Rafael Lovato Jr says he is in his 'best stage' ahead of ONE 173 matchup vs. Giancarlo Bodoni

Val Dewar

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Some combat sports competitors burn hot and quick, but others age like a fine wine.

The latter describes Rafael Lovato Jr, who won a major Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament already this year, and at age 42 is preparing for another impressive display at ONE 173 in Tokyo, Japan on November 15th against Giancarlo Bodoni.

"These days, I've been able to keep evolving, staying sharp and staying up with all the evolution in the game. And I think I'm in my best stage, believe it or not, at 42 years old. The experience and the inspiration, the sense of purpose with having my family and my team and just all these people that have been with me for so long, literally decades. Representing all of them just means so much to me and it gives me a lot of fire. And I'm really excited for this opportunity to face one of the best."

Giancarlo Bodoni certainly has proven to be one of the best in recent years, having won gold in the ADCC 88kg weight class in both 2022 and '24. Lovato Jr, on the other hand, has been a legend since at least 2007, when he became the first person to win the BJJ black belt 'grand slam' in a single year, coming out on top in four separate major tournaments of the time.

As a teacher himself, Rafael knows Bodoni from coaching grapplers who have faced him, so he is well acquainted with the ADCC champ's skillset and showed it when I asked him if Giancarlo has what it takes to be one of the greats as well.

"He's on his way. Definitely. I saw him coming up as a brown belt. He went against one of our kids a couple of times and I knew he was going to be really good and I knew he'd be someone that I would probably end up facing some time. I'm kind of surprised it didn't happen sooner but he was doing 88 [kg] at ADCC and I was doing 99, and he took gold last year. I took silver so it's a really exciting matchup to, you know, get two top guys from those two weight classes against each other. But, you know, I really appreciate his style."

"We've talked a little bit here and there over the years, and I've been super respectful. And his jiu-jitsu...he has that timeless game, even though he's young and he still has a big career ahead of him. He shows a very complete style, very dangerous, and he can do it all. So, that brought a lot of fire for me into this camp and I even learned a couple of things from him, by watching and studying him, so the evolution has not stopped and I'm excited to put it all to the test."

This will not be the first time Lovato has fought in Japan. In 2022, three years after a genetic medical condition forced him to relinquish his Bellator title, Rafael got to make one last ringwalk in the same city he will compete in this coming weekend.

"I have a lot of great memories from my last time there in Japan. That was my first time for that INOKI BOM-BA-YE event. And that felt like destiny. You know, I always wanted to fight in Japan and kind of missed my opportunity. And I thought my MMA career was basically done...[but] I got the opportunity and I jumped on it. I didn't have too much time to prepare, but I always kind of stayed ready, stayed in shape, and I was still training MMA with my guys, and it was just a beautiful moment for me to be able to, you know, put the gloves back on, get back in there, fight one more time, say goodbye on my terms."

"And I actually took my whole family there: my wife, and my kids who were just born there, they weren't even six months old yet. And I got to hold them in the ring after I won, and that was just super, super special. So to now go back and, you know, face the number one guy now for grappling on this stage, it's just, you know, it's the kind of stuff that we just we cherish and I'll I'll carry with me for the rest of my life."

As for the time off when he was forced to vacate his belt? It was certainly not easy. 

"Relinquishing my belt was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life...There was a lot of depression and some ups and downs and I started making my way back into Jiu-Jitsu more full time and just...I don't wanna stop. Like I don't wanna take all my work and just put it on the shelf, you know? I still felt like I was in great shape and I was still getting better."

"But mentally coming back to jiu-jitsu and kind of starting all over again, going against all the new guys and having to kind of refine the inspiration to now compete for free or just be on the stage that's much, much lower exposure and just not at the level where I was in MMA was kind of hard, but I got through it and then now it's been amazing because the sport of jiu-jitsu has exploded."

The sport of BJJ indeed has exploded in the last few years, with young talents like Mica Galvao and the Ruotolo brothers, Lovato's ONE Championship colleagues, bursting onto the scene and winning major BJJ titles before they even turn 23.

"It's crazy to see the level these kids are hitting at such a young age and the excitement that they that they bring to their matches, the game that they play. They're so complete, like everyone. Everyone can wrestle. Everyone can play top. Everyone can play bottom. Of course, there's a leg rock evolution as well... I never imagined it would come this far. And, you know, there are a couple of things that I think are getting a little bit lost like the spirit of martial arts. You know, it can be a little bit more sporty these days, depending on the event and who's a part of it.

"But you mentioned the Ruotolos, I mean, they're real martial artists and I love watching them fight. I'm excited to see Tye. I think it's Tye who's on the card. You know, I've watched them since they were young, you know, teenagers, I just, yeah, I love them. Even my son, my son is only three and he loves to watch the Ruotolos as well. Like he, he always asks, daddy put jiu-jitsu on, on the TV and it doesn't take but a couple of YouTube videos for it to finally get to one of the Ruotolos. And he always gets so excited. So it's going to be super cool to be on the card with them."

When Lovato Jr was coming up in the BJJ game, the opportunities to have a big platform and get paid well for being an elite grappler were not there, but he is excited to see how far the sport has come.

"I mean, just the opportunities, the amount of professional events that are taking place worldwide, it's amazing to see. I came up in the days where good prize money, if there was prize money, was $500. And all that did was hopefully pay for your hotel and flight. Know what I mean? So it was really easy to run up a big debt, which I actually did. And if you ever got paid something, it probably more or less just covered your expenses. So, completely different time now. And it's great to see the young kids have these opportunities and be able to make a living and provide and set up their futures. Like back in the days, you also had to run an academy to be able to survive. Like you had to be a good teacher. You had to learn how to run a small business. And now I don't think it's as necessary to be a teacher, but I think it's super important and it only provides more ability to make a living and reach people. And I always love having a school and having your day-to-day students and really helping everybody, and building up the next crop. I feel like that's a responsibility that we all should have as martial artists to give back all of our knowledge."

At the same time, Rafael wants to see more of the "real martial arts spirit" being showcased in this era of smartphones and social media.

"Some of the social media and the talking and all that, I came up in a different era where that never really happened. And we were always really respectful. Some of my good friends from jiu-jitsu are from other teams, And I thought that would be a little easier to do back then because after the event was over, we talked. We didn't just get on our phone and start making our posts, you know? And so just a different time, but it's, like I said, it's all positive. And it just gives me more sense of purpose to keep that spirit alive and put out kind of, you know, my knowledge and my mindset. I hope to help them and help them be successful."

Lovato Jr has already made a success of himself, so its good to see athletes from the last generation passing the lessons they've learned onto this generation. A few of his students, Victor Hugo and Felipe Costa, are already coming into their own among the elite in the world of BJJ.

Rafael has been elite on the mats for a long time, but will he be able to get past the two-time defending ADCC champion in Tokyo this weekend?

Rafael Lovato Jr faces Giancarlo Bodoni in a grappling match at ONE 173 in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, November 15th, live on PPV.

Staff Writer