SAN JOSE, Calif. – Ryan Bader quickly dispatched Muhammed Lawal to advance in the Bellator heavyweight grand prix, and now he realizes something.

“It gets real now,” Bader said. “It’s heavyweight.”

Bader (25-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), the promotion’s 205-pound champion, scored a stunning 15-knockout win over Lawal (21-7 MMA, 10-6 BMMA) in the Paramount-televised Bellator 199 main event at SAP Center. In doing so, Bader set up a semifinals matchup against Matt Mitrione to face the winner of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Chael Sonnen for the heavyweight title at the end of the year.

That’s a good thing and exactly where Bader wants to be. But as he noted, his win came against a traditional light heavyweight in “King Mo,” who even announced after the loss that he’s moving down to middleweight.

Matt Mitrione reacts to Ryan Bader's Bellator 199 win, sends warning ahead of semifinal

So the way Bader sees it, no disrespect to “King Mo,” but now is the time to really get to work.

“Now I have Mitrione, who’s a true heavyweight,” Bader said. “I’m actually stepping up into the heavyweight division now.”

“I’m going to have to bring some guys in to emulate that,” he continued. “I’ll gain a little bit of weight, but I’m going to keep what makes me good also. I’m going to be fast and in shape, and I’m looking forward to that fight.”

Bader’s performance was as stunning as it was dominant. He countered Lawal’s first jab with his own first punch, a big left hook that dropped him to the mat. All Bader had to do after that was pounce with ground-and-pound for the win.

Bader didn’t expect the encounter to end so quickly, but his coach did say that he had a feeling before the fight.

Ryan Bader def. Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 199: Best photos

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“My coach was saying, ‘I feel like there’s going to be a magic moment in this fight.’ And bam, it happened right then and there,” Bader said. “And I saw it. I could see everything. That’s where, when we talk about experience and everything, there comes a time in all sports where the game slows down. You can think in there.”

The result means Bader took no damage, which huge given that Bellator President Scott Coker announced the semifinals bout with Mitrione is expected to take place in September. Bader wasn’t thrilled about being the last of the quarterfinal bouts, so this ends up being a best-case scenario.

“For me, I like to have that back to back. It feels like I was just in there. The nerves are gone,” Bader said. “… It’s perfect. If I was in a three-round war, I’m lumped up, I’ve got to take a month off. I get to compound now on the work I’ve already done coming out injury free.”

Twitter reacts to Ryan Bader's stunning KO of 'King Mo' in Bellator 199 tourney bout

With Sonnen, Mitrione, Emelianenko and now Bader advancing to the semifinals, is “Darth” the clear favorite after a dominant performance against Lawal? He’s not one to get into all that, though he did share his thoughts.

“I thought I was the favorite coming in regardless in my head, and my coaches thought the same thing,” Bader said. “For me, it’s just keeping your head down and getting the job done.”

Seems like a solid approach. Because, after all, it’s real now.

For complete coverage of Bellator 199, check out the MMA Eventssection of the site.