The production company that filmed and produced the videos for last week’s MMA Live 1 event in London, Ontario, Canada are Cage Potato fans, and as such, they sent along the full video above of Thursday’s main event between Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford for us to post exclusively on the site.
(Video courtesy of Vimeo/MMA Live)
The production company that filmed and produced the videos for last week’s MMA Live 1 event in London, Ontario, Canada are Cage Potato fans, and as such, they sent along the full video above of Thursday’s main event between Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford for us to post exclusively on the site.
If you haven’t watched the fight, check it out. It’s a decent scrap that’s worth a look.
As an added bonus, check out the WWW.CAGEPOTATO.COM on the top of the cage. That’s how we roll.
If there was any question as to whether or not Karo Parisyan has turned a corner from his highly publicized battle with anxiety and painkiller abuse, he answered it with his showing against Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario Canada last night.
Logging what was arguably his best performance of the past three years, Parisyan took the two opening rounds of the bout utilizing his flashy judo and ground control and was looking good in the opening minute of the third when Ford connected with a stiff knee to the crown of the Armenian judoka that opened up a nasty cut and left the mat soaked in blood. When Parisyan slipped in the puddle of blood, veteran referee Yves Lavigne called in the ringside physician who, after a few moments of deliberation, called the fight off, giving Ford the win via TKO at 1:26 of round 3.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/CagePotato.com)
If there was any question as to whether or not Karo Parisyan has turned a corner from his highly publicized battle with anxiety and painkiller abuse, he answered it with his showing against Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario Canada Thursday night.
Logging what was arguably his best performance of the past three years, Parisyan took the two opening rounds of the bout utilizing his flashy judo and ground control and was looking good in the opening minute of the third when Ford connected with a stiff knee to the crown of the Armenian judoka that opened up a nasty cut and left the mat soaked in blood. When Parisyan slipped in the puddle of blood, veteran referee Yves Lavigne called in the ringside physician who, after a few moments of deliberation, called the fight off, giving Ford the win via TKO at 1:26 of round 3.
Parisyan’s wound was as deep as his skull, but still he walked out of the cage with his head held high having accomplished his goal of “just going out there and proving to myself and to my fans that I’m back.”
We will have exclusive interviews with both Karo and Ryan up soon, but in the meantime check out rounds two and three below.
Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford scored a huge victory for his career tonight as he stopped veteran fighter Karo Parisyan with a vicious knee to the head that cut Parisyan deeply, causing the ringside doctor to put an end to the bout.
The fight was a rea…
Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford scored a huge victory for his career tonight as he stopped veteran fighter Karo Parisyan with a vicious knee to the head that cut Parisyan deeply, causing the ringside doctor to put an end to the bout.
The fight was a real battle of strength between the two fighters with some on hand calling it the “Fight of The Year” in Canada so far for 2011. While I would still tip my hat to Aldo-Hominick from UFC 129 for that crown, this was a fight with two tough and hungry men both going for broke for two solid rounds.
Parisyan showed up, folks, and he brought his judo arsenal with him, throwing Ford around a few times with his textbook technique and strength. Ford countered with a huge slam in the second round, and the two were in close quarters all night.
Parisyan held most of the advantage in the clinch and gained dominant position on Ford for most of the second round and I had him winning the fight before the explosive knee put a sudden halt to the affair.
“My game plan was to you know stand up and knock him out but well you know me I’m kinda stubborn,” Ford said, smiling.
“I got in there, you know, I got dumped a few times but I knew that was gonna happen, I just wanted to see what it was like because I know I’m gonna be stepping up and facing some tougher guys and some guys with the same judo skills as Karo.”
He did agree when asked if it was the biggest win of his career. “Yeah you know I would say so,” he said. “It’s Karo Parisyan, right, tough guy, fought the who’s who, and I beat him.”
Ford did beat him. He got the win and it was a very solid fight.
As for Parisyan, he came ready. He fought for the fans and gave a beautiful display of how judo can be implemented in a fight to gain a victory. He was winning the fight. It says here that he would have won had the doctor not stopped it, but the doctor did stop it and it was a justified stop due to a horrible gash.
Parisyan brought his game and some class with him to the John Labatt Center, as he stood in the ring and spoke to the fans after all the while with a towel pressuring the cut.
“I wanted to come here and prove to myself that I could still get in here and fight and I did that,” he said, and I would agree. “I was winning the fight and he caught me with a good knee, I wanted to continue fighting but the doctor stopped the fight because the cut is too deep.” He went on to show some great class, and gave a sign that he is a bit of a changed man.
“I’m taking nothing away from Ryan Ford. He won and hey Canada, I want to say thank you to all of you for coming out, and I want to thank you all for supporting this sport.”
