Rafael Lovato Jr. (born June 25, 1983) is a 4th degree black belt

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

practitioner (8x world medallist) and a retired

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who last competed in the

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

, where he is the former Bellator Middleweight World Champion. At the time of his retirement, Lovato Jr. was ranked the #4 Middleweight fighter in the world by

Fight Matrix Fight Matrix , MMA Rankings, Records, Statistics is an independent, comprehensive, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter ranking system portal. It is one of the sport's most recognized ranking websites. According to FightMatrix: "The rankings on thi ...

. In 2022 Lovato won the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu European Championship for the second time.

Early life

Lovato was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, but his family moved to

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

when he was eight years old. The son of a

Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee. Overview and philosophy Jeet Kune ...

instructor, Lovato studied a variety of martial arts in his youth and competed in

amateur boxing Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

before discovering

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

at age 13. He is of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu career

Lovato was the second American, after

B.J. Penn Jay Dee "B.J." Penn III (born December 13, 1978) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. Penn competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and in K-1. Penn was the first American Go ...

, to win the World Jiu Jitsu Championship as a black belt. Lovato is a black belt under Carlos Machado, the oldest of the

Machado family The Machado Family (also known as the Machado Brothers) are a family of Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners, mixed martial artists and grapplers. They are the founders of RCJ Machado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and are cousins to members of the Gracie fam ...

. Rafael has had a long and formative training history with Xande and

Saulo Ribeiro Saulo Mendonça Ribeiro Filho (born July 2, 1974), brother of the equally famed Xande Ribeiro, is a 6th-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). After earning a black belt in Judo, he began his training of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Rio de J ...

, one which began after he competed against Saulo in the finals of the 2003

Arnold Classic The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding (''Arnold Classic''), strongman (''Arnold Strongman Classic''), fitness, figure and ...

, when Rafael was just 19 years old. Since retiring from MMA due to medical issues, Lovato Jr. has made a return to competing in BJJ, starting out by unsuccessfully challenging Aaron 'Tex' Johnson for the Fight 2 Win Light-Heavyweight Masters Championship at F2W 151 on September 11, 2020. Lovato Jr. competed again shortly after at BJJ Stars 4 on November 14, 2020, where he was submitted with a crucifix choke by Dimitrious Souza. He also competed at the IBJJF Masters World Championships 2020, claiming silver in the absolute division after a close final match with Gregor Gracie. He returned to Fight 2 Win for F2W 166 on March 13, 2021 to compete against Gabriel Almeida in the main event, submitting him with a kimura.On April 30, 2021 Lovato Jr. headlined a Who's Number One event against

Gilbert Burns Gilbert Alexander Pontes Burns (born 20 July 1986) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and submission grappler. He currently competes in the Welterweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As a grappler, Burns ...

, losing the match by unanimous decision. Lovato Jr. returned to headline another Fight 2 Win event at F2W 177 on July 16, 2021, where he defeated Alexandro Ceconi by unanimous decision to win the promotion's Light-Heavyweight no gi title. He defended this belt at F2W 180 on August 6, 2021, defeating Gabriel Arges by unanimous decision. He then competed at Raw Grappling 1 on November 14, 2021 against Adam Wardzinski, defeating him by penalty points. In his final matches of 2021, Lovato Jr. represented Team LFA at UFC FightPass Invitational 1. Team LFA won the tournament, with Lovato Jr. submitting Mike Wilcox with a rear-naked choke and registering two draws against Jonathan Piersma and Travis Tooke. Lovato Jr. had also verbally agreed to compete against the reigning ADCC World Champion

Gordon Ryan Gordon Ryan (born July 8, 1995) is an American submission grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1st degree black belt, considered to be the greatest no–gi grappler of all time due to his accomplishments and dominance. Ryan is a Five–time ADCC W ...

at some point in 2021. After the match did not come to fruition, Lovato Jr won the 2022 IBJJF European Open and competed in that year's world championships, retiring from IBJJF competition on the mats after his final match. He competed at the ADCC World Championships in 2022 and finished fourth in the under 99kg division, announcing his retirement from that competition at the same time. Lovato currently manages his own academy in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Mixed martial arts career

Legacy Fighting Alliance

Lovato made his professional MMA debut on September 26, 2014 at LFA 35, against Canaan Grigsby. He won the fight by an arm-triangle choke at the end of the first round. His next fight came at LFA 46, against the future

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

middleweight contender

Kevin Holland Kevin Alan Holland (born November 5, 1992) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, Holland has also competed for ...

. Lovato Jr. won the fight by a rear naked choke, 84 seconds into the first round. After these two victories, Lovato Jr. was scheduled to fight Marcelo Nunes at LFA 54, for the Middleweight title. Lovato Jr. won the fight by TKO near the end of the second round. He was scheduled to make his first title defense against Cortez Coleman at LFA 62. He submitted Coleman with an armbar in the last minute of the third round.

