Rafael Lovato Jr will be getting his stab at the Bellator belt after all. The fight was initially to happen in January however former UFC fighter and current Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi had to pull out due to a back injury.
Bellator middleweight title fight between current champion Gegard Mousasi and Rafael Lovato Jr. has been rebooked for the promotion’s London card in June.
Mousasi discussed how he’s prepared to handle the ground game of the challenger (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I have actually a really good training partner, Reinier de Ridder, he has the same record, 9-0. Same jiu-jitsu, stand-up. Same height, same weight. And I was getting submitted last Saturday. But I’ve trained with him before. Once I’m in shape, there’s not going to be any submissions,” Mousasi said jokingly. “That’s what training is supposed to be. I can talk about whenever I go to Curitiba, Brazil, and train with all the Muay Thai killers down there (Lovato Jr. does part of his camp at Evolucao Thai), I get hit in the face a lot. We’re supposed to go through that sort of thing in training, so we can prepare for the fight. So, it’s good.”
Bellator London will take place on June 22nd at The SSE Wembley Arena. Meanwhile Lovato Jr dropped by Roger Gracie’s in London to catch up and get a training in:
