Rafael Lovato Jr just took on a huge challenge at the freestyle wrestling US Open 2025 and actually came away with a bronze medal in the end. It was the very first time that Lovato Jr had competed under wrestling rules, although he has a lifetime of Jiu-Jitsu experience and years of wrestling for MMA. Competing in other grappling rulesets used to be commonplace in the early days of BJJ, it was primarily done because there weren’t many opportunities to compete otherwise. It’s rare to see grapplers in the modern era testing their skills elsewhere, especially now that it’s possible to make a decent living as a BJJ competitor.
Lovato Jr is definitely one of those competitors who has no real need to compete in wrestling tournaments any more, as he has had successful careers in both BJJ and MMA along with running his own academy. Lovato Jr was forced to retire from MMA due to a brain condition and although he made a successful comeback for one fight in 2022, he has closed the door on that part of his combat sports career. He has also recently enjoyed a very impressive return to form in Jiu-Jitsu, most notably when he won a silver medal in the under 99kg division at ADCC 2024.
Rafael Lovato Jr stepped into the Masters B under 100kg division at the US Open 2025 and although he struggled initially, he rallied for an excellent finish. He won his opening round match before losing his second and dropping into the repechage bracket, where he went on a great run. Lovato Jr won his next four matches in a row to win bronze, finishing the day with a 5-1 record that included two pins and a technical fall. It would have been an excellent result for anyone but for someone coming in to the sport for the first time at the age of 41, it’s remarkable.
Other MMA stars like Urijah Faber and Clay Guida have competed in the Masters divisions at the US Open before, but generally only when they have already had strong wrestling backgrounds in their youth. Not many grapplers will take up an entirely new ruleset so late in their competitive careers and even fewer again will actually have success in it. Lovato Jr has always had good standing grappling by Jiu-Jitsu standards though and he’s been able to improve upon that during his years as an MMA fighter. It’ll be interesting to see if this is just a one-off, or if Lovato Jr intends on returning next year in order to improve upon his performance even further.
Rafael Lovato Jr announced the news that he had won a bronze medal in the freestyle wrestling US Open 2025 in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
