Rafael "Barata" de Freitas was born in Brasilia, Brazil. He quickly took to martial arts, beginning to train in capoeira at the age of 5. He also studied karate, taekwondo, and muay thai during his early years before starting jiu-jitsu at age 14. He honed his jiu-jitsu under the tutelage of Alison Brites and while a purple belt developed his signature move, the Barataplata.

In 2007, as a brown belt, he arrived in Albuquerque to help teach at Gracie Barra New Mexico, and in 2008 Barata received his black belt from Carlos Gracie Jr. Barata has won numerous gi and no-gi BJJ titles most recently taking bronze at the 2012 Mundials and silver at the 2012 Pan-American Championships.

He is the chief instructor at Gracie Barra New Mexico and a very exciting prospect in the flyweight division in MMA. While he has fought only sporadically since 2007, he has amassed a 5-0 record with 4 of those wins via submission. De Freitas tried out for TUF 14 which included John Dodson and Diego Brandao, but for unknown reasons did not make the final roster.

His nickname, "Barata", means cockroach and was given to him during his youth soccer years because of his quickness and frenetic pace.

De Freitas was a contestant on TUF 18 . He faced Cody Bollinger in the fight to get into the house. "Barata" attempted several submissions that failed and eventually got stopped by strikes against the cage.

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate

Episode 1 Cody Bollinger def. De Freitas by TKO (strikes) at 1:54 in Round 2