IF you beat the best, you are the best — and right now inaugural Diamondback Fighting Championship heavyweight belt holder Mike Turner is the baddest man in Australia.

The very second Turner (7W-5L) submitted Jeremy Joiner last year, snuffing the Victorian’s five-fight win streak, he became the nation’s best heavyweight MMA fighter not signed to the UFC.

On Saturday, at Adelaide Oval, the 35-year-old will step into the cage to defend his shiny strap for the first time, locking horns with knockout machine Ben Sosoli at DFC5.

But even after his monumental November win, Turner refuses to call himself top dog.

“I can’t really consider myself the number one MMA heavyweight,” he said.

“I don’t tend to think about where I sit in the rankings, I think about where my opponents sit and what they bring and what they do. And I know that Sosoli has flatlined some really dangerous dudes.”

It’s true. Sosoli’s knockout power is second to none. But the 28-year-old, who competes for Resilience Training Centre in Melbourne, is keen to show off another set of skills that don’t often see the light of day.

“This is actually the first time I’m fighting someone better than me on the ground,” Sosoli (6W-2L) said. “I’m excited.

“No one really knows anything about my ground game because I finish everyone standing up.

“But I rate my ground game.”

Turner, who leads a tribe of skilled fighters at Trinity MMA, has made it no secret he wants the fight to hit the ground.

Getting it there is a whole other story.

“I only need to land one and I’ll be sweet. I know I can finish him,” Sosoli said.

But Turner is willing to accept the punishment to win.

“I have a funny feeling my face will not feel quite like it does right now after the fight,’’ he said. “But I think I can choke him out.”

For this event DFC has teamed up with Cancer Council SA, donating all proceeds from T-shirt sales to help KO cancer.

Doors open at 6pm. Show starts at 7pm.