Tag: Karo Parisyan

Bellator 95 Video Highlights + Results: Curran Submits Shamhalaev in Featherweight Title Defense, Year of the Rhino Continues

Bellator’s eighth season ended much like it began — with featherweight champion Pat Curran putting his belt on the line and emerging victorious. His opponent in the main event of last night’s Bellator 95 card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was Shahbulat Shamhalaev, the Dagestan-bred knockout artist who clinched his title shot with his KO of Rad Martinez in February. Unlike his 25-minute squeaker against Patricio Freire in January, Curran only needed half a round to take Shamhalaev down and put him to sleep with an arm-in guillotine, earning his second successful title defense.

Depending on availability, Curran’s next opponent could be Season 6 winner Daniel Straus — who was forced to withdraw from Bellator 95 due to a broken hand — or Bellator’s latest featherweight tournament winner, Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev, who defeated Mike Richman in a 15-minute dogfight last night. Though Richman was game through all three rounds, opening up some cuts on the Russian’s face in round two, Frodo clearly had the advantages in striking, takedowns, and overall aggression. Khasbulaev was awarded 30-27 scores from all three judges, and a $100,000 check from his employer.

In the night’s other Season 8 tournament final, middleweight Doug “The Rhino” Marshall continued his improbable career comeback by knocking out Brett Cooper in the first round. Cooper had some success early in putting Marshall on his back, but once Marshall regained his footing, it was Rhino Time. A hard right hand from Marshall sent Cooper to the canvas, and some follow-up bombs sealed the deal. The win increased Marshall’s Bellator record to 4-0, with three of those wins by first-round KO/TKO.

“Man, I hope he’s OK,” Marshall said afterwards. “I was trying to knock his beard off, but it didn’t come off. Maybe next time.”

Bellator’s eighth season ended much like it began — with featherweight champion Pat Curran putting his belt on the line and emerging victorious. His opponent in the main event of last night’s Bellator 95 card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was Shahbulat Shamhalaev, the Dagestan-bred knockout artist who clinched his title shot with his KO of Rad Martinez in February. Unlike his 25-minute squeaker against Patricio Freire in January, Curran only needed half a round to take Shamhalaev down and put him to sleep with an arm-in guillotine, earning his second successful title defense.

Depending on availability, Curran’s next opponent could be Season 6 winner Daniel Straus — who was forced to withdraw from Bellator 95 due to a broken hand — or Bellator’s latest featherweight tournament winner, Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev, who defeated Mike Richman in a 15-minute dogfight last night. Though Richman was game through all three rounds, opening up some cuts on the Russian’s face in round two, Frodo clearly had the advantages in striking, takedowns, and overall aggression. Khasbulaev was awarded 30-27 scores from all three judges, and a $100,000 check from his employer.

In the night’s other Season 8 tournament final, middleweight Doug “The Rhino” Marshall continued his improbable career comeback by knocking out Brett Cooper in the first round. Cooper had some success early in putting Marshall on his back, but once Marshall regained his footing, it was Rhino Time. A hard right hand from Marshall sent Cooper to the canvas, and some follow-up bombs sealed the deal. The win increased Marshall’s Bellator record to 4-0, with three of those wins by first-round KO/TKO.

“Man, I hope he’s OK,” Marshall said afterwards. “I was trying to knock his beard off, but it didn’t come off. Maybe next time.”

The main card was led off by a grudge match between ex-judo rivals Rick Hawn and Karo Parisyan. Parisyan was making his Bellator debut last night, and Hawn was returning to the welterweight division to greet him, following his unsuccessful tournament run at lightweight. Parisyan looked sharp in the opening frame, out-landing Hawn on the feet — until the closing seconds when Hawn landed a head kick that rung Parisyan’s bell and blitzed him with punches as the round ended. With momentum on his side, Hawn repeatedly found a home for his right hand in the second round. Eventually, he dropped Parisyan with it, and poured on hammerfists until the ref intervened.

