Mario Sperry

José Mário Sperry (born 28 September 1966) is a Brazilian heavyweight mixed martial artist. His specialty is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling and ground fighting. He is also one of the founders of the Brazilian Top Team, where he trained fighters such as Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, and Paulo Filho, among others.

Career Born into a wealthy family, he attended military college where he practised sports like Waterpolo, Volleyball, and Soccer, Sperry started his martial arts career learning Kodokan Judo under master Georges Mehdi. He gained the nickname "Zé Maquina" ("José Machine") for his relentless performance, which later changed to "Zen Machine" in his introduction to United States.

Having had his mixed martial arts debut in 1995, The first round of the tournament saw him face Ecuadorian fighter and Rudyard Moncayo, whom Sperry defeated by ground and pound, but the second one would see a different outcome in Igor Zinoviev vs Mario Sperry.

Although Sperry was able to take him down and assume dominant position in several occasions, Zinoviev kept escaping to his feet every time. After ten minutes, Sperry tried to leap into a rear naked choke while Zinoviev was giving his back and holding the fence, but he slipped and fell in front of the Russian, receiving a kick to the face. Sperry took Zinoviev down anyway, but the kick had opened a deep cut, so the match was due a referee stoppage, giving the win to Igor. The following year Sperry beat Enson Inoue to become the first Superfight Champion, and successfully defended against Roberto Traven at the 2000 edition, before being beaten by Mark Kerr over a negative point, at the championship in 2001, after a 30’ fight. In January 2022, Sperry was announced as a member of the inaugural class of the ADCC Hall of Fame.

PRIDE In 2001, Sperry debuted in Pride Fighting Championships, where the Brazilian Top Team was competing. His first match would be an important victory against Igor Vovchanchyn, who was taken down and submitted by arm triangle choke by Sperry. He then went to fought Murilo Rua from Chute Boxe, a team that would get in a rivalry with BTT after this match. Beginning the fight, Rua landed multiple hits in Sperry both standing and on the ground, but Sperry countered with a triangle armbar attempt and tried to get position; however, Rua escaped and landed more strikes, including a soccer kick to the face. At the second round, Sperry came near of the finish with a rolling kneebar and a Kimura lock, but Murilo was able to avoid them and threw several knees to the head. Finally, Rua punished Sperry for most of the third round for a unanimous decision.

Mario rebounded back from his loss by defeating Russian Top Team's counterpart Andrei Kopylov, a former world sambo champion. As Kopylov played defensive on the mat, Sperry threw kicks and strikes, cutting him in the mouth for a doctor stoppage while Kopylov was trying a kneebar. Later, in PRIDE Shockwave 2003, Mario faced Pancrase's rising star Yuki Kondo in a back and forth match. They exchanged leglocks on the mat, and later Sperry scored a spectacular takedown, but damage to his eye caused by earlier punches forced the referee to stop the bout.

In 2004, Sperry returned to PRIDE as part of the PRIDE Bushido series, where he knocked out Mike Bencic with a single punch, in just 11 seconds. The next year, he fought Judoka Hirotaka Yokoi in a one-sided affair, with Sperry punishing a turtled up Yokoi with knees and soccer kicks for the win. Mario's last fight in the promotion would be against Yokoi's trainer, the renowned Tsuyoshi "TK" Kohsaka, in 2006. The bout was short, with the two fighters trading punches before Kohsaka landed a right hand for the KO.

Return to BJJ competition In 2017, Sperry returned to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition representing Mario Sperry Jiu Jitsu and becoming IBJJF World Master Champion in the Super-Heavy division in 2017 and Ultra-Heavy in 2018. In the final's of the IBJJF World Masters 2017 Open Class division he was defeated in a David vs Goliath match by the prominent masters competitor Wellington Leal Dias, a 17x IBJJF World Master Champion in his own right and father of Mackenzie Dern.

Personal life Mario has a daughter who was born in March 2005. Sperry is also an avid competitive surfer. Aside from his fighting career, he has a degree in economics.

Championships and accomplishments

Submission grappling record Result Opponent Method Event Date Round Time