Bellator MMA

In March 2017, Lovato made his debut for

. He faced Charles Hackmann at Bellator 174 and won the fight via TKO just 13 seconds into the first round. In his second Bellator bout, Lovato faced Mike Rhodes at Bellator 181 on July 14, 2017. Rafael Lovato Jr. won the fight via submission in the first round. Lovato faced

Chris Honeycutt Chris Honeycutt (born July 25, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly fought in Bellator's Middleweight division. Background Born in Brook Park, Ohio, Honeycutt began wrestling at the age of four. Honeycutt attended North Ando ...

at Bellator 189 on December 1, 2017 and Rafael Lovato Jr. won the fight by unanimous decision. Lovato was expected to face

John Salter John Salter (born March 21, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of Bellator. A professional competitor since 2007, he has also competed for the UFC and Strikeforce, King of the Cage, and the ...

at Bellator 198 on April 28, 2018. John Salter was later pulled from the event by the Illinois Athletic Commission due to an eye issue on April 24 and replaced by

Gerald Harris Gerald Harris (born November 19, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist and current high school science teacher, who most recently fought in Bellator. He was a cast member of Spike TV's ''The Ultimate Fighter 7'' and has also compet ...

. Rafael Lovato Jr. won the fight via armbar submission in the first round. Lovato faced

on September 21, 2018 at Bellator 205. Rafael Lovato Jr. won the fight via a submission.

Bellator MMA Middleweight World Champion

Lovato was scheduled to face

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator MMA ...

for the

Bellator Middleweight World Championship Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded B ...

. This bout was expected to serve as the co-headliner of Bellator 214. On December 20, 2018, it was reported that Mousasi pulled from the fight, citing a back injury and Lovato was pulled from the card. The bout against Mousasi was rescheduled to June 22, 2019 in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

at Bellator 223. Lovato defeated Mousasi by majority decision. On January 29, 2020, while appearing on the

Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It launched on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and producer until ...

, Lovato revealed that he was dealing with a brain condition called cerebral cavernoma. He stated that the condition was nearly a reason for him to be pulled from his title bout with Gegard Mousasi, but he was ultimately given clearance. However, after further review on the potential risks of the condition weeks following the bout against Mousasi, commissions in Europe have stated they will not give Lovato clearance to fight in Europe any longer. Per the advice of his doctors, Lovato then said for the time being his MMA career is on hold, though he did not announce retirement and is hopeful he will fight again in the future. On February 10, 2020, it was announced that Lovato had relinquished the Bellator Middleweight title. Lovato Jr has gone on record to state his desire to return to professional MMA for at least one more fight, and ideally in 2021. Although as yet, he's been unable to get medically cleared to fight.

Post Bellator

Lovato made his return to MMA on December 28, 2022 at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye x Ganryujima against undefeated Taiga Iwasaki. He won the bout in the first round, submitting, Iwasaki with a kimura. After the fight, Lovato Jr stopped short of announcing his retirement from MMA and announced that he was open to the possibility of more fights in the future.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

(One time) *

Legacy Fighting Championship Legacy Fighting Alliance is an American mixed martial arts promotion, created as a result of the ''Legacy Fighting Championship'' and ''Resurrection Fighting Alliance'' merger in early 2017. History Resurrection Fighting Alliance On October 11, ...

** Legacy FC Middleweight Championship (One time) ***One successful title defense

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Taiga Iwasaki , Submission (kimura) , Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye x Ganryujima , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 ,

Sumida, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Sumida City. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 257,300, and a population density of 18,690 persons per km ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 ,

, Decision (majority) , Bellator 223 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , Bellator 205 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:27 ,

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, Submission (armbar) , Bellator 198 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:11 ,

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,202. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that. Whi ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 189 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Thackerville, Oklahoma Thackerville is a town in Love County, Oklahoma. It is located in South Central Oklahoma. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Thackerville is located at (33. ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Mike Rhodes , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Bellator 181 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:59 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Charles Hackmann , TKO (knees and punches) , Bellator 174 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:13 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Cortez Coleman , Submission (armbar) ,

62 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:04 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Marcelo Nunes , TKO (punches) ,

54 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:51 ,

Catoosa, Oklahoma Catoosa is a city in Rogers and Wagoner counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 7,159 at the 2010 census compared to 5,449 at the 2000 census. This was a 31.2 percent increase during the decade.Kevin Holland Kevin Alan Holland (born November 5, 1992) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, Holland has also competed for ...

, Submission (rear naked choke) ,

46 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:24 ,

Allen, Texas Allen is a city in Collin County in the U.S. state of Texas, and a northern suburb of Dallas. According to the 2020 U.S. census its population was 104,627, up from 84,246 in 2010. Allen is located approximately twenty miles (32.2 km) north ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Canaan Grigsby , Submission (arm-triangle choke) ,

35 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:07 ,

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, United States ,

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovato, Rafael, Jr. 1983 births Living people People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu American people of Italian descent American people of Spanish descent American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American Jeet Kune Do practitioners American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Jeet Kune Do Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Bellator MMA champions World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists World No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists