Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1978, Mario Roberto has been involved with martial arts since his early childhood. He started by learning Judo at school, and then proceeded to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the well-known BJJ Instructor Pedro Carvalho, who had just received his brown belt at the time. Mario trained with Pedro until he was a blue belt — Pedro then decided to move to the United States to open another school, leaving his gym to his teacher, Anibal Braga, a 3^rd Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Since then Mario has been training under the supervision of Anibal, having received his black belt from him in 1998. Mario has recently opened a school of his own and teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and self-defense to his students.

Mario eventually travels abroad to teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has traveled three times to the United States to give classes, having taught in cities like Evansville (Indiana), Cincinatti (Ohio) and Maddison (Wisconsin). Besides training and teaching the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mario has some background on other fighting styles, like Judo, Aikido, Boxing and Muay Thai. He is currently concentrating on developing his Thai Boxing skills, under the supervision of Scott "Bam Bam" Sullivan, heavy-weight kickboxing champion.

Mario has more than 15 titles and 40 victories in sports Jiu-Jitsu, and has been ranked number one in his division in 1993 and 1994 by LINJJI. In July 1997, while in Evansville, Indiana, he participated in a Pancrase-style no-holds-barred event, the Hook n' Shoot Middleweight World Championship. After 3 fights in the evening, Mario has taken the belt home, as well as the "Most Outstanding Grappler" and "Most Outstanding Fighter" awards. Mario has also appeared in some of the "Hook n' Shoot" videos — including an interview and some instructional footage on techniques.

On August 1998 Mario returned to Evansville, Indiana, to participate in two superfights in the Hook n' Shoot "QUEST" show. On the first day, he faced Jeremy Horn, famous UFC veteran. After 30 minutes of a very technical grappling match, with Mario dominating the whole fight, the match was declared a draw, since there were no judges or points system. The day after Mario faced Travis Fulton, the world's most active NHB fighter, and defeated him by an unanimous decision after another 30 minute war.

Mario is 6'01'' and currently weights 190 lbs. He speaks English — having earned the First Certificate in English (FCE) from the University of Cambridge and the Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) from the University of Michigan, both at age 14. He also speaks French and Spanish. He is currently a 4^th year medical student in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Among his hobbies are weightlifting, music and reading.