I want to say thanks to Parisyan for coming in and putting on a great performance.
The biggest buzz in the building and the loudest roar of the night came at the intermission when UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones made a special appearance in the octagon (see video).
Jones was also on hand all day at the MMA Expo and was signing autographs, posing for pictures and being extremely pleasant and accessible to fans young and old.
In the co-main event of the evening, veteran Brazilian fighter Marcus Aurelio pulled out a lightning fast arm bar submission after being slammed heavily by a game late replacement Matt McGrath of P.E.I. He won at 1:29 of the first round.
The rest of the results from the show:
Lyndon Whitlock defeated Daniel Longbeen via triangle choke first round.
Bo Harris defeated Brent Franczuz by unanimous decision.
Allan Wilson defeated Theo Toney via rear naked choke second round.
Chuck Mady defeated James Haourt via arm bar 2:22 first round.
Jason Saggo defeated Derek Boyle via rear naked choke 2:18 third round.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Correspondent for Bleacher Report. (Also a Correspondent for MMACanada.net) All quotes were obtained first-hand.
(Jon Jones photobombs the staredown – Video courtesy of YouTube/MCLHEA)
All of the fighters scheduled to compete on Thursday night’s MMA Live 1 card set for the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada made their respective contracted weight limits except for two, who hit their marks the second time after an hour in the sauna.
Main event participants Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford (169.4) and Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (171) shared a private conversation during an intense staredown, which concluded with the two welterweights exchanging a pat on the back and a smile, breaking the tension in the room.
(Jon Jones photobombs the staredown – Video courtesy of YouTube/MCLHEA)
All of the fighters scheduled to compete on Thursday night’s MMA Live 1 card set for the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada made their respective contracted weight limits except for two, who hit their marks the second time after an hour in the sauna.
Main event participants Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford (169.4) and Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (171) shared a private conversation during an intense staredown, which concluded with the two welterweights exchanging a pat on the back and a smile, breaking the tension in the room.
The fighters in tomorrow night’s second lasty bout, welterweights Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio (170.6) and Matt MacGrath (169.4) also hit their marks.
A bantamweight bout between Nick Denis and Kyle Dietz was put on ice when Dietz pulled out of the event Monday, blaming a broken hand on his last-minute removal from the card. Although a list of alternative opponents were submitted to the Ontario Athletic Commission, none were granted approval in time for the weigh-ins.
Bantamweight Brent Franczuz (136.6) and lightweight Theo Toney (157.2) each took two tries to make weight for their respective bouts, but both did so within the hour allotted by the commission and were greenlit for tomorrow night’s affair, and as such were not penalized 20% of their purses.
———-
MMA Live 1
John Labatt Centre
Thursday, May 19, 2011
London, Ontario, Canada
Ryan Ford (169.4 ) vs. Karo Parisyan (171)
Matt MacGrath (170.2 ) vs. Marcus Aurelio (170.6)
Daniel Langbeen (145.4 ) vs. Lyndon Whitlock (145.6)
Brent Franczuz* (136.6) vs. Bo Harris (135.6)
Derek Boyle (155.6) vs. Jason Saggo (155.6)
Theo Toney** (157.2) vs. Alan Wilson (155.2)
Chucky Mady (142) vs. James Haourt (146)
*Franczuz weighed in at 136 within the one hour time limit allotted by the OAC.
** Toney made 156 within the one hour time limit allotted by the OAC.
(Having proven his colorful past is behind him, Ford wants the opportunity to prove he’s a future UFC welterweight contender – PicProps GUHDAR photography)
Heading into the stiffest test of his young MMA career – a main event tilt with embattled former UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan Thursday night at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario, Canada, Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford is remarkably calm and focused at the challenging task that lies ahead.
In spite of the fact that he has another bout booked a few weeks after his fight with Parisyan he says it isn’t because he’s taking “The Heat” lightly, it’s because he wants to keep putting in work until certain promoters can’t ignore him any longer.
“It just came up the way it did. I haven’t even been thinking about my other fight, the only fight that I’ve been thinking about for the last eight weeks is Karo Parisyan, and I could care less about the next fight I have coming up right now. Karo Parisyan’s been on my mind when I go to bed, when I wake up, and even when I’m sleeping. I never take any of my opponents lightly, especially Karo Parisyan. I’ve seen what he’s done in the sport, so obviously I’m not coming in thinking I’m just going to walk through him,” Ford explains. “I’ve been training my ass off, every day. What I’m looking to do is run through him, so it is what it is. My overall goal is for Mr. Dana White to give me a call, and give me my shot. I’m going to keep putting the work in and do what I can for him to realize that I’m ready for the UFC. And you know, he’s the boss, so it’s up to him and the Fertitta brothers, so it’s up to them to want me to be a part of their organization.”
