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) to Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC), Lee said he will take out anyone put before him. However, he thinks if the UFC wants to give Nurmagomedov his most problematic challenge, the organization should know who to call.

“Nate don’t really want to fight,” Lee said. “I told him, ‘Shut the (expletive) up or go back to riding bikes.’ A month later he posted a picture of him riding bikes, so I guess he already done gave me that W. We going to see how this whole thing shake out. We going to see what Conor’s doing, sitting on the sidelines or what he want, but I feel like Khabib is the next fight to be had.”

Although the impressiveness of Lee’s performance is hard to deny, he might be hurt by the fact he missed weight ahead of UFC Fight Night 128. The 25-year-old came in one pound over the contracted 156-pound limit, and while he admits he was disappointed by his shortcoming, he said he’s not going to allow the situation to spoil his achievement.

“It was frustrating,” Lee said. “Everything inside me wanted to clam up. I never missed weight before in my life. It was just a mistiming thing. I feel like if I would have had an extra 15 minutes, man, I would have had that down. But as soon as it happened, it happened. I’ve got to focus on the fight, I pushed forward, and that just goes to show the mental strength in it. We mistimed it a little. My personal scale was a little bit off from the official scale and, I mean, it’s just the fight game, that’s going to happen. A true champion got to keep pushing forward. It tested me more than I even expected.”

Lee’s victory over Barboza was close to flawless, but he made a near-fatal mistake in the third round when he got caught by a spinning kick from the Brazilian. Lee said the fact he was able to overcome adversity was further proof of his “champion” mindset. Overall, he was pleased with what he showcased inside the octagon.

“I feel pretty good,” Lee said. “I’m happy with it, never content. I’m always critical with myself. I even see some of the spots where we can clean up. But that’s just part of the game, it’s what keeps guys like me pushing and keep pushing forward in this sport and showing something new. I got in there, I got the time in, I used my experience, and I think real fighters and real fight fans saw it, and it showed through. I showed that I still got a lot of time on this sport.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 128, check out the UFC Events section of the site.