While UFC bantamweight Irwin Rivera is being held at a behavioral health center after his alleged stab at his two sisters, his family is coming to his defense.
Lezlye Rivera, sister of Irwin Rivera, posted on Friday an update on her Facebook account that details her brother’s behavior before the alleged attack. She wrote that she and her sister, Kelly Rivera, were “well and good” after the alleged attack and wanted to “clear the air” about what happened – and express support for their brother.
“We love our brother the most and anyone who knows us [sic] our family knows exactly how much we all LOVE and mean to each other and just knows [sic] how we are united as a family ”, she wrote in a message on Facebook, which was confirmed to MMA Fighting by her mother, Susana Campos. “All we want is for him to receive the professional mental help he needs so badly.”
Rivera, 31, is accused of repeatedly stabbing his sisters on Thursday morning in Boynton Beach, Florida. The police found a 22-year-old woman “covered in blood with several wounds,” and she told them that she and her sister had been attacked by their brother and stabbed with a pair of brass knuckles. Rivera was arrested four hours later by the police and admitted on the spot, according to an incident report issued by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department (Florida). He told the police that he thought he killed his sisters and did so because “it was his purpose” and he was “ordered by a higher power”.
According to the incident report, the 22-year-old woman had two collapsed lungs. An ESPN.com report said one victim was in stable condition, while the other was in critical condition after the attack.
Irwin Rivera first appeared in court on Friday morning through the public defender and received a non-contact order against his family, a Palm Beach County court spokesman told MMA Fighting on Friday afternoon. market. After a probable cause was found on two counts of attempted murder, he was ordered to be detained without bail. An emergency motion was granted to use the Baker Act, which allows people with mental illness to be kept involuntarily for up to 72 hours in a mental health treatment center, the spokesman said.
Rivera was sentenced to be detained in a locked facility at the behavioral health facility because he failed to receive adequate treatment in prison, the spokesman said. When you meet the criteria for leaving the behavioral health facility, you will be transported back to prison. He is due to return to court on March 4 for an initial conference of the case.
Lezlye Rivera wrote that she traveled to Florida last weekend to check on her brother because he “was not sleeping or speaking like himself and was completely losing interest in his training, which we all know he lives to do”.
“Unfortunately, his mental stage was worse then [sic] we could have imagined it and before we could help it, it broke completely, ”she wrote. “This is not easy for me or my family, but I ask you to keep MY BROTHER in your prayers, pray that he can stabilize and come back to us bc [sic] at some point in the past 24 hours, his mindset has been completely corrupted into something unrecognizable. “
Campos, in turn, told Milenio: “My son lost his memory and something bad took over him for a few days” and “his mind was blocked, he was no longer him”.
In a statement, the UFC said the charges against Rivera are “extremely worrying” and that the promotion is conducting an investigation into his case. Meanwhile, the roosterweight career was put on hold. According to Rivera’s management company, Dominance MMA, he has “shown behavior consistent with mental health problems.”
Rivera recently fought in the Octagon last October, when he lost on split decision to Andre Ewell at UFC Vegas 11.
Here is Lezlye Rivera’s full Facebook post.