Khabib Nurmagomedov's river training video was NOT impressive ... so says UFC stud Kevin Lee, who tells TMZ Sports "It looked like the man was drowning!"
"It looked like he was fighting for his life," Lee says.
If you missed it ... Khabib damn-near broke the internet after footage of him swimming upstream in a freezing cold river in Dagestan was posted online.
The vid was seriously insane ... but Lee -- who absolutely wants to tear Khabib's face off -- said it all looked like a joke to him.
"To me, it seemed gimmicky," Lee says. "That s**t don't do nothing for me."
Lee says he's ready to prove Khabib is a farce by stepping into the Octagon with the champ ... and he tells us he feels he should be the next one to get a crack at The Eagle after his fight with Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244 this weekend.
"I've been gunning after Khabib for years and years and years," Lee says, "And, I feel like I got the right style."
The bad news for Lee? He admits his training partner and buddy, Georges St. Pierre, is also a great candidate to have dibs next on Khabib.
But, if Lee does get the scrap, he says Nurmagomedov better watch out ... saying, "He's going to have to fight for his life if we ever step into the cage."