Eddie Alvarez was disqualified against Iuri Lapicus following what the referee deemed to be illegal blows to the back of the head earlier this month at ONE on TNT. The Philadelphia born, former UFC Champion was part of ONE’s highly promoted TNT debut, which also featured Demetrius Johnson. The promotion put out a press release conforming the ruling earlier today.
A panel consisting of 15 independent officials, One Championship personnel, judges and referees reviewed the call. While they did rule that illegal strikes to the back of the head did occur, they also determined that “a procedural misstep” took place when the referee disqualified Eddie Alvarez, thus handing Lapicus a win. The panel ruled that Alvarez should have been given a warning before the disqualification occurred.
Alvarez expressed his desire to appeal following the fight. “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,” he said at the post-fight press conference. 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.”
With the loss now officially removed from his record, “The Underground King” is set to take on Rae Yoon Ok at One on TNT 4 this Wednesday.
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