Black belt Utah jiu-jitsu champion, 40, is arrested after 'beating man to a pulp on the side of freeway and leaving him with fractured SKULL'

A black-belt jiu-jitsu champion from Utah has been arrested after he allegedly pummeled a man to the ground on the side of a freeway and left him with a fractured skull.

Nenad Shuput, 40, was arrested in Salt Lake County shortly after midnight on Sunday, March 10 and charged with one charge of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

Shuput is a black-belt jiu-jitsu instructor at Gladiator Fight Academy, a martial arts training gym in Salt Lake City which Shuput co-owns. 

A witness called 911 to report a fight on the SR-201 freeway near 3200 West in Salt Lake City and said they saw a man kick the victim while was lying on the ground and not moving, according to the statement of probable cause. 

Nenad Shuput, 40, was arrested in Salt Lake County on one charge of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury

Shuput (pictured in the bottom center) is a black-belt jiu-jitsu instructor at Gladiator Fight Academy, a martial arts training gym in Salt Lake City which Shuput co-owns

A witness reported seeing Shuput hitting another man on the SR-201 freeway near 3200 West in Salt Lake City

Police responded to the scene where they found one man on the ground with his face covered in blood. Shuput was standing nearby and his fists were also bloody, the arrest report said. 

The victim was taken to the Intermountain Medical Center where he was found to have sustained a fractured skull.

Shuput's jiu-jitsu studio co-owner arrived on the scene and informed police that Shuput has a black belt in the Brazilian martial art.

According to Shuput, he has been an athlete is entire life - playing basketball throughout high school and college.

After his basketball career ended he started training in Muay Thai and then later progressed to mixed martial arts, Canvas Rebel reported. 

The black-belt fighter is married to Zivana Shuput, who he says is his 'biggest supporter' and gave him the courage to open up his own business to share his deep knowledge of MMA with children aged eight to 17.

'It has been an amazing journey, I do what I love and I love what I do, and I wouldn’t change it for anything,' Shuput said.

He revealed that one of his business goals is to help children overcome their 'fear of bullies'.

Shuput's jiu-jitsu studio co-owner arrived on the scene and informed police that Shuput has a black belt in the Brazilian martial art

The black-belt fighter is married to Zivana Shuput, who he says is his 'biggest supporter' and gave him the courage to open up his own business to share his deep knowledge of MMA with kids aged 8 to 17

'We are running youth classes, helping them with their confidence and overcoming the fear of bullies; working with kids ages 8 to 17.'

Shuput has previously described living in Yugoslavia as a child. 

He said: 'As a child, living in a civil war-torn country, Yugoslavia, I had to move and find refugees in different areas, and kids can be very mean. They bully someone who is malnutrition and looks apart from the locals, so I always wanted to learn how to fight and defend myself.'

Shuput now has two children of his own. 

During his arrest on Sunday, Shuput declined to speak after being informed of his Miranda rights. 

After being arrested by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper, Shuput was booked into Salt Lake County Jail where he is being held without bail.