Full results from Bellator 95 are below…

MAIN CARD
– Pat Curran def. Shahbulat Shamhalaev via submission (guillotine choke), 2:38 of round 1, retains featherweight title
– Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev def. Mike Richman via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3), wins season 8 featherweight tournament
– Doug Marshall def. Brett Cooper via KO (punches), 3:39 of round 1, wins season 8 middleweight tournament
– Rick Hawn def. Karo Parisyan via KO, 1:55 of round 2

PRELIMINARY CARD
– Lyman Good def. Dante Rivera via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
– Sam Oropeza def. Shedrick Goodridge via TKO, 4:22 of round 2
– Tom DeBlass def. Carlos Brooks via TKO (doctor’s stoppage), 5:00 of round 2
– Phillipe Nover def. Darrel Horcher via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)
– Jimmie Rivera def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x 2)
– Will Martinez def. Michael Brent Hess via KO, 4:15 of round 1
– Kevin Roddy def. Brylan Van Artsdalen via submission (armbar), 1:04 of round 2
– Liam McGeary def. Anton Talamantes via TKO, 1:18 of round 1

Rick Hawn Beat Karo Parisyan in Judo and Plans Do to the Same at Bellator 95

The history between Bellator 95 fighters Rick Hawn and Karo Parisyan goes back more than a decade when they were both Judo practitioners looking to make their Olympic dream a reality. Their careers splintered into two very different directions after th…

The history between Bellator 95 fighters Rick Hawn and Karo Parisyan goes back more than a decade when they were both Judo practitioners looking to make their Olympic dream a reality.

Their careers splintered into two very different directions after that time however as Hawn remained focused on Judo all the way until 2008, while Parisyan opted for a career in mixed martial arts that saw him fighting much more experience competitors when he was only 17-years old.

Hawn eventually made his way to MMA as well, and now, years later he meets Parisyan in the cage as opposed to the mats where they first met all those many years ago.

“We were in the same weight class actually in the 90’s, early 2000’s, but we fought at the same weight class 178-pounds.  We fought a couple times, I won both those fights way back when,” Hawn told Bleacher Report about his history with Parisyan.  “So he was definitely someone I knew of and maybe left judo early to pursue MMA.  It was a person that was just another rival, another competitor I guess.”

To look at their records, the assumption would be that Parisyan is the older, grizzled veteran going into his fight with Hawn on Thursday night, but the one-time UFC welterweight contender is only 30-years old while his opponent will celebrate his 37th birthday later this year.

15 years of fighting MMA has put a ton of wear and tear on Parisyan however, and despite the fact that he’s the younger of the two former Judo stars, he’s seen plenty of ups and downs since his first professional bout in 1999.

During those years and fights, Parisyan has often been accused of not taking his training seriously and dedicating the work necessary to match the incredible skill he seemed to possess whenever he stepped foot in a cage. Parisyan has also struggled mightily with panic attacks that have literally crippled him before fighting, and it’s an ongoing battle he continues to fight today.

Hawn‘s heard all the stories about Parisyan and his mental preparedness going into fights, and he believes that’s one area that he trumps his former judo mate in a big way and it will show on Thursday night.

“It does come down to mental preparation.  I’ve been a professional for many, many years and I know how to prepare. I’ve trained with the best fighters, the best judo guys, I know what it takes to be the best,” said Hawn.   “I know how to do that. I do that same thing for MMA.  I prepare mentally and physically the best way I can. I’ve never really seen that from his side, even when he was on back in the day.  He did well, but I think mentally I have a huge up on him.”

Hawn has watched plenty of tape on Parisyan ahead of their fight this week.  He studied the fights where Parisyan was on a short list of the best welterweights in the world, but Hawn has also watched plenty of fights that he’s had recently as well. 

Over his last seven fights, Parisyan has gone 3-4 with sporadic performances happening over the last three years. When on his game, Parisyan can still be one of the most dangerous fighters at 170 pounds, but it’s a mystery when that version will show up. Hawn isn’t sure that version of Parisyan will ever appear again, but he plans on testing the waters on Thursday night.

“He’s not the same fighter he was back in the early days in the UFC.  He may never be that same fighter again,” Hawn said about Parisyan.   “I don’t think he’s back to that point now.  I’ve watched the videos of the last year or so, and I’ve broken it down a little bit and kind of picked him apart and see what I can exploit.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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[VIDEO] Karo Parisyan Submits Hapless Opponent at Gladiator Challenge: King of the Mountain


(Karo Parisyan: A beast when he wins, a Hollywood cliche when he loses.)

Did someone say King of the mountain?

It may be a long time before we see Karo Parisyan competing in a top level promotion again, but he took one step closer by utterly destroying Anonymous Tatted-up Opponent #237 (known professionally as, we shit you not, Tiger Bonds) at Gladiator Challenge: King of the Mountain over the weekend. It was Parisyan’s second victory in his past three contests, which is only made less than impressive when you consider that his other win came over Thomas Denny. And that he had dropped four of his past five before that. But hey, we’re taking the optimistic approach today, so all you haters can suck a bag of dicks.

Video after the jump.


(Karo Parisyan: A beast when he wins, a Hollywood cliche when he loses.)

