Eddie Alvarez called for his disqualification loss to Iuri Lapicus at ONE on TNT earlier this month to be overturned. And he’s gotten exactly what he wanted.
On Monday morning, ONE championship officials told Ariel Helwani of ESPN about the change following the completion of an investigation. Per a press release from ONE, a vote was taken by a “panel of independent industry experts and ONE Championship officials, judges, and referees” and they unanimously determined that the decision should be changed after a “procedural misstep” from referee Justin Brown.
In the opening round, Alvarez took Lapicus down and had him pressed up against the cage where he started to throw several right hands to the head of his opponent. Lapicus turned his head while Alvarez was continuing to strike, which left the back of his head exposed. Alvarez was verbally warned by Brown about the placement of those strikes, but went on with the attack before being stopped seconds later after Lapicus fell back to the canvas.
Brown responded by issuing a red card, thus disqualifying Alvarez immediately. Upon review of the fight footage, the panel believed that Brown should have issued a yellow card that served as a warning instead. The red card Alvarez received has been taken back and replaced with a yellow card.
Alvarez, who has already booked his next appearance in Singapore, has since responded to the decision on social media.
“Thank you to One Championship and the entire board for considering my review of the recent DQ , and ultimately deciding to overturning it,” wrote Alvarez. “The whole process was done with great care and consideration of my career. These seemingly small outcomes mean the world to me, my family and fans supports me. We put our life into this sport and take our performance and it’s outcome very serious, I am grateful that the committee involved has done exactly the same. Thank you.”
Alvarez now holds an overall record of 30-8 (2 NCs). He gets a quick turnaround and meets Rae Yoon Ok at ONE on TNT 4 this Wednesday.
About the author
