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Karo Parisyan was one of the first fighters that I saw fight in the UFC. I was immediately hooked by his dominating judo and his strength. I saw him throw opponents with ease, dropping them on their heads and dropping their chances of winning the fight...

Karo Parisyan's Curtain Call: UFC 88

by Kevin Curran (Columnist)

10

341 reads

Opinion

September 03, 2008


Karo Parisyan was one of the first fighters that I saw fight in the UFC. I was immediately hooked by his dominating judo and his strength.

I saw him throw opponents with ease, dropping them on their heads and dropping their chances of winning the fight. He just broke the spirits of his opponents.

Now with a loss to Thiago Alves behind him, Karo may be in trouble with his next opponent, Yushyhuki Yoshida.

Yoshida is a fourth degree black belt in judo and almost has even more credentials than Karo Parisyan. That is scary. Karo's game plan has always been clinch, clinch, and clinch, but now HE may be thrown if he clinches.

That must be a brainwracking thought for Karo. His whole life he has been the best, winning junior championships all the way up through Olympic judo. Now he faces a fellow Olympian who is hungry to prove himself.

Yoshiyuki holds wins over Akira Kiuchi, who holds a win over Jake Shields, and an overwhelming victory over Jon Koppenhaver at UFC 84 by Anaconda Choke. In the first minute!

Karo has also shown an inability to finish fights in his career, holding only one TKO victory. This could not be farther from the truth with "Zenko" Yoshida. He holds six TKO victories and the sick submissions of a judo black belt in his two submission victories.

Karo is a wily veteran and I do not discount that, but when a guy has all of your skills and a little bit more, it's hard to ignore him. Look out for Zenko, he's going places. First stop, standing over an unconscious Karo Parisyan.

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10 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Mike Barraza 10 months ago

    Nice job. Zenko is a guy I'm gonna be watching for a while, that submission over Koppenhaver was beautiful. However, I think Karo might be the guy that has translated his Judo to MMA better. We will see though.

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  2. Nick Colon 10 months ago

    Very nice article. I do disagree, but nicely written. It's true about Zenko, and he does look to be good, but please, as a fellow armenian, do not discount Karo. He is coming off a bad loss, and he should be training his butt off for this one. I expect the Heat to knock Yoshida out...cold.

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  3. Dorothy Willis 10 months ago

    What a great analysis! Poor Karo. He just found out from a sport's psychologist that he is suffering from panic attacks and is finding that hard to accept. A loss now would be horrible for him.

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  4. Todd Jackson 10 months ago

    Karo is one of my favorite fighters but lately has seemed a bit off. I also read he had some issues with anxiety attacks. I wonder how that translates in his training and in the octogon. He was quoted as saying before the Alves fight in his dressing room as saying I just want to go home. Hes fighting inner demons and still has the heart to compete. I was pleasantly surprised when I started watching Yoshiyuki. I think Judo is an underestimated art and it will be great to see two extremely talented practitioners of the art go head to head. Should make for an exciting fight. I have to call Karo on this one as I think it isnt just Judo that will wint the fight. It will be the basis but overall experience in the Octogon should go to Karo. I always thought he deserved a shot along with Sanchez. Both put up great fights and were overlooked. That being said, Yoshiyuki is obviously here to stay and will be a force in this division. I cant wait, I predict fight of the night on this one. Take care all.

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    • Kevin Curran 10 months ago

      ya just look at what hiromitsu miura did to condit with judo. Also, Yoshida is experienced in octagons as he was a cage force champ. definitely a candidate for fight of the night though as you said.

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  5. Nick Colon 10 months ago

    true he's never had a KO in his career, but that doesn't mean he doesn't throw punches...he'll win this...one way or another.

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    • Kevin Curran 10 months ago

      hes never had a submission either if you dont count a tap due to strikes. He has finished only one fight in his career.

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  6. Dorothy Willis 10 months ago

    How incredible that he isn't getting all the grief about "whether his mind is all right" that Georges got after he saw a sports psychologist. And GSP has been picked on and questioned ever since. Of course Karo would just tell them where to get off, I'm sure.

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