— ShayMyName2 (@imstillshannon)
April 8, 2021
Eddie
Alvarez’s disqualification loss against Iuri
Lapicus at One Championship on TNT 1 has been overturned to a
no contest.
According to a report from
ESPN, a panel of 15 independent officials, One personnel,
judges and referees unanimous determined that a “procedural
misstep” occurred when referee Justin Brown issued Alvarez a red
card to prompt the disqualification. While the panel confirmed that
Alvarez landed multiple illegal blows to the back of Lapicus’ head,
it also determined that the former UFC and Bellator champion should
have initially received a yellow card, which constitutes a
warning.
Due to the ruling, the red card has been rescinded and a yellow
card has been issued to Alvarez retroactively. Additionally, the
result of the bout has been officially changed. The identity of the
members of the One Championship panel was not revealed. One
Championship served as its own regulator for the event, which took
place in Singapore.
Alvarez quickly took Lapicus to the canvas in their April 7 bout,
and as he unloaded with punches, he was warned to avoid landing
blows to the back of his opponent’s head. After the initial
warning, Lapicus fell to the canvas in pain as Alvarez continued
the assault. Brown then intervened and the contest was waved off at
the 1:02 mark of Round 1.
“Iuri was turning his head the other way, and the referee warned
me… So you see me take my head and I start shoving his head toward
my punch,” Alvarez said in a post-fight interview. “On top of that,
I felt like as long as it’s the ear, as long as I’m hitting the ear
at some point, it’s legal.”
Alvarez will make a quick turnaround when he faces Rae Yoon Ok
at One on TNT 4 on April 28.