Did someone say King of the mountain?

It may be a long time before we see Karo Parisyan competing in a top level promotion again, but he took one step closer by utterly destroying Anonymous Tatted-up Opponent #237 (known professionally as, we shit you not, Tiger Bonds) at Gladiator Challenge: King of the Mountain over the weekend. It was Parisyan’s second victory in his past three contests, which is only made less than impressive when you consider that his other win came over Thomas Denny. And that he had dropped four of his past five before that. But hey, we’re taking the optimistic approach today, so all you haters can suck a bag of dicks.

Video below.

Adhering to the advice offered by his legion of swooning fans, Parisyan does in fact “Bring the heat” in the early going, nearly finding Bonds’ off button with the first punch he throws. From there, it’s Karo 101: judo toss, clinch, judo toss, armbar. Whereas most MMA sites covering this will likely offer up some hackneyed “He looks like the Karo of old” type phrase somewhere in their assessment of his performance, we’re a little more hesitant to declare that Karo version 2.0, 2.5, 3.75 is finally back on the right track. That said, he looked a lot better than he has in quite some time and we truly wish all the best for the guy in the future.

Ugh. All this optimism is making me feel dead inside.

–J. Jones

ShoFIGHT 20 Recap: Grove is now Champion, Fickett is now Homeless

It’s easy- perhaps even a bit lazy- to compare the embattled MMA fighter Drew Fickett to the similarly troubled Scott Hall. In their primes, both men performed on their respective sport’s biggest stages against recognizable names. In Fickett’s case, this meant a run in the UFC and notable victories over Dennis Hallman, Kenny Florian, Josh Neer, Josh Koscheck and Kurt Pellegrino.

Yet it’s arguable that both men are more famous for their self-destructive, chaotic lifestyles outside of sport than they are for their accomplishments. Both men have well documented struggles with addiction, have been fired from major promotions over their drunken antics and have attempted to stay relevant in their respective sports with increasingly tragic results.

Case in point: Last night’s ShoFIGHT 20, which took place on the campus of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. The show was essentially a who’s who of washouts from bigger promotions, which included (aside from Fickett) John Gunderson, Karo Parisyan, Kendall Grove, Lyle Beerbohm, Marcus Aurelio, Charles Bennett, “Smilin'” Sam Alvey and Roli Delgado. This card saw Fickett matched up against submission specialist Jonatas Novaes.

It’s easy- perhaps even a bit lazy- to compare the embattled MMA fighter Drew Fickett to the similarly troubled Scott Hall. In their primes, both men performed on their respective sport’s biggest stages against recognizable names. In Fickett’s case, this meant a run in the UFC and notable victories over Dennis Hallman, Kenny Florian, Josh Neer, Josh Koscheck and Kurt Pellegrino.

Yet it’s arguable that both men are more famous for their self-destructive, chaotic lifestyles outside of sport than they are for their accomplishments. Both men have well documented struggles with addiction, have been fired from major promotions over their drunken antics and have attempted to stay relevant in their respective sports with increasingly tragic results.

Case in point: Last night’s ShoFIGHT 20, which took place on the campus of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. The show was essentially a who’s who of washouts from bigger promotions, which included (aside from Fickett) John Gunderson, Karo Parisyan, Kendall Grove, Lyle Beerbohm, Marcus Aurelio, Charles Bennett, “Smilin’” Sam Alvey and Roli Delgado. This card saw Fickett matched up against submission specialist Jonatas Novaes.

Before the fight, MMAJunkie.com revealed that, aside from moving from Arizona to Florida to enter a rehabilitation facility and train at American Top Team, Fickett was in very real danger of becoming homeless if he did not receive a win bonus for his performance. And while Fickett walked to the cage with a sign proudly proclaiming his forty two days of sobriety, he did not last one minute into the fight. Fickett was caught with a head kick early and covered up until the referee stopped the fight.

As depressing of a result as this is for Drew Fickett’s 60th professional fight, “Night Rider” believes that he could retire with 100 fights under his belt.

In far less depressing news, John Gunderson quickly submitted Karo Parisyan by guillotine choke. After being taken down early by “The Heat”, Gunderson caught Parisyan with a huge left knee. Parisyan desperately dove in for a takedown, and was caught in the fight-ending guillotine for his efforts. Gunderson improves to 34-14, while Parisyan has lost four of his last five fights.

TUF 3 champion Kendall Grove won the ShoFIGHT middleweight title last night as well, earning a split-decision victory over the previously undefeated Derek Brunson. Brunson took the fight on only four days’ notice, as the original challenger, noted punching bag Terry Martin, was not cleared by the Missouri Office of Athletics  to fight. Because of this, the bout was only three rounds, and at a catchweight of 190 pounds.

