(Obligatory.)
Maybe it’s just me, because I have a tendency to read too far into things, but based on his recent interview with MMAJunkie Radio, it seems to me that Karo Parisyan is *kind of* bitter over the fact that Ronda Rousey defected from his gym, Hayastan Academy, to train at Glendale Fight Club and in turn become the megastar that she is today.
A little context: You see, Karo Parisyan fancies himself as something like the king of Judo in MMA, and to some degree, his early success in the UFC did help spread awareness of Judo’s practicality in the sport. But Parisyan is also a bit of an egomaniac (see video above), so when Ronda decided to make the leap to GFC after training with Parisyan following her Olympic bronze medal win in 2008, one could expect that Karo might hold it against her. When his cousin, Manny Gamburyan, followed suit, well, you end up hearing stuff like this (emphasis mine):
That’s all good. No animosity toward them. Good for Manny, good for Ronda, because Manny’s always there with her at the trainings and stuff, and Ronda might be on her period and she might take her underwear off and stuff, so Manny helps her out with that stuff, too, like with the tampons and everything else. I’m being a dick to them.
Again, maybe it’s just me, but what in the actual fuck is Parisyan talking about here? He says there’s no animosity between the closely-located camps, then proceeds to insinuate…whatever he is insinuating there? It’s like, does he even know who Ronda Rousey is, bro?
Parisyan was equally critical of GFC head coach Edmund Tarverdyan, suggesting that he is “eating Rousey’s brain” by hyping her standup abilities.
You can’t even compare that gym to our gym, bro. We’re an established MMA gym and a judo gym for over 20 years. [Glendale Fighting Club] is a college gym that became an MMA gym somehow because Roman Mitichyan, one of our guys, one of my best training partners and friends, was taking judo over there, which is part of mixed martial arts, and they bring Edmund, (who) eats up Ronda’s brain and he does what he has to do and brings Ronda in. I don’t want to say eats up her brain, but kind of gets her (thinking), ‘You’ve got to this standup.’ Ronda likes Armenians; she’s been around us all her life. She joined the [GFC], and it’s helping her out, I guess. I don’t know.
Personally, I never trusted that snake in the grass Tarverdyan. Any man who wears glasses as big as his usually has a hidden, evil agenda lying just below the surface, I’ve learned (looking at you, Scorsese!). But you’ve got to love Parisyan’s complete non-committal to sticking by his criticisms here.
“Their gym is garbage, bro, and it’s run by amateurs who are destroying the fighter I helped create. But their helping her, I guess, so it’s whatever.”
To be fair, Parisyan was also quick to sing Rousey’s praises…
Why is Ronda frickin good? Why is Ronda an animal, this little white girl? Because guys would not come train with us. They didn’t want to come train with us, because they thought we were animals and we would hurt them. Ronda was this little white girl that would get on the mat and cry.
I would have to yell at her and say, ‘You better suck your lip back in right now and get on the f–king mat. We’re not dealing with your crap, Ronda.’ And she would suck it in. I would say a small joke and maybe smile, and boom, she was on the mat again, and she was f–king dudes up. That’s why she’s so good, because she was training with animals like us. And she’s naturally strong. Ronda’s legit.
Parisyan last competed at Bellator 116, where he picked up a second round KO over Ron Keslar. Prior to that, he was KO’d by Rick Hawn at Bellator 95.
So what do you think of Parisyan’s words, Nation? Is this just a simple case of sour grapes, or did Parisyan cross the line with the remarks about Rousey’s personal hygiene? And should Rousey be rightfully raked over the coals for abandoning those who helped build her into the fighter she is today? Also, magnets: How do they work?
You can listen to the full interview here, but in the meantime, here’s a slo-mo replay of Parisyan’s recent KO win set to some pretty catchy dance music.