Justin Rader with wrestling coach Brian Picklo, Rafael Lovato Jr and Jared Dopp after training session. Photo: @LovatoJrBJJ Instagram
The first black belt under American world champion Rafael Lovato Jr. has decidedly moved into MMA leaving Jiu-Jitsu competition on the wayside. We announced that Justin Rader will be entering the world of MMA when he was invited to ADCC. Justin Rader is a brown belt No-Gi World Champion twice and has came second in the black belt division in the event after finals with Rubens ‘Cobrinha’ Charles.
Because there are many members of the Lovato team heading to Beijing in October for the 2013 ADCC event, the training is concentrated and able to prepare together from the headquarters at GMA Lovato’s School of BJJ & MMA in Oklahoma or affiliate locations. But Justin works on his own for the multi-faceted training of mixed martial arts.
You won’t find Justin Rader speaking about his training as his Facebook and Instagram are solely dedicated to documenting the classes he teaches and the students he mentors rather than the sessions he trains with and the partners that help him prepare.
Here we can see how his stand-up is coming along in a quick video of Justin working with Rafael’s father. His first MMA fight is being scheduled and may happen as soon as this month!