ONE Championship star Luri Lapicus is dead at 27 due to a motorcycle crash in Italy. The Moldovan native was a former top contender for the welterweight title in the promotion.
It is believed that the fighter lost control of his motorcycle before colliding with a car near Milan on Friday.
The car driver was identified as a 69-year-old woman. She escaped without any severe injury. Lapicus was first taken to a hospital in Milan. He was in a coma for three days before taking his last breath at the same facility.
ONE Championship confirmed Lapicus’ death in a statement to ESPN.
“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 statement read.
Kickboxing champion Jon Di Bella and former MMA champions Aung La N Sang, Joshua Pacio and Eduard Folayang are among many of his sports colleagues who have shared their condolences.
The MMA star had five fights under his belt at the company. Ever since his debut in 2019, he won twice, lost twice, and had a no-contest against Eddie Alvarez in 2021.
His wins came against Shannon Wiratchai and Marat Gafurov which earned him a title shot against Christian Lee in 2020. He went on to lose the fight in the first round via technical knockout.