Rafael Lovato, Jr. returns against John Salter at Bellator 198

Rafael Lovato, Jr., only the third American to win the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championships and a Carlos Mochado black belt, will aim to continue his undefeated MMA career when he returns to the Bellator cage on April 28 at Bellator 198 against John Salter in a middleweight contest, sources told MMA Fighting.

Lovato, 34, is 7-0 in MMA and 3-0 within Bellator competition. He last competed at Bellator 189 against former Division I national wrestling championship finalist Chris Honeycutt. Lovato won via unanimous decision. He also holds wins over Mike Rhodes and Charles Hackmann.

Salter, 32, is 15-3 in MMA and 5-0 inside Bellator. Salter is a UFC vet, going 1-2 in the organization in 2010 before making a brief appearance in Strikeforce and various regional organizations. He debuted for Bellator in 2015, besting GLORY veteran Dustin Jacoby. He last competed at Bellator 188 in November of 2017 where he defeated Jason Radcliffe with a first-round submission.

Bellator 198 takes place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois and is scheduled to be headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Frank Mir, a bout that is a quarterfinal of Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix tournament. The main card will air on Paramount Network.