From faded giants to celebrity trash talkers and legendary names, the first round matches that kicked off Bellator MMA's World Grand Prix tournament in January have featured a little bit of everything. One thing the tournament -- designed to fill the promotion's vacant heavyweight championship -- hasn't featured much of, however, is competitors either in or all that close to their fighting primes.
That's expected to change on Saturday when light heavyweights Ryan Bader and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal move up in weight to face off in the main event of Bellator 199 (9 p.m. ET, Paramount Network) at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
Bader (24-5), a veteran of 20 UFC fights, has come into his own since signing with Bellator in 2017. In his promotional debut last July, he captured the light heavyweight championship by outpointing Phil Davis and, at age 34, believes he has entered the best stretch of his career.
Lawal (21-6, 1 NC), meanwhile, might give the appearance that his best days are behind him considering he's 37 and best known for winning the Strikeforce light heavyweight title in 2010. But after pulling out of two fights in 2017 and undergoing a procedure called Birmingham Hip Resurfacing, Lawal claims he feels healthier and younger than ever.
"I had a hip issue because I didn't know what was wrong with my hip so I just never cared," Lawal told CBS Sports' "In This Corner" podcast on Tuesday. "I was like, 'You know what? Everyone has nagging injuries.' Well, come to find out, it was bone on bone on my hip. I went and got it fixed.
"It's different because I am actually pain free. When I fought Quinton ['Rampage' Jackson in March 2017], if you watch when I walk back to my corner between rounds, I was limping. I have been limping for about 7-8 years but I have been hiding it. I couldn't jog before or even jump, but now I could do all that."
If there's an edge in terms of heavyweight experience, it goes to Lawal, who is 6-1. Both fighters should benefit from not having to cut weight. The physical differences also appear to cancel each other out considering Bader has a three-inch height advantage but Lawal holds the edge in reach by five inches. Bader, who walks around at 230 pounds, also pointed out that the fight's three-round distance gives him the opportunity to go hard without needing to conserve.
When asked what ultimately separates the two fighters, Bader points to recent competition and durability. While he is 10-1 since 2013, fighting nothing but top 10-caliber opponents in UFC and Bellator, he wasn't able to say the same thing for Lawal's resume.
"I could be totally wrong, and it's no disrespect to Mo whatsoever, but I just feel like we are at different times and different eras in our career," Bader told CBS Sports. "I feel like I'm just getting into my absolute prime. I still train two or three times a day and my body is feeling great where he hasn't fought in a year."
Bader, who was supposed to debut against Lawal last June until injury forced "King Mo" to withdraw, went on to edge Davis and defend his title by TKO against Linton Vassell five months later.
"I don't know if his body can't hold up or whatever," Bader said. "I'm just looking at it from my opinion. His body, from competing at the highest levels in wrestling and all the fights he has had, your body starts to wear down a little bit, especially at that age, and he can't put in the work in the training camp like he's used to and like he needs to. He kind of also gets away from his wrestling because wrestling is going to get you tired and your arms are blowing up. I think that's in his head a little bit whereas I'm the total opposite.
"Where he is good at, I'm just as good at, if not better. I'm mentally there and I want this bad. I know walking into that cage that I've done everything I could possibly do in my training. I'm at the peak of my cardio where I think he is walking in the cage, does he know that he has it with his body? That's why I think we are at different points in my career."
Asking Lawal to retort Bader's statements brought out the dog in him to the point where he has openly predicted not just a knockout victory but that he will end Bader's career.
"He's talking about how I abandoned my wrestling. No, I get takedowns when I need to, I just like to strike," Lawal said. "He's a wrestler first because he's afraid to strike. That's why you see him shoot those long shots from far away. He's trying to be safe because he doesn't want to take no damage. He really doesn't want to fight, he wants to wrestle against the cage.
"One thing that is different between me and him is the heart. When he gets scared, he packs it in. Me, I go out there and fight regardless. I don't care. That's one thing I've proven. He's a bully, and if you are bigger than him, he'll quit. Ask Glover Teixeira and [Anthony] 'Rumble' Johnson."
Lawal, who was referencing Bader's two most recent defeats, both of which came by knockout in UFC, owns a collegiate wrestling victory over his opponent when he was a senior at Oklahoma State. Bader, who was a freshman at Arizona State, remembered that Lawal "whooped my ass. He's a great wrestler."
One thing Lawal, who brought out the pro wrestling side of his persona during Bellator's promotional pre-fight series (he performs occasionally with Impact Wrestling), is just about sick of doing is talking. He's ready to throw hands once the cage door is finally closed.
"All the talking is done, I'm going to put hands on him," Lawal said. "If he wants to shoot on me, I'm going to sprawl on him. If he wants to stay high on that stance, I'm going to take his ass down. Trust me, I'm going to expose him because there are so many holes I see. It's not going to be easy work but I'm going to make it look easy."
The winner of Saturday's bout will face Matt Mitrione, who outpointed Roy Nelson in February, in the semifinal round. On the other side of the bracket, Chael Sonnen will face Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko.
"You are fighting a true heavyweight when you face Mitrione, who moves well and has good striking," Bader said. "I definitely see weakness in him and his weaknesses are what I do great. And obviously Mo is a good wrestler and a good striker and is always tough. But I do well against other wrestlers if you look at my career. I feel good about it but every fight going forward is tough."
A war of words has recently developed between Mitrione, who called Lawal too small to defeat Bader, and Lawal, who said that Mitrione is next in line for an "ass beating" after he gets through with Saturday's fight. Mitrione told MMAjunkie.com this week that he believes Bader will come out on top.
"'Mo' needs to worry about Bader," Mitrione said. "'Mo is going to get the shit kicked out of him by Bader. If he wants to f—- with me, tell Mo to worry about his own ass. Tell Mo to delete that stupid f—-ing grill out of his mouth so you can understand what he f—- says. If he wants to come by, I'll shut that motherf—-er up with an ass-whooping as soon as I see his f—-ing ass. F—- him, f—- Roy Nelson and f—- that whole crew. Bader is going to whip his ass, so it's not even a thought anyway. F—- Mo."
