MMA star Maria Ribeiro ‘punches and tackles flasher to ground after exposing himself while on supermarket run’
MMA STAR Maria Ribeiro tackled and stopped an alleged flasher as she lived up to her ‘Wonder Woman’ nickname while on the supermarket run.
The 27-year-old (5-3-0), who competes as a strawweight in the BRAVE promotion, was in her hometown of Sinop, Brazil, with a friend and sister-in-law when the shock incident occurred on Sunday.
She said: “I train in Curitiba but decided to go back home to be quarantined with my family. My sister-and-law and I were getting ready to go to the grocery store when a man got off his bike and started exposing himself to us and making gestures. We told him off, but it wasn’t enough.
“Then, he ran off and we decided to catch up with him. I have kids, nieces and nephews in my family, my neighbourhood is very child-friendly and to have this guy on the loose was no good.”
Ribeiro soon got her hands on the alleged perpetrator and kept him tied up until cops arrived.
She added: “I caught up to him, and fought him off, I kept him there. Unlucky for him, I’m a fighter, and know exactly what to do in these situations.
“He kept trying to get out of it, saying he had some meat in his pants, but we have witnesses.
“I can’t imagine how many women go through something like this on a daily basis, and I did it for them too. I wouldn’t feel at peace with myself if I didn’t try to get him.
“After I caught up to him, there was a small commotion and the women here in Sinop were all cheering for me. I got so many messages from women in my social media, and it feels great to know that this idiot didn’t get away with it.”
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The male gave a statement to police and was later released on Sunday as authorities are unable to detain people at the station for more than 24 hours, confirmed a Sinop officer.
The case has now been forwarded to the Women’s Police Station.
Ribeiro added: “That p****d me off. We see the world we live today and how many cases of rape going on.
“We know that happens every day, so I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I hadn’t gone after him. He probably saw three women and thought they were helpless.”
The fighter was due to return to the BRAVE cage next month until the coronavirus pandemic forced all the promotion’s upcoming events to be cancelled.