The day after UFC bantamweight Irwin Rivera was arrested for attempted murder for allegedly stabbing his sisters, his family came to his defense – even the sisters themselves.
On Friday, Rivera’s sister, Lezlye, and her mother, Susana Campos, indicated that Rivera’s mental state was not well in the days leading up to the attack on Lezlye and another sister, Kelly, who was visiting Rivera from outside the city because they were worried about him. In a lengthy Facebook post, Lezlye said that she and her sister are “fine (and) fine” after Rivera allegedly stabbed them several times.
“All we want is for him to receive the professional mental help he needs so badly,” wrote Lezlye, adding that Rivera’s mental state had been “completely corrupted into something unrecognizable.”
Campos told the Mexican newspaper Milenio that Rivera “lost his memory and something evil dominated him a few days ago. His mind was blocked. He was not himself. “
Irwin Rivera’s photo.
According to a police report, Rivera’s alleged attack occurred in the middle of Thursday night. A 22-year-old woman was found on the street covered in blood. She told police that her brother, Rivera, had stabbed her and her sister inside her home. Police also found a 33-year-old woman covered in blood. She told police that she and her sister woke up being stabbed by Rivera.
Both sisters were taken to Delray Beach Medical Center to treat multiple stab wounds to the head, back, arms, face and hands. Police said the younger sister had two damaged lungs.
Rivera fled the scene. About four hours later, Delray Beach police found Rivera and he said he had killed his sisters. Once taken to Boynton Beach for the police to interview him, the police say he told them that he stabbed his sisters with an English punch, believing that he had killed them.
Rivera “said he did it because it was his purpose, that a higher power ordered him,” said the report.
Rivera was subsequently charged and charged with two counts of attempted murder. He is held without bail until Friday in his first appearance in court.
In a statement, the UFC said it was informed by Rivera’s management, Dominance MMA, that he had been “exhibiting behavior compatible with mental health problems”. The UFC said that Rivera will not have a fight until there are more details.
You can read Lezlye’s full message on Facebook below:
Kelz and I are fine and fine, so we just want to clean the air and make it clear that this is not about us! We love our brother the most and anyone who knows us in our family knows exactly how much we all LOVE and mean to each other and knows how close we are as a family, all we want is for him to receive professional mental help. need it so desperately.
Last weekend, my brother was not acting like himself. Do not sleep or talk like him and completely lose interest in his training, which we all know is what he lives to do. It worried me and made me jump on the next plane as quickly as possible and go check on him. Unfortunately, his mental stage was worse than we could have imagined and before we could help him, he broke down completely. 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 at some point in the last 24 hours his mentality has been completely corrupted into something unrecognizable. Once again, WE LOVE OUR BROTHER and we are 100% here to support him and try to get the help he so badly needs!
Rivera, who made his UFC debut in 2020 and went 1-2 with the promotion, most recently fell into the split decision for Andre Ewell last September at UFC Fight Night 178.