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Eddie Alvarez made his long-awaited return against Iuri Lapicus on the ONE on TNT card. However, the 'Underground King' was left in tears after a contoversial DQ loss to Lapicus.
Ariel Helwani from ESPN posted a video of Eddie Alvarez breaking down backstage after the loss. Sympathizing with fighters have to go through, Helwani wrote:
"This is Eddie Alvarez after last night’s disappointing ending. Very hard to see a legend like Alvarez like this. This is the toll of months of grueling physical/mental preparation. Fighters, man. Special people. Respect them."
After staying out of the action for 20 months, Eddie Alvarez returned to face Iuri Lapicus. A win would have launched Alvarez into contention for the ONE lightweight title.
Alvarez went in for the finish early after securing a takedown in the opening round. He then unleashed a vicious ground and pound attack but failed to take notice as Lapicus turned his head. Eddie Alvarez was shown the red card for strikes that were deemed illegal by the referee.
Eddie Alvarez thinks he won the fight
The former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion still believes that he won the fight on ONE on TNT. Condemning the referee's call, Eddie Alvarez told South China Morning Post:
"I went back to my room and I was able to watch the clip of the fight and see everything. It was a bad call on the referee’s side, The American media is in an uproar right now and so are the American fans. I’m gonna respectfully ask them to look back at the video and reverse their call."
While Alvarez was devasted after the loss, he expressed concern for Iuri Lapicus' safety. Sharing his best wishes, Eddie Alvarez said:
“All that matters is Iuri’s safety. That’s it right now, that he’s gonna be OK. The referee… people make bad decisions when emotions run high and I think it was a bad call. I have mixed emotions right now but I feel like I just won the fight. I just beat the number two guy and they gave me a loss, you know what I mean? So I don’t know how to feel right now.”
