Heating Up For Pride 20the “zen Machine”is Ready For Yet Another Test!
Heating up for PRIDE 20 The "Zen Machine" Is Ready for Yet Another Test! By Eduardo Alonso The "Zen Machine", Mario Sperry, doesn’t need any introduction among the NHB fans all over the world. Three times BJJ world champion, Sperry stayed undefeated in BJJ competitions for 14 years, and more impressively without having a single point scored against him in competitions during all those years! His amazing success in BJJ was also repeated at Submission Grappling with memorable wins at Abu Dhabi, and as true champion Mario wasn’t satisfied with that and wanted a new challenge to his career, testing his skills in NHB! To resume his NHB career Mario Sperry finally signed a contract with PRIDE, and despite what many would believe he started by fighting the very best the event has to offer, facing one of the most active and feared fighters in NHB history, Igor Vovchanchin. Not only the "Zen Machine" fought Vovchanchin but he also beat him! Now, after several months waiting for another chance to fight at PRIDE Sperry is finally coming back to the event, facing a young, up and coming fighter from the Chute Boxe team, Murilo Ninja, in what promises to be one of the more intriguing matches so far in 2002. FCF already got Ninja’s words on this classic Brazilian Top Team vs. Chute Boxe encounter, and now, just before his trip to Japan for the fight, Mario Sperry himself shared his views about this fight and showed why he’s considered a true class act, as FCF delivers the heath for PRIDE 20! FCF: After your win at PRIDE 17 against Igor Vovchanchin, you’re finally coming back to the event. How was it to deal with the expectation to fight during several months and never getting a shot? FCF: PRIDE only announced your opponent with little more than two weeks before you’re the fight. So, how was your preparation for this fight? Did you get the chance to do any specific preparation for Ninja? FCF: You recently dropped some weight, joining PRIDE’s middleweight division. How much will you be weighting for this fight? And are you already at your fight weight, or will you have to drop some extra pounds in Japan? FCF: Several opponents were cogitated to fight you at PRIDE 20. Did the choice of Ninja as your opponent surprise you in any way? FCF: What do you think of Ninja as a fighter? What are the strongest and weakest points of his game in your opinion? Click here to continue the interview |