(Having proven his colorful past is behind him, Ford wants the opportunity to prove he’s a future UFC welterweight contender – PicProps GUHDAR photography)
Heading into the stiffest test of his young MMA career – a main event tilt with embattled former UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan Thursday night at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario, Canada, Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford is remarkably calm and focused at the challenging task that lies ahead.
In spite of the fact that he has another bout booked a few weeks after his fight with Parisyan, Ford says it isn’t because he’s taking “The Heat” lightly, it’s because he wants to keep putting in work until certain promoters can’t ignore him any longer.
“It just came up the way it did. I haven’t even been thinking about my other fight, the only fight that I’ve been thinking about for the last eight weeks is Karo Parisyan, and I could care less about the next fight I have coming up right now. Karo Parisyan’s been on my mind when I go to bed, when I wake up, and even when I’m sleeping. I never take any of my opponents lightly, especially Karo Parisyan. I’ve seen what he’s done in the sport, so obviously I’m not coming in thinking I’m just going to walk through him,” Ford explains. “I’ve been training my ass off, every day. What I’m looking to do is run through him, so it is what it is. My overall goal is for Mr. Dana White to give me a call, and give me my shot. I’m going to keep putting the work in and do what I can for him to realize that I’m ready for the UFC. And you know, he’s the boss, so it’s up to him and the Fertitta brothers, so it’s up to them to want me to be a part of their organization.”
Although he admits that a win over Karo would do wonders for his already successful 14-3 MMA career, Ford denies that he is looking at using Parisyan as a steppingstone, because steppingstones don’t hit you or try to throw you on your head when you step on them.
“I’m never one to take an opponent as a steppingstone. I’m just taking him as a game opponent that will help my career, and I just want to fight. Karo Parisyan’s been in there with George St Pierre and he lost by decision,” he points out. “He beat Nick Diaz. He beat Chris Lytle. He beat Matt Serra. He’s beaten a lot of top guys if you look at his record. He’s fought a who’s who of MMA. I want to step up my competition and fight these tough opponents, and he’s a tough opponent.”
Ford says that contrary to what some of Parisyan’s critics are saying about him being a shell of his former dangerous self due to his highly publicized battle with prescription painkillers and anxiety, he is expecting the Armenian judoka to be very well-prepared and in shape for the fight, which is why he sequestered himself in Vancouver away from his home in Edmonton for the majority of the past eight weeks to ready for the bout.
“Yeah, Karo’s had his problems and whatnot but he can overcome those problems. People don’t know what people are like on a personal level, on a day to day basis, so they can say whatever they want, but at the end of the day, they’re the ones paying for the tickets to come watch us fight, no matter what’s going on in our personal lives. Me, I’m not a guy who really listens to what the fans say, because I’m a guy that takes a lot of criticism already because of my past,” he says. “Karo’s doing what he’s doing, and I’m pretty sure he’s getting in shape, and he’s going to be in shape for this fight. If he’s not, I don’t know why he would take a fight against me, because I’m one of those guys who is very dedicated and is in the gym day in and day out. I’m not training for the last Karo Parisyan who fought in the UFC, or the Karo Parisyan before that. I’m training for the 2006 and 2007 Karo Parisyan – the dude that everybody was scared to fight. I’m ready for him to come with the best that he’s got, and I’m going to be ready to do the same.”
Ford is especially sympathetic to Parisyan’s plight because his own past mistakes are continually brought up and used against him. Having spent time in jail a decade ago for an assault he was found guilty of when he was, as he says, “young and stupid,” Ford has turned his life around thanks to MMA and has become a responsible father and a mentor to troubled youth who he spends a portion of his free time speaking with about the downfalls of being on the wrong side of the law.
“I’m just tired of people criticizing me for stuff that happened 10 years ago, but that’s what fans do, right? They’re your biggest critics. They need to look at me now, and what I’ve done with my life, and that this is what I do for my life now,” Ford says. “I fight and I look after my family. I fight because I love to fight. God has plans for me, so I’ll wait for the UFC to call. “
In spite of naysayers who point out that Ford’s colorful past will prevent him from making it to the UFC, the fact that he made something out of himself should be enough to give him the chance he deserves. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson whose 2008 hit-and-run incident made headlines around the world has spoken on many occasions about how he made ends meet as a teenager living on his own by dealing drugs. As did Strikeforce standout Lyle Beerbohm, whose remarkable 180-degree turn from drug-addicted criminal to highly-touted fighter has garnered him praise and respect from both fans and the MMA and mainstream media. All Ford wants is to be given the same benefit of the doubt and opportunity, as he should.
