One of the sisters stabbed by UFC fighter Irwin Rivera said Friday that his brother had not acted like him in the days leading up to Thursday’s incident.
Rivera’s sisters, Lezlye and Kelly, remain hospitalized but in stable condition, fighter manager Ali Abdelaziz told ESPN.
On Friday earlier, in a Facebook post, Lezlye wrote that Rivera had not slept, did not talk about the way he would normally do, and that he had completely lost interest in MMA training, which is what he “lives to do.” . Lezlye said he flew to visit Rivera in Florida because of his strange behavior.
“Unfortunately his mental stage was worse than we could [have] he imagined and before we could help him he broke up completely, ”Lezlye wrote.
“His mentality has been completely corrupted into something that is not recognized.”
According to an incident report from the Boynton Beach police department obtained by ESPN, Rivera, who was arrested Thursday, admitted he tried to kill his two sisters by stabbing them with a knife in the early hours of the morning. Rivera said, according to the report, that killing his sisters was his purpose, which he called “a higher power.”
Rivera made his first court appearance Friday morning and is now being held at a behavioral health center after the court granted an emergency motion, according to online records. He was charged with two counts of attempted murder and is being held without bail.
Abdelaziz said Rivera was “very respectful” and was a favorite of his Dominance MMA management team. He described Rivera’s actions as unusual and, like Rivera’s sisters, wants the fighter to get mental health care.
“His sisters support him 100%,” Abdelaziz told ESPN. “They said, ‘My brother is a good, handsome human being and he needs help. They said he really wasn’t him.’
In the Facebook post, Lezlye wrote that she and her family “wish [Rivera] to get the professional mental help he so desperately needs. “
Rivera’s mother, Susana Campos, told the Mexican publication Milenio that her son “lost his memory and that something bad took over him a few days ago. His mind was blocked. It wasn’t him.”
Rivera, a 31-year-old Florida resident in Mexico, made his UFC debut last May and went 1-2 in 2020. He is a former Tant FC heavyweight champion.
In a statement Thursday, the UFC said it was investigating the “extremely worrying” situation and would not offer Rivera a fight at the moment.