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Rafael Lovato Jr.
Rafael Lovato Jr. (born June 25, 1983) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor. At the time of his original retirement, he was the Bellator MMA Middleweight World Champion and was ranked the no. 4 middleweight fighter in the world. He was the first non-Brazilian to win Brasileiros at black belt. In 2007, he was the first person to win the black belt "Grand Slam" of all major Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions in a single year: Pan Championship, European Championship, Brasileiro, and World Championship. Early life Lovato was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but his family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, when he was eight years old. 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. He is of Spanish and Italian descent. Brazilian jiu-jitsu career Lovato was the second American, after B.J. Penn, to win the World Jiu Jit ...
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Middleweight (MMA)
The middleweight division in mixed martial arts refers to different weight classes: *The UFC's middleweight division, which groups competitors within 171 to 185 lb (77.5 to 84 kg) *The Shooto's middleweight class, which refers to competitors between 155 and 170 lb (70.3 and 77.1 kg) *The ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...'s middleweight division follows the Pride FC model, with an upper limit of *The Road FC's middleweight division, with an upper limit of 185 lb (84  kg) Ambiguity and clarification For the sake of uniformity, many mixed martial arts websites refer to competitors between 171 and 185 lb (77.5 and 84 kg) as middleweights. This encompasses Shooto's light heavyweight division of the same weight limit. Th ...
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Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainland Europe's westernmost capital city (second overall after Reykjavík, Reykjavik), and the only one along the Atlantic coast, the others (Reykjavik and Dublin) being on islands. The city lies in the western portion of the Iberian Peninsula, on the northern shore of the River Tagus. The western portion of its metro area, the Portuguese Riviera, hosts the westernmost point of Continental Europe, culminating at Cabo da Roca. Lisbon is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world and the second-oldest European capital city (after Athens), predating other modern European capitals by centuries. Settled by pre-Celtic tribes and later founded and civilized by the Phoenicians, Julius Caesar made it a municipium ...
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Italian Americans
Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern urban areas, metropolitan areas, with significant communities also residing in many other major U.S. metropolitan areas. Between 1820 and 2004, approximately 5.5 million Italians migrated to the United States during the Italian diaspora, in several distinct waves, with the greatest number arriving in the 20th century from Southern Italy. Initially, most single men, so-called birds of passage, sent remittance back to their families in Italy and then returned to Italy. Immigration began to increase during the 1880s, when more than twice as many Italians immigrated than had in the five previous decades combined. Continuing from 1880 to 1914, the greatest surge of immigration brought more than 4 million Italians to the United States. Th ...
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Spanish Americans
Spanish Americans (, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in the modern United States, with a very small group descending from those explorations leaving from Spain and the Viceroyalty of New Spain (modern Mexico), and starting in the early 1500s, of 42 of the future U.S. states from California to Florida; and beginning a continuous presence in Florida since 1565 and New Mexico since 1598. In the 2020 United States census, 978,978 self-identified as "Spaniard" representing (0.4%) of the white alone or in combination population who responded to the question. Other results include 866,356 (0.4%) identifying as "Spanish" and 50,966 who identified with "Spanish American". Many Hispanic and Latino Americans (the Hispanos of New Mexico being the oldest group) living in the United States have some Spanish ancestral roots due to up to ...
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Amateur Boxing
Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level. Amateur boxing bouts comprise three rounds of three minutes for men, and four rounds of two minutes for women, each with a one-minute interval between rounds. Men's senior bouts changed in format from four two-minute rounds to three three-minute rounds on January 1, 2009. Amateur boxing rewards point-scoring blows, based on the number of clean punches landed, rather than physical power. Also, the amateur format allows tournaments to feature several bouts over several days, unlike professional boxing, where fighters typically rest several months between bouts. A referee (boxing), referee monitors the fight to ensure that competitors use only legal blows; a belt worn over the torso represents the lower limit of punches – any boxer repeatedly landing "low blows" is disqualif ...
