Of all the opponents Ryan Bader expected to face in the Bellator heavyweight grand prix, a fellow light heavyweight wasn’t high on the list. When the Bellator champion signed up for the eight-man tournament, he imagined locking horns against guys with 20 extra pounds to give. Instead, Bader (24-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) is fighting Muhammed Lawal (21-6 MMA, 10-4 BMMA), a career light heavyweight whose previous trips to the big-man division have been motivated more by money than glory. The true heavyweights are in other matchups. “He’s actually the smallest guy I’ve ever fought in a heavyweight tournament,” Bader told MMAjunkie during a recent media appearance promoting his fight with “King Mo,” which takes place May 12 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
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