Former ONE Championship title challenger Iuri Lapicus dead at 27
Iuri Lapicus, a one-time ONE Championship title challenger has died at 27.
Lapicus’ death was first reported by his friend and training partner in former ONE featherweight kickboxing champion Giorgio Petrosyan. The news was later confirmed by multiple outlets including ONE Championship, who confirmed the news to SCMP.
“The ONE Championship team is heartbroken over the tragic passing of Iuri Lapicus. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones at this difficult time,” the promotion said to SCMP.
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According to Italian outlets, Lapicus was reportedly in a motorcycle Pogliano Milanese, Italy on Friday. The reports state that Lapicus lost control of his motorbike and collided with a car around noon. The driver of the card did not have any serious injuries but Lapicus was airlifted to Niguarda Hospital and unfortunately passed away due to his injuries three days later.
Iuri Lapicus (14-2) last fought back in August and suffered a first-round knockout loss to Zebaztian Kadestam at ONE Fight Night 1. Prior to that, he had the No Contest against Eddie Alvarez at ONE on TNT 1 – which was originally a DQ win for Lapicus due to illegal strikes but the fight was later overturned to a No Contest.
Prior to the fight against Alvarez, Lapicus fought for the welterweight title but suffered a first-round knockout loss to Christian Lee for his first career loss. Lapicus went 2-2 and one No Contest in ONE Championship and earned the title shot after a third-round submission win over Shannon Wiratchai and a first-round submission win over Marat Gafurov. Prior to signing with the Singapore-based promotion, Lapicus fought in Italian promotions.
Iuri Lapicus, who was born in Moldova, was just 27 years old when he passed away.
Our thoughts go out to Lapicus’ friends and family after this heartbreaking tragedy. RIP.
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ONE Championship