Grove was taken down often, yet remained busy from his back, attempting multiple submissions. When Grove landed an illegal upkick in the third round, the referee stood up the fight (?!), and Grove was able to pick apart Derek Brunson as the fight came to an end. Grove is now 15-10 with the victory.

Also of note, former Strikeforce lightweight Lyle Beerbohm battered and bloodied Marcus Aurelio on his way to a unanimous decision victory that all three judges saw 30-26. Aurelio was simply no match for “Fancy Pants” throughout the fight, being taken down at will and unable to threaten with any submission attempts. Beerbohm has now won three straight fights since being cut from Strikeforce.

Full Results:

Main Card:

John Gunderson def. Karo Parisyan by submission (guillotine choke), 2:04 of Round One
Kendall Grove def. Derek Brunson by split decision
Lyle Beerbohm def. Marcus Aurelio by unanimous decision
Mike Wessel def. Matt Kovacs by TKO (strikes), 4:50 of Round Two
Jonatas Novaes def. Drew Fickett by TKO (strikes), 0:51 seconds of Round One
Chris Greutzemacher def. Roli Delgado by TKO (elbows), 3:24 of round 3

Preliminary Card:

Sevak Magakian def. James Reese by unanimous decision
Chris McDaniel def. Charles Bennett by submission (triangle choke), 2:52 of Round One
Lucas Lopez def. Sam Alvey by TKO (strikes), 1:37 of Round One
Dustin Phillips def. Allen Gibson by unanimous decision
Matt Lucas def. Lucas Overcast by unanimous decision
Mike Brazzle def. Karen Darabedyan by TKO (strikes), 4:15 of Round One
Jacob Ritchie def. Robert Saborudden by TKO (strikes), 3:28 of Round Three
Jason Ignacek def. Gary Michaels via unanimous decision

“WMMA: McCorkle vs. Heden” — Big Sexy Gets TKO’d, Parisyan and Fancy Pants Win Big

(McCorkle vs. Heden round 1; round 2 is after the jump. Props: PVTHansen16)

Notably stacked for a regional card, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts‘ debut event went down Saturday night in El Paso, Texas, and was highlighted by an upset in the main event and a handful of UFC vets smashing their way into the win column.

At this point, when Sean McCorkle gets booked against a smaller, doughier opponent with a journeyman’s record, we just assume that “Big Sexy” will bully his way to a first-round stoppage without much difficulty. But WMMA 1’s super-heavyweight main event didn’t go down like that. Though McCorkle (who tipped the scales at 312 pounds) came very close to finishing the 287-pound Brian Heden near the end of the first round, he blew his cardio wad in the process. With McCorkle barely able to lift his arms in round two, Heden was able to reverse a takedown, trap McCorkle’s left arm, and slug his way to a TKO victory. According to Danga, the announcer referred to the win as “the upset of the century.” (Somewhere, Gus Johnson is masturbating.) In a follow-up post on the UG, McCorkle lamented the cardio problems that have plagued his entire athletic career, credited Heden for showing up in “decent shape”* and vowed to retire if his cardio ever contributed to another loss.

In the co-main event, Karo Parisyan snapped a three-fight losing streak when he scored a unanimous decision over veteran Thomas Denny. Even more impressive, Drew Fickett snapped a four-fight losing streak when he choked out WEC/Bellator vet Kevin Knabjian, despite reports that Fickett was pretty well sauced throughout fight week. (Obviously, it could have been worse.)


(McCorkle vs. Heden round 1; round 2 is after the jump. Props: PVTHansen16)

Notably stacked for a regional card, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts‘ debut event went down Saturday night in El Paso, Texas, and was highlighted by an upset in the main event and a handful of UFC vets smashing their way into the win column.

At this point, when Sean McCorkle gets booked against a smaller, doughier opponent with a journeyman’s record, we just assume that “Big Sexy” will bully his way to a first-round stoppage without much difficulty. But WMMA 1′s super-heavyweight main event didn’t go down like that. Though McCorkle (who tipped the scales at 312 pounds) came very close to finishing the 287-pound Brian Heden near the end of the first round, he blew his cardio wad in the process. With McCorkle barely able to lift his arms in round two, Heden was able to reverse a takedown, trap McCorkle’s left arm, and slug his way to a TKO victory. According to Danga, the announcer referred to the win as “the upset of the century.” (Somewhere, Gus Johnson is masturbating.) In a follow-up post on the UG, McCorkle lamented the cardio problems that have plagued his entire athletic career, credited Heden for showing up in “decent shape”* and vowed to retire if his cardio ever contributed to another loss.

