British mixed martial artist Linton Vassell challenges Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in the rarified atmosphere of Penn State College, a renowned US sporting university, tomorrow night, and although the Milton Keynes fighter rarely indulges in trash talking, he compared his rival's arms to a Tyrannosaurus Rex when they measure up in wingspan.

Vassell, a 6ft 3ins tall, dangerous fighter on the feet and on the ground even offered himself as an opponent to Anthony Joshua, after the heavyweight boxing world champion intimated a few weeks ago that he has wondered about having an MMA fight.

"I just feel my grappling is going to be too much for Bader: my grip strength, and overall my power," Vassell told Telegraph Sport yesterday. "I've also got that range. He's got a 74 inch reach and I'm 82. It my eyes that makes him like a T-Rex. That's the best way I can explain it." That said, American Bader is a strong favorite with the bookmakers.

Bader, indeed, was mildly tickled by the comment and told The Telegraph: "I don't have any issue with his comments, in fact, the T-Rex was a pretty deadly animal." Hopefully, though, there will be no gnashing of teeth, and ear-biting...

Unlikely with these two, of course. But it looks like being a fine title fight at 205lbs. Both men were on weight yesterday, as indeed was every fighter on the Bellator 186 card. Vassell has pinned an amusing video of himself as the Hulk bearing up Bader ahead of this contest.

Vassell has been living and training in Florida for eighteen months. It has meant an array of brilliant wrestling trainers partners, often the Kryptonite of European fighters.

"These guys who I've been wrestling with are legit. Rumble (Anthony Johnson) is knocking every person out. Pat Cummins and Rashad Evans, their wrestling speaks for itself. I've been training with them for the last couple of years. They've mentioned to me... your ground (strength/worj) is on another level," explained Vassell, 34.

"That's coming from guys who have been doing it their whole life. I've just come over from England and just jumped into it. When those guys say I've got some great wrestling and they're egging me on and helping me, that definitely boost my confidence."

"If I had had the opportunity to come here to a College like this, what would I be like now?" mused Vassell, who worked as a bricklayer before taking the sport in his early twenties.

"I'm not blowing my own trumpet. I feel like my grappling is good as it is now. But I do feel that if I had that extra training in College doing the wrestling I think, what would I be like? I know I've got the tools to beat Bader on Friday. I don't have to be a wrestler to do that. I've just got the natural ability. I've been training for the last 11 years. I've put that work in. I'm definitely more than ready to show him what's up."

Ryan Bader defends light heavyweight crown against Linton Vassell credit: Lucas Noonan/Bellator

Bader took the title in a razor-tight contest against then champion Phil Davis at Madison Square Garden, New York, in June.

"To be honest, I think Davis should still be champion," said Vassell. "I don't think he lost the belt. If anything it should have been a draw. I wasn't impressed. Bader said in one of his interviews that he had to fight that way because Davis is a deadly grappler. But he's a grappler as well. He should be confident in his own ability to be able to stop takedowns and reverse and stuff like that. I wasn't impressed."

Vassell would like to see martial artists recognised more in the UK for their achievements. On a par with boxers.

"Boxing in England is big. Mixed martial arts isn't. I feel like I've been doing it longer but look at the name Anthony Joshua has already. He's getting all the right eyes on him, the right publicity. It's good for him. But I feel like he had a tough fight at the weekend, he got the win, but I feel it was an early stoppage."

"I'm not saying he wouldn't have won, but it was an early stoppage. I know the other guy had cuts and everything, and the ref might have stopped it because of that, but at least let the guy get knocked down. I feel that as fighters we don't want to let it get stopped by a cut," opined Friday's title challenger.

"There have been many more fighters who have gone on and looked worse, knocked down two or three times. Look at Klitschko and Joshua. They both went down. I don't feel like Takam got his just desserts. He didn't get his chance to shine and take Joshua into deep waters."

And in response to Joshua, the current IBF and WBA heavyweight champion, making public recently that he might have an MMA fight at some point in the future.

"Let's make it happen, Joshua. Let me kick him in those legs. I'd love that. If he's serious about it, hit me up – Linton Vassell vs. Anthony Joshua.. I'd kick him in those skinny legs of his and then I'd shoot, take him down and that would be it."

But he would not box Joshua. "No, I'm not stupid. I'm not saying I'm going to do boxing. I'm not saying I am a boxer. I've seen Conor McGregor and what happened with Floyd Mayweather. He's obviously the guy that did it. He did it for the money. I don't even think he thought he was going to win. Floyd went in there, played with him, winked at the camera and then put it on him."

"It's like me saying to my wrestling coach Greg Jones, that we're going to have a wrestling match. Greg would kill me. Now, if we say MMA, now I'd kill him. He's my coach, and everyone knows he's the best of the best. I'm not stupid to give him a wrestling match. You don't go into someone else's profession and think you can school them unless you get paid the money McGregor got paid."