Rafael Lovato Jr. (born June 25, 1983) is an American retired mixed martial artist and former Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor.

The son of a Jeet Kune Do instructor, Lovato studied a variety of martial arts in his youth and competed in amateur boxing before discovering Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 13.

[8] After retiring from MMA due to medical issues, Lovato Jr. 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.

[9] 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.

[10] He also competed at the IBJJF Masters World Championships 2020, claiming silver in the absolute division after a close final match with Gregor Gracie.

[11] 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.

[12] On April 30, 2021, Lovato Jr. headlined a Who's Number One event against Gilbert Burns, losing the match by unanimous decision.

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.

[20] He competed at the ADCC World Championships in 2022 and finished fourth in the under 99 kg division, announcing his retirement from that competition at the same time.

[24] Lovato Jr. was then invited to challenge Pedro Marinho for the WNO light-heavyweight title at Who's Number One 20: Night of Champions on October 1, 2023.

[26] The match between Lovato Jr. and Pedro Marinho for the WNO light-heavyweight title was then rescheduled for Who's Number One 21: Ryan v Barbosa on November 30, 2023.

[28] Lovato Jr. competed against Craig Jones in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 on March 3, 2024.

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.

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 remained hopeful he would fight again in the future.

[59] However, his wish would eventually materialize later, as Lovato made his return to MMA on December 28, 2022, at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye x Ganryujima against undefeated Taiga Iwasaki.