The undefeated middleweight and BJJ World Champion Rafael Lovato Jr is headed to Bellator MMA for his next challenge. He will take on a yet to be named opponent in his home state of Oklahoma when Bellator takes it's show to Thackerville for Bellator 174 on March 3rd.

The event will be headlined by a Women's Featherweight title fight between veterans Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd. Also on the card is Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove, former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov and NCAA standout wrestler Chris Honeycutt.

Lovato became the Legacy middleweight champion in 2016 racking up a record of 4-0 all by way of submission. He has been training in Brazil with UFC and PRIDE veteran Wanderlei Silva to prepare for the jump in competition.



One month later the accomplished American black belt will take on 8x World Champion Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida in an ADCC rules no-gi super fight. Lovato looks to be setting himself up for a career year in both MMA and jiu-jitsu!

Watch Episode One of 'The American'