Widow of MMA fighter uses her Jiu-Jitsu skills to survive 4-hour assault by boyfriend

Widow of MMA fighter uses her Jiu-Jitsu skills to survive 4-hour assault by boyfriend

Warning: Graphic Content

The widow of Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Ryan Gracie is recovering in the hospital after suffering a brutal four-hour beatdown at the hands of her boyfriend, who is a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu himself.

Twenty seven-year-old Vinicius Batista Serra was arrested in connection with the assault on Elaine Perez Caparroz but claimed that didn't remember the incident and blamed the attack on a "psychotic episode."

According to the Daily Star, Caparroz, 55, was attacked by Serra at around 1 am on February 16, just they were about to go to bed. Serra reportedly began by punching Caparroz in the face and body before then throwing her on the floor and trying to bite her.

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A post shared by Kyra Gracie.Jiu-Jitsu.Brazil (@kyragracie) on


 

 

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He would continue to beat her for the next four hours, with neighbors eventually hearing her cries for help at around 5:30 a.m. and calling the police. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they found Serra, also a lawyer from Leme, in Rio de Janeiro, with blood on his shirt and took him into custody.

Caparroz was rushed to the Casa de Portugal Hospital in Rio de Janeiro for treatment and had to receive 40 stitches to her mouth, fractured nose, and fractured eye sockets. Snaps of her at the hospital reveal the extent of her injuries, with the 55-year-old pictured with two severely blackened eyes, bloodied cheeks, and heavy bruising on her lips.

Kyra Gracie, her niece, said her aunt survived only because of her own skills in Jiu-Jitsu. She said that Caparroz, who is the daughter-in-law of Carlos Gracie, one of the founding fathers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, had used an "x" defense to stop Serra from strangling her to death.

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"She managed to defend herself with an 'x' on her neck," Gracie explained. "He bit her just to try and force her to release her arms and try and strangle her. She knew if he grabbed her neck she would die."


 
 
 
 
 
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Gracie also slammed the "psychotic episode" defense being used by Serra in an Instagram post. "Vinicius Batista Serra, a lawyer from Leme, in Rio de Janeiro, brutally assaulted a woman very close to my family in a premeditated manner and attempted femicide. A monster!" she wrote.

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"He was caught red-handed and, as you would expect from every coward, he is claiming a psychotic outbreak so his lawyers can try a milder sentence," she continued.

"Let justice be done and the penalty for such a grotesque crime is hard! Society and justice can no longer allow such psychopaths to remain unpunished and in contact with society," adding, "Step aside and see the cruelty."

Caparroz did not suffer neurological damage in the assault and is recovering from her injuries. Her son, Rayron, also took to Instagram to share a picture of him lying next to his mother in her hospital bed and hugging her. He captioned it with one word, "Warrior." 

Serra has been charged with attempted femicide and is currently being held in preventative prison. He has claimed he does not remember the attack.

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 Widow MMA fighter survives vicious four hour assault boyfriend using Jiu Jitsu