One Championship Fighter Iuri Lapicus Dead at Age 27 after Motorcycle Crash

One Championship lightweight contender Iuri Lapicus died on Monday in Milan, Italy, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

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.”

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A post shared by Giorgio Petrosyan (@giorgiopetrosyan)

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.