Eddie Alvarez, who was on the verge of a ONE Championship title shot, has once again hit a slump on his road to gold.
The slump wasn’t the only thing Alvarez hit at ONE on TNT I. “The Underground King” would also land massive blows to the back of Iuri Lapicus’s head. The referee warned him not to fire shots to the back of his head, but Alvarez went off killer instinct to go for the finish.
The Result
The fight would end in a knockout of Lapicus, however not legally. With Lapicus unable to continue, the official would flash a red card and dealt the fight a DQ loss for Alvarez.
The result would plunge the former champion into a world of emotion. Alvarez would later apologize for the fight-ending sequence, wishing well for his opponents safety in all of this.
We're all as heartbroken as Eddie 💔 @Ealvarezfight #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT pic.twitter.com/5RxzAuONRK
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 8, 2021
The Truth Will Set You Free
During the post-fight presser, the Philadelphia native would break down what took place in the Lightweight title eliminator.
“I just need to sit down and talk to ONE, make sure they correct this,” Alvarez said. “It’s not right. What happened was not right.
“It shouldn’t have been a DQ. It was a mistake. Whoever made the final decision made a mistake, and I’m going to respectfully try to get it reversed. That’s all. I don’t want to get in a fight with anyone. I don’t want to be mad at anyone. I just want everything to go back and get looked at. I just want the truth. That’s it. I just want the truth.”
Making Up For The Past
The truth-seeking Alvarez is still looking for an answer. The DQ result wouldn’t just end up being another loss on his record, but it would also result in a percentage of his purse being taken away.
“I don’t see how it’s not overturned,” Alvarez added. “I don’t discredit anyone based on what happens inside that cage. Referee, judging, all that. It’s high emotions and you have to make decisions based on a split second and I think the replay and after everybody goes back and looks will see everything was done righteously. I won fair and square.”
“I’m not trying to anger anyone or climb up any trees. I won tonight. I just hope that they go back and look at it and reverse the decision. I’ve made decisions in my past and I’ll be a man and step up and say that it was wrong. But tonight, I won. I think the American media and a lot of media know that I did and are pissed off about it.”
The Bosses’ Response
ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong isn’t so confident on overturning the fight to a victory/no-contest for his fighter.
“Eddie, the problem is that there were four or five illegal blows,” Sityodtong said in a video statement. “We reviewed it three times. Eddie didn’t have visibility because I know Eddie definitely didn’t mean to do it.”
Should ONE Championship change the result?