In the co-main event, Karo Parisyan snapped a three-fight losing streak when he scored a unanimous decision over veteran Thomas Denny. Even more impressive, Drew Fickett snapped a four-fight losing streak when he choked out WEC/Bellator vet Kevin Knabjian, despite reports that Fickett was pretty well sauced throughout fight week. (Obviously, it could have been worse.)

Further down the card, Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm rebounded from his two-fight skid in Strikeforce with a first-round guillotine choke against Cleburn Walker. Also, UFC veteran Rodney “Sho Nuff the Master” Wallace outpointed Derrick Mehmen, while TUF 10 punchline Darrill Schoonover scored the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision against Paul Buentello. The full list of results from WMMA 1 — as well as the stunning conclusion of McCorkle vs. Heden — are below.

– Brian Heden def. Sean McCorkle via TKO in round two
– Karo Parisyan def. Thomas Denny via unanimous decision
– Lyle Beerbohm def. Cleburn Walker via submission (guillotine choke) in round one
– Drew Fickett def. Kevin Knabjian via submission (guillotine choke) in round one
– Willie Parks def. Jamaine Facey via unanimous decision
– Rodney Wallace def. Derrick Mehmen via unanimous decision
– Darrill Schoonover def. Paul Buentello via unanimous decision
– Chris Gruetzemacher def. Frank Gomez via TKO in round one
– Esteves Jones def. Deutsch Pu’u via TKO in round one
– Lionel Lanham def. Brad Peterson via TKO in round one

* I was going to make a lame joke about “round” being a shape, but Heden’s body-type is more “amorphous” than anything else.

Heads Up: Parisyan, McCorkle, Beerbohm, Fickett, Buentello, Schoonover and Denny Are Fighting This Weekend in Texas

(Video courtesy of YouTube/WMMASPORTS1)

If you’re looking for an MMA fix to get you through until UFC 145, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts is holding its inaugural show on Saturday in El Paso, Texas.

The promotion put together the pretty slick looking promo above for its McCorkle vs. Heden: Fighting For A Better World event that will see a portion of the proceeds from the show donated to the Wounded Warriors project.

In the main and co-main event of the evening, former UFC heavyweight Sean McCorkle will take on a somewhat unknown fighter by the name of Brian Heden and onetime UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan will face King of the Cage, EliteXC and MFC vet Thomas “Wildman” Denny. The event will be available for rent via pay-per-view.

During the promo, clips were shown of Parisyan’s first fight — a bare-knuckle scrap he had in Mexico when he was 14 against a 20-something local champion.

Check out the entire impressive fight by young Karo and the complete WMMA fight card after the jump.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/WMMASPORTS1)

If you’re looking for an MMA fix to get you through until UFC 145, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts is holding its inaugural show on Saturday in El Paso, Texas.

The promotion put together the pretty slick looking promo above for its McCorkle vs. Heden: Fighting For A Better World event that will see a portion of the proceeds from the show donated to the Wounded Warriors project.

In the main and co-main event of the evening, former UFC heavyweight Sean McCorkle will take on a somewhat unknown fighter by the name of Brian Heden and onetime UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan will face King of the Cage, EliteXC and MFC vet Thomas “Wildman” Denny. The event will be available for rent via pay-per-view.

During the promo, clips were shown of Parisyan’s first fight — a bare-knuckle scrap he had in Mexico when he was 14 against a 20-something local champion.

Check out the entire impressive fight by young Karo and the complete WMMA fight card below.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/MXARMO)


(Video courtesy of YouTube/MXARMO)
———-

WMMA 1- McCorkle vs. Hedin: Fighting For A Better World
Saturday, March 30, 2012
Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX

Main Card
Sean McCorkle vs. Brian Heden (Super Heavyweight)
Thomas Denny vs. Karo Parisyan (170lbs)
Lyle Beerbohm vs. Derrick Noble (170lbs)
Drew Fickett vs. Kevin Knabjian (155lbs)
Jamaine Facey vs. Willie Parks (170lbs)
Rodney Wallace vs. Derrick Mehmen (205lbs)

Under Card
Darrill “Titties” Schoonover vs. Paul Buentello (265lbs)
Frank Gomez vs. Chris Gruetzemacher (145lbs)
Deutsch Pu’u vs. Esteves Jones (265lbs)
Lionel Lanham vs. Brad Peterson (185lbs)