In a Laval, Quebec courtroom this past week, a 12-member jury returned a not guilty verdict in a case stemming from a 2022 home invasion.

Per a report by the Montreal Gazette, the Argentinian’s Laval-area home had been broken into not once but twice on the night of May 23, 2022. During the second invasion, Larenas found himself in a life-or-death struggle with an armed 17-year old youth.

The attacker wound up on the wrong end of his own knife.

The jury took three days to deliver their verdict, which had them examine Larenas’ version of events, as well as question what motive he would have to commit murder under the circumstances.

In conjunction with his arrest, police had speculated that the incident had links to organized crime. The fighter and his wife, however, suggested they were targeted for robbery due to an inheritance.

During his testimony, Larenas, who competed for the UFC once in 2006 at UFC 58, testified he did not remember stabbing his attacker during an extended struggle. He theorized that it was possible the young man fell on his knife after Larenas disarmed him.

The would-be robber’s name cannot be publicized under Canadian law due to his age.

Larenas’s wife, Gladys Rosana Lopez, had been charged as an accomplice, but was previously acquitted by a judge due to a lack of evidence.

Police in Canada have habitually pushed self-defense cases to already overwhelmed courts, such as in an Oshawa, Ontario case in 2025 which saw a man forced to fight off an intruder armed with a crossbow, only to face charges himself. The incident sparked a national debate on self-defense in the country.

The Larenas ruling serves as a reminder that yes, Canadians do have a right to defend themselves in their own homes.

Larenas, with 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, who would both have careers with the UFC as well.

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Larenas, 41, and his partner, Gladys Rosana Lopez, 50, are both facing charges after they reported a home invasion to police in Laval, Quebec early Tuesday morning.

According to an early report on the incident by TVA Nouvelles, the couple claimed that five men had arrived at their house, looking to steal a “large inheritance” that had come the fighter’s way. The group, they claimed, posed as deliveryman and held them hostage for several hours.

At some point, a scuffle broke out, at which time the couple were able to flee the premises.

When police arrived to the couple’s residence, where the pair claimed to have been robbed, they found the body of what was later reported to be an unrecognizable 17-year old male. Local PD quickly turned the case over to Sûreté du Québec, due to the possible organized crime connection.

The nature of the connection has yet to be reveled by police. However, it has been alleged that Larenas stabbed and severely beat the teen, leaving him unrecognizable.

Larenas has since been charged with second-degree murder, while Lopez is facing a charge of being an accomplice after the fact.

In Canada, conviction on a charge of Murder in the Second Degree carries a sentence of Life, with no possibility of parole for at least ten years. Although Canadian laws on self-defense were revised in 2012, allowing citizens to defend themselves and their property against attacks in their home, the law notes that a citizen must cease using force once the attacker(s) backs down. They may not use more force than is necessary.

The couple are currently being held without bail after crown attorney Karine Dalphond contested their release. The pair will return to court on June 28.

Larenas, an Argentinian fighting out of Quebec, Canada, spent the bulk of his career in regional promotion TKO. In 2006, however, he took part in UFC 58, billed as “USA vs. Canada.”

Georges St-Pierre, Mark Hominick, and Sam Stout won for team Canada that night. Larenas, representing his adopted home, didn’t fare as well: in the very first fight of the evening, he wound up finished via TKO by another little-known heavyweight, TUF 2 veteran Tom Murphy.

Larenas would never return to the UFC. Instead, he returned to the regional circuit, losing a fight to future UFC athlete Krzysztof Soszynski, then picking up a win over another future UFC fighter in Steve Bosse.

Following 2008, however, the fights for Larenas began to dry up. He would compete off and on, last fighting under the TKO banner in 2018. His record currently sits at 6-6.

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