Rafael Lovato Jr. has strong opinions about gym loyalty in combat sports. In a recent conversation, the legendary grappler and mixed martial artist explained why he believes bouncing between training facilities can ultimately harm an athlete’s career and personal development.
“I don’t believe it’s necessary to completely change locations and change training partners and all of that,” Lovato stated when asked about the trend of athletes relocating to mega gyms.
Despite spending most of his career in Oklahoma far from traditional martial arts hubs, Lovato has achieved remarkable success by maintaining his home base while strategically seeking additional training experiences.
The multiple-time world champion emphasized the importance of staying with coaches and teams who actively continue their own evolution.
“If you’re in a place where the coach or the main people on the team have done what you want to do and they are constantly still working on their own evolution… I think everything else is just going to get some looks,” he explained.
Lovato’s approach involves bringing high-level instructors to his academy rather than permanently relocating.
“I think I’m one of the people that have had the most top guys visit and teach at their school,” he noted, listing legends like Leandro Lo, Lucas Lepri, and many others who have come to Oklahoma to work with his students.
The dangers of gym hopping became clear when Lovato addressed personal accountability.
“A lot of times maybe people don’t want to take their own self responsibility for performance and say, ‘Oh, well, my coaches just isn’t good enough anymore or whatever.’ And next thing you know, you bounce around a couple of times and you don’t have a family. You know, you don’t have a real team that cares about you anymore.”
According to Lovato, mega camps present their own problems.
“The problem with going into some of these super camps is you’re going to be just another fly on the wall,” he warned. “A lot of times the personal exposure or the personal care that you get and direction and guidance falls back because now you’re in a room with so many people.”
He contrasted this with the intimate relationships built
He contrasted this with the intimate relationships built at a home academy, where training partners genuinely invest in each other’s growth.
“Your well-being and your growth isn’t their priority. You’re just another body to them,” Lovato said of some larger facilities, adding that athletes risk becoming “just part of the factory” rather than family.
The seven-time IBJJF Master Worlds winner stressed that loyalty matters most during difficult times.
“When you get to that point when you got to dig deep and everything’s against you and you have different obstacles come your way, you want to be able to look to your left and look to your right and know that you have people that really love and care about you and you’re not just a paycheck.”
Lovato’s solution involves strategic trips for specific training needs rather than permanent moves.
“Maybe your coach can go, too. Maybe your coach is already doing his own trips, and then he’s bringing that knowledge back to you,” he suggested.
For his own MMA career, he would spend two weeks in Brazil getting sparring experience before returning home to finish camp.
The champion acknowledged that changing gyms might be necessary in certain circumstances, particularly when coaches stop evolving. However, he believes most situations can be resolved through better communication and personal responsibility rather than switching teams.
