Edouardo Larenas, a former UFC fighter and mixed martial artist who competed under the name Icho during his fighting days, has been acquitted of murder.
In a courtroom in Laval, Quebec, a 12-person jury returned a not guilty verdict this past week in a case stemming from a 2022 home invasion.
Per a report from the Montreal GazetteOn the night of May 23, 2022, the Argentinian’s home in the Laval area was broken into not once but twice. During the second invasion, Larenas found himself in a life-or-death struggle with an armed 17-year-old boy.
The attacker ended up on the wrong end of his own knife.
The jury took three days to deliver their verdict, during which they had to examine Larenas’ version of events and ask themselves what motive he would have to commit murder under the circumstances.
In conjunction with his arrest, police had speculated that the incident was linked to organized crime. However, the fighter and his wife suggested they were being targeted for a robbery over an inheritance.
During his testimony, Larenas, who competed once for the UFC at UFC 58 in 2006, testified that he did not remember stabbing his attacker during a lengthy fight. He theorized that it was possible that the young man fell on his knife after Larenas disarmed him.
The name of the potential robber cannot be made public due to his age under Canadian law.
Larenas’ wife, Gladys Rosana Lopez, was charged as an accomplice but was previously acquitted by a judge due to lack of evidence.
Police in Canada have commonly referred self-defense cases to already overwhelmed courts, such as in a 2025 case in Oshawa, Ontario, in which a man forced to fend off an invader armed with a crossbowonly to be sued himself. The incident sparked a national debate on self-defense in the country.
The Larenas ruling is a reminder that Canadians do indeed have the right to defend themselves in their own homes.
Larenas, who has a career record of 6-6 as a pro, last fought in 2018 in a losing effort under the TKO banner. During his fighting career, he shared the cage with the likes of Krzysztof Soszynski and hockey enforcer Steve Bosse, both of whom would also have careers in the UFC.
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