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Inside the Mind of Ricardo Liborio: The Sport Combat Legend on BJJ, MMA Training, and Becoming Unstoppable

Man in martial arts uniform does a split on a gym mat; others watch. Text reads: "How Billy Blanks Blew Up the Internet—What Happened?!"


NEVER STOP EVOLVING

Ricardo Liborio had spent most of the year preparing for a single match against grappling legend Mario Sperry at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship. Then, three weeks out, he fractured his wrist.


Nearly 20 years earlier, when Liborio was considered one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors on the planet, his career had come to a similarly sudden halt.


It happened when a broken jaw and the 11 surgeries required to repair it had cost him almost two years of mat time, effectively ending his brief reign.


The Superfight with Sperry was to be the first foray back into competition in 14 years for the 49-year-old Liborio, so he wasn’t about to let a broken wrist get in the way.

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