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Jeet Kune Do
Jeet Kune Do (/ˌdʒiːt kuːn ˈdoʊ/; zh, c=截拳道, l=stop fist way' or 'way of the intercepting fist, j=zit6 kyun4 dou6; abbreviated JKD) is a hybrid martial art conceived and practiced by martial artist Bruce Lee. It was formed from Lee's experiences in unarmed fighting and self-defence—as well as eclectic, Zen Buddhist, Confucianist and Taoist philosophies—as a new school of martial arts thought. At the heart of Jeet Kune Do lies the principle of intercepting the opponent's attacks, crafting responses or counterattacks that effectively target the adversary's offensive moves. JKD also incorporates a set of principles to help practitioners make instant decisions and improve the physical and mental self, being intended to have practical applications in life without the traditional routines and metaphysics of conventional martial arts. As an eclectic martial art, it relies on a fighting style heavily influenced by Wing Chun, Tai Chi, taekwondo, boxing, fencing and ...
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Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma County, its population ranks List of United States cities by population, 20th among United States cities and 8th in the Southern United States. The population grew following the 2010 Census and reached 681,054 in the 2020 United States census. The Oklahoma City metropolitan area had a population of 1,396,445, and the Oklahoma City–Shawnee, Oklahoma, Shawnee Combined Statistical Area had a population of 1,469,124, making it Oklahoma's largest municipality and metropolitan area by population. Oklahoma City's city limits extend somewhat into Canadian County, Oklahoma, Canadian, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland, and Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie counties. However, much of those areas ...
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Campeonato Brasileiro De Jiu-Jitsu
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu (lit. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship), commonly known as ''Brasileiro'', is an annual Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) tournament held in Brazil by the IBJJF. ''Brasileiro'' has been held annually since 1996, except for the year 2020 when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Through 2012 the event was held at the Ginásio do Tijuca Tênis Clube in Rio de Janeiro; since 2013 it has been held at the Ginásio Poliesportivo José Corrêa in Barueri, São Paulo. History The IBJJF gives tournaments weighting which helps calculate the number of points an athlete can win via their participation. For the 2017/2018 IBJJF calendar the Brazilian National has a weighting of 3. This puts it behind in weighting importance to the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship with a weighting of 7, the European Championship and Pans with weightings of 4 and alongside the Asian Open. In 2023, the IBJJF announced that FloGrappling had bought exclusive ...
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List Of Bellator MMA Champions
Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") was an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded Bellator Fighting Championships as a tournament based organization. The inaugural champion for each weight class was determined by the winner of an eight-man tournament. All subsequent title challengers were required to first win an eight-man tournament in a specific weight class in order to earn the right to challenge that division's reigning champion. Dethroned champions were required to re-enter the tournaments in order to attempt to regain their title. Under Bjorn Rebney's sole leadership, Bellator MMA would strictly adhere to these rules during the first four years of its operation. The first changes to this format would begin to appear not long after Viacom (2005–2019), Viacom, Inc. purchased a controlling stake in the organization ...
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Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor'', the Latin word for "warrior". Bellator's first event was in 2009, and the promotion held List of Bellator MMA events, 313 "numbered" events. At one point, Bellator was considered the second largest MMA promotion in the United States, and one of the largest combat sports, combat sport promotions in the world. Paramount Global (formerly Viacom (2005–2019), Viacom) purchased majority ownership of Bellator from Rebney in 2011, with Paramount's television networks serving as the promotion's media broadcasters in the United States. On November 20, 2023, after then-broadcast home Showtime (TV network), Showtime announced the discontinuation of its sports division, Bellator MMA was acquired by the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Histor ...
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Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place throughout Japan and the countries of East Asia. At the same time, in Brazil there was a phenomenon called vale tudo, which became known for unrestricted fights between various styles such as judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, catch wrestling, luta livre, Muay Thai and capoeira. An early high-profile mixed bout was Masahiko Kimura vs. Hélio Gracie, Kimura vs Gracie in 1951. In mid-20th century Hong Kong, rooftop street fighting contests between different martial arts styles gave rise to Bruce Lee's hybrid martial arts style Jeet Kune Do. Another precursor to modern MMA was the 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki, Ali vs. Inoki exhibition bout, fought between boxer Muhammad Ali and wrestler Antonio Inoki in Japan, where ...
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São Paulo, Brazil
SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of Yugoslavia Science and technology * Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. ** Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Star Catalog, which assigns SAO catalogue entries * Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science (SAO RAS) * Session-At-Once, a recording mode for optical discs Transportation * Saco Transportation Center, a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S., station code SAO * Sahel Aviation Service, Mali, List of airline codes (S), ICAO airline code SAO * Airports in Greater São Paulo, Brazil, IATA airport code#History and conventions, IATA airport code SAO People * Ligi Sao (born 1992), a Samoan rugby league player * Ron Sao, Western Australian pol ...
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