MMAyou.com: Thank you Mario for speaking with MMAyou.com.

Sperry: Thank you for the opportunity.

MMAyou.com: How did you get the nick name Zen Machine?

Sperry: The nick name Zen Machine, I got kind of back in the eighties when I was
a BJJ Blue Belt... I used to fight in my weight division and the absolute. I used to do ten to fifteen fights in one day... So my friends started to call me "MÃQUINA" (machine in Portuguese) as an analogy to my name, Mario.

Also, my close friends used to call me Ze, from my first name José, Mario. When I fought in the USA for the first time, I was very relaxed and calm and the commentator could not pronounce ZE Machine... So, the Zen thing came up...

MMAyou.com: Who are the top 3 fighters of all time under BJJ rules?

Sperry: Sergio Penha, Rickson and Roger Gracie.

MMAyou.com: Who can beat Fedor and how can they do it?

Sperry: Right now, I do not see anyone to beat Fedor, but if I would have to bet
on someone, I would say that, today who has more chances, is Randy Couture.

MMAyou.com: Tell us about your new gym in Vegas.

Sperry: Is going to be ready soon. We are going to have BJJ, submission, MMA and a
professional MMA team.

MMAyou.com: Is there anyone you would like to rematch?

Sperry: Yuki Kondo

MMAyou.com: What set Carlson Gracie apart from other teachers?

Sperry: Mixed Martial Arts.

MMAyou.com: If a fighter is well trained in BJJ, how important is training in
wrestling?

Sperry: Wrestling in my point of view is very important... Not just the fact that it allows you to be in the top position, but the training gives you great conditioning.

MMAyou.com: Rorion and Rickson Gracie say that Gracie Jiu Jitsu is all a mma fighter needs to be successful. Comments?

Sperry: I do not agree. Today, if you think like that, most likely you are going
to lose. MMA=MIXED MARTIAL ARTS.

MMAyou.com: Thank you Mario.

Sperry: Thank you very much. By the way, my web site is www.worldclassfightcenter.com.

MMAyou.com would like its readers to check out World Class Fight Center, Sperry's new website and gym. Sperry recently moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and has opened up a school there. It is an opportunity to train with one of the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners ever and one of the founding members of Brazilian Top Team.

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Comments (1)

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written by detroit_fan, May 05, 2008

good interview, thanks.

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