One Championship lightweight contender Iuri
Lapicus died on Monday in Milan, Italy, from injuries sustained
in a motorcycle accident.
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According to Italian newspaper
Il Giorno, a 27-year-old man lost control of his motorbike and
collided with a car around noon on Friday, March 17, in Pogliano
Milanese, a small community outside Milan. The cyclist in question
was confirmed by members of his team to be Lapicus, in response to
an inquiry by Sherdog. The driver of the vehicle, a 69-year-old
woman, received medical assistance at the scene, but was not
reported to have suffered any serious injury. Lapicus’ injuries
were severe and he was immediately taken by helicopter to a
hospital in Milan, where he fell into a coma. He never regained
consciousness and died three days later.
World champion kickboxer Giorgio Petrosyan, a longtime friend and
teammate, paid tribute to Lapicus on Instagram with a post
captioned, “I want to remember you like that. R.I.P.”
Lapicus (14-2, 1NC) started his mixed martial arts career by piling
up 12 straight victories before being enrolled in ONE’s 170-pound
lightweight division, where he made an impactful debut by wrecking
Shannon
Wiratchai in the third round in May 2019. He then forced former
One titleholder Marat
Gafurov to tap due to a rear-naked choke before losing to
Christian
Lee in a championship clash at One “Inside the Matrix.” Lapicus
also defeated former Bellator MMA and Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder
Eddie
Alvarez in a match later overturned to a no contest. In his
last appearance, he lost to Zebaztian
Kadestam at One on Prime Video 1 in August.