“I know for a fact, the UFC would sell out shows no matter what in Edmonton without Ryan Ford. But I’ve got to say that I believe that I’m the next best thing to come out of Canada since George St. Pierre. Everybody talks about all these other guys, but I’ve been in this sport for less years, and been training and fighting for less years than most of the guys in the country, and I’ve put a stamp on my name and I make sure people know who I am,” he says. “If I get a chance to fight in the UFC I can guarantee that that crowd’s going to go wild when I walk out, and when I fight.”
Until he gets that call, Ford plans to keep on keepin’ on by fighting as much as possible. With a two-fight deal in place with MMA Live and one with Aggression that will see him square off with fellow Canadian Nick Hinchliffe June 10 in Edmonton, Ford says his future looks bright, especially for fans who come to show that he’s fighting at who haven’t seen him fight.
“I’ve just been looking for opportunities to fight wherever, and the guys at MMA Live gave me the right contract and the right opportunity. I’m looking to grow my fan base as big as I can get it – market that Ryan ‘The Real Deal’ Ford brand. I hope that I have a lot of supporters that come out Thursday night and if they aren’t fans, at the end of the night, there will be a lot more,” Ford predicts. “If you can expect one thing from me it’s an exciting fight, the same as in every fight that I fight. Now that they’ve opened it up in London, I signed a two-fight deal with MMA Live, so this isn’t the only show that people in London are going to be able to watch me on. I’ll be coming back after this fight, and I’ll be making sure to put on another exciting show just like the one I’m planning on putting on against Karo on Thursday night.”
Karo Parisyan has been to hell and back over the past few years, and will look to his fight this Thursday vs. Canadian Ryan Ford at MMA 1 Live: London to get his career back on track. He spoke about his mental state, battling his demons, his training p…
Karo Parisyan has been to hell and back over the past few years, and will look to his fight this Thursday vs. Canadian Ryan Ford at MMA 1 Live: London to get his career back on track.
He spoke about his mental state, battling his demons, his training progress, and his upcoming opponent in an exclusive interview with hyefighters.com and posted on MMACanada.net.
Here are some of the highlights of the interview, which give a good look at Karo’s frame of mind going into fight week.
How are you feeling Karo, what’s going on?
“Back to square one again,” he stated with a large sigh. “I struggled with demons for three years. A lot of bad stuff, personal stuff. Thank God I am overcoming stuff.”
So, are all the demons behind you now?
“sort of yeah, I’m looking back and they still want to wave at me so I’m flipping them off.” he laughs. “At the time being I’m training, I feel healthier, I look healthier. Today, I was not too happy with my training. I did not get pushed around or anything, I was still throwing guys in the clinch but when I walk in there, I want to be the MAN.”
“I want the other guys to think you clinch with me you are going on a roller coaster ride. I’m not feeling that exact confidence yet but I will.”
When asked if he was all done with the drug addiction that people were accusing him of in the online chat world Karo said that he was not addicted to drugs or pain killers specifically, and went on to state that those pain killers that he was taking for injury were a downward spiral that caused a lot of his anxiety leading up to his fights.
How is the anxiety?
It’s done. Gone. I’m good, I’m fine. I don’t have it.
He then continued on a bit of a rant saying that when you have a little bit of a name in life people like to take a piece of a hamburger and make it into a whole cow, no doubt referring to how people can blow things out of proportion when a little bit of the story gets out.
The focus then turned to his upcoming fight, when he was asked,
Do you know much about Ford?
“I’ve met him in Canada. Big black guy, strong, I thought he was a light-heavyweight. They offered ten to twelve guys in Canada the fight and no one would take it. He took the fight and I want say thank you to him for that.”
“I want to show people that I’m back fighting, I’m back performing. It’s not that Karo that people say, ‘look at him, he doesn’t look right, he doesn’t do this do that. I want people to say dude, he’s back, he’s fighting.'”
He also gave a pretty clear sign of what he thinks Ford’s chances are in this fight.
“God forbid I get hit by lightning and the fight doesn’t go my way, people will still say that’s the Karo we saw fighting Diaz or Serra or Lytle.”
Finally, he was asked if he had anything to prove to himself in his comeback bid?
“First and foremost I want this for myself. It got to the point with me where the smallest things turned into the biggest things and the next thing you know I’m pulling out of fights. I want to get that confidence up there, I’m 29 years old and have at least five more years in me to go out there and bang!
“I’m in a deep hole, but I am crawling out.”
Here’s hoping that crawl fight with Ford can turn into walking fights and then running fights for “The Heat” in his return.
