It took the undefeated fighter just over two minutes to pull off a kimura and force his opponent, Taiga Iwasaki, to surrender.
In June 2019, 39-year-old Rafael Lovato took the Bellator championship belt from Gegard Mousasi, defeating the Dutchman by a majority vote in five rounds, but weather later vacated the title due to the fact that he was diagnosed with a cavernoma, a hereditary disease, as a result of which and spinal cord vascular tumors are formed.
Prior to the championship fight, Lovato had won five Bellator victories, finishing four of his opponents.