Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Bellator’s eight-man grand prix next year to decide a new heavyweight champion is the inclusion of four fighters who aren’t true heavyweights.

And of those four, perhaps nobody faces a size disadvantage quite like Muhammed Lawal.

At 5-foot-11 and a little more than 200 pounds, he’s small in comparison to the true heavyweights in the field. Could you imagine seeing “King Mo” vs. Roy Nelson, for instance?

Granted, Lawal has experience fighting in openweight tournaments in Japan and has the occasional heavyweight bout to his credit. That includes a unanimous-decision win earlier this year against Quinton Jackson, himself part of the Bellator grand prix field.

That might explain Lawal’s confidence when he spoke to MMAjunkie Radio about his inclusion in the tournament.

“If you think about it, stylistically I match up bad against all of them,” Lawal said. “I can wrestle. I’m long. Granted, I’m not that tall, but I got a long reach. I’m quicker, and I got a pretty good gas tank. …

“I think I’m going to give all those guys problems. I’ve never been muscle in a fight. It might happen this tournament. Who knows? But I’m going to find a way to make sure that don’t happen. I find ways to keep the fight to my strengths. That’s what I’m going to do.”

To hear more from “King Mo” on the Bellator heavyweight grand prix, check out the video above.

And for more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, visit the MMA Rumors section of the site.