On August 28th and 29th 2015, at the ADCC in Sao Paulo, two legends of Jiu-Jitsu which were formed by the late Carlson Gracie will lock horns: Ricardo Liborio and Mario Sperry.

In an interview with Tatame, Liborio, leader of one of the largest MMA gyms in the world, the American Top Team, said that the preparation for the superfight against Sperry has a lot of good for his quality of life.

“This has been very good for me. I’m healthier. I have a specific goal: exactly in one year. I’m already training. I have been doing fitness. I’m careful because I have a very serious back problem, have seven herniated discs. I had no motivation, my only motivation was to take care of the kids here ATT, train them and be there. And it’s a lot of people and a lot of traveling. There are also trips to accompany fighters. In my case, trips to open gym, do seminar, belt ceremonies. It’s almost every weekend. But with this fight against Zé Mario, I had to take time for me to be able to train and take care of myself. And it’s been great. I wish that had happened before, “

 

Liborio also said that no longer has much contact with his former teammate, but the admiration between the two remains high:

“Ze Mario is a person that I admire. He knows how to compete, and is very good. He is the champion of the event and it is an honor for me. It is an honor and a challenge, then, it is perfect. It is the perfect motivation. I have nothing against him. On the contrary. He will try win and me too. We do not keep in touch for a long time, but there is a mutual admiration, I think. And that’s the great thing about Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling but not about MMA. In MMA, you have to talk to promote the fight. The more you talk, the more attention the fight will receive. In the case of Jiu-Jitsu, it’s is martial art, is competition. To have a Grappling match is practically nothing compared to doing an MMA fight. In MMA, the guys go up in the cage willing to break all. And the money they earn as a purse, sometimes does not even cover costs. So Grappling is beautiful compared to what you can have. For those accustomed to live what the guys in MMA having a Grappling match is a pleasure.”

 

Check out his interview with Sherdog: