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.
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.
[3] The following year Sperry beat Enson Inoue to become the first Superfight Champion,[4] and successfully defended against Roberto Traven at the 2000 edition,[5] before being beaten by Mark Kerr for the championship in 2001.
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.
Mario rebounded back from his loss by defeating Russian Top Team's counterpart Andrei Kopylov, a former world sambo champion.
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.