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 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. Mario continued to train under Anibal until his promotion to black belt in July 1998. At that time, he decided to open a school of his own in Rio de Janeiro, and has been actively teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since.

Mario has more than 15 titles in sport Jiu-Jitsu, and was ranked number one in his division in 1993 and 1994 by LINJJI. His martial arts background often brought him invitations to teach abroad. In the United States, he taught seminars and workshops in cities such as Atlanta (GA), Cincinatti (OH), Evansville (IN),  Indianapolis (IN)  and Madison (WI), among others. Besides training and teaching the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mario has an extensive background on other fighting styles. He trained Aikido in Rio de Janeiro, and was coached in Judo by his lifelong friend José Morais Neto. He recently captured the 2005 USJA MN State Judo Championships title in his division. He  trained Muay Thai under the supervision of heavyweight kickboxing champion Scott "Bam Bam" Sullivan. Mario has also been working on his boxing skills at the 4th Street Boxing Gym in Rochester, MN.

In July 1997, while in Evansville (IN), he participated in a Pancrase-style mixed martial arts event, the Hook n' Shoot Middleweight World Championship. An international 8-man elimination tournament, it provided Mario with an excellent opportunity to showcase his skills. As the show went on, Mario had to face Henry Matamoros, Aaron Riley and John Renken on the same night. After 3 exciting, action-packed matches, Mario took the belt home, as well as the "Most Outstanding Grappler" and "Most Outstanding Fighter" awards.

August 1998 brought other challenges. Mario returned to Evansville, this time to participate in two superfights in the Hook n' Shoot "QUEST" show. Always interested in testing his skills, he accepted the challenge to headline both nights of fighting, in what ended up turning into a fighting 'marathon'. On the first night, he faced highly-regarded UFC veteran Jeremy Horn. After 30 minutes of a very technical grappling match, with Mario dominating the fight, a draw was declared due to lack of judges or point system. The next day Mario faced Travis Fulton, the world's most active no-holds-barred fighter, and defeated him by unanimous decision after another 30 minute war.

After returning from the US, Mario was faced with a very tough decision. A medical student at the time, he found his studying schedule to be conflicting with his training. A strong believer in a 'do or die' attitude, he was unwilling to keep on actively fighting while being forced to accept a sub par effort in his training. While still teaching, Mario decided to put his fighting career on hold and concentrate on his education — a decision he never regretted. 

In June 2004, due to personal reasons, Mario decided to move to the United States on a permanent basis. He settled in Rochester (MN), where he opened up his own school, the Mario Roberto Jiu-Jitsu Academy, in August 2004.

Mario has made several appearances on the specialized media, including "Full Contact Fighter" and "Grappling" magazines, and "Hook n' Shoot" and "Fightworld" videos. He is 6'01'' and currently weighs 190 lbs. He speaks fluent English, having earned the FCE certificate 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 Portuguese, French and Spanish. He received his M.D. degree in 2002 from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil's top-ranked medical institution. Among his hobbies are reading, music and weightlifting.