THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Brazilian mixed-martial arts fighter Ryan Gracie was found dead Saturday in a Sao Paulo prison cell, a day after being arrested on suspicion of theft, police said.

Gracie was a five-time world champion of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The 33-year-old was arrested Friday afternoon for stealing a car after allegedly threatening its owner with a kitchen knife, and for trying to steal a motorcycle after crashing the car against a concrete wall, police inspector Paulo Bittencourt said.

Bittencourt, head of Sao Paulo's 91st police district where Gracie was locked up in an individual cell, said that during the morning roll call Gracie did not respond.

"When I went to his cell, I saw him lying on his mattress," Bittencourt said. "He had no pulse and a reddish liquid was coming out of his mouth. It seems to me he died of a heart attack."

The Agencia Estado news service quoted Gracie's physician Sabino Ferreira de Farias as saying that, at the time of his arrest, the fighter was taking antidepressants and anti-psychotic medication.

.Globo TV said Farias tested Gracie's urine shortly after his arrest and found traces of cocaine, crack and marijuana. Bittencourt would not comment on the unconfirmed reports, and Farias could not be contacted at his drug rehabilitation clinic.

The AP was unable to contact Gracie's family or his lawyer, Rodrigo Souto de Assis Silva.

Gracie's body was taken to the city morgue to determine the exact cause of his death, Bittencourt said.

Gracie was a grandson of Carlos Gracie, one of the creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.