Mo Lawal faces Ryan Bader in the fourth quarter-final of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix here at the SAP Center Saturday night - and the venue known as 'the Shark Tank' will be humming to the noise of a blistering battle. The most well-matched pairing in the first stage of the tournament sees them neck and neck in the odds, and few can split the two protagonists. Lawal lost the phoney war on Wednesday, in a sandwich making competition against his rival, but insisted that when it comes to delivering, Bader "will be eating a knuckle sandwich" as the bell sounds to announce fight time in the main event.

Lawal is as fascinating a character as his fighting style, and spoke to Telegraph Sport exclusively about the heavyweight tournament so far, his fight with Bader, and how race can be an issue in MMA ...

So Mo, what have you made of the first three rounds of the tournament so far?

“Big guys zero, small guys three.”

Talk me through them? Sonnen vs Rampage?

“I saw a big slow man get beat and get outworked by a guy who is smaller with better skills.”

Mitrione bigger than Roy?

“I think Roy’s heavier, but really what it came down to it was it needed an extra round. It was even after three rounds. I thought it was a draw.”