from Dave
Doyle's FOXSports.com MMA Blog
by: FOXSportsMMA
by: FOXSportsMMA
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| KARO'S RECENT UFC FIGHTS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Parisyan, an
Armenian from North Hollywood who teaches judo at Randy Couture's
Legends Gym, is long established as one of the most exciting fighters in
the UFC, already a veteran in his mid-20s with a 24-4 record. He's
beaten Nick Diaz, Matt Serra, and Chris Lytle, and has lost to Georges
St. Pierre and Diego Sanchez. Burkman, a solid wrestler from Salt Lake
City, is 10-3 and looking to rebound to a loss to tough Jon Fitch. Burkman gets a healthy round of applause from the crowd, as does Parisyan. Herb Dean is your referee. The combatants have an intense eye-to-eye staredown during Dean's instructions. Round 1: They both come out trading haymakers. Parisyan goes for a takedown, doesn't get it, gets up and hits a right. Burkman goes down, with Parisyan clutching at Burkman's left foot, but he gets right back up. Burkman just misses a big high kick and Parisyan pops him with a sharp counterpunch. Burkman with a low kick. Burkman walked into a big punch. Lots of darting and weaving. Parisyan mixing up low leg kicks with combos. Parisyan goes for a kick, but Burkman grabs a leg and scores a takedown. Parisyan gets back up, hits him with a couple of punches, and scores one of his sensational judo throws, which gets a rise out of the crowd. They get back up, 1:20 left. Burkman goes for a takedown, Parisyan sprawls backwards, but Burkman won't let go of Karo's left leg as they work along the fence. Parisyan avoids a slam in the final seconds. Big round of applause for five minutes of solid action, round one to Parisyan. Some in the crowd tried to start a "USA" chant. Burkman is from Salt Lake City, Karo lives in N. Hollywood, Herbie lives in SoCal. OK then. Round 2: Parisyan with a quick jab, then a right to the stomach. Burkman tried to get in close, but Karo pushes him off. Burkman misses a wild uppercut. Burkman with some real haymakers, but then he has to block a high kick from Parisyan. Burkman connects with a right that registers, but Karo flashes "bring it" with his hands. Both fighters trading big shots. Just over two minutes left, Karo hits a knee to the head, but they continue to circle around the octagon. Anyone's round at this point. Karo pops Burkman with a low kick and a high kick, but Burkman is able to defend with Karo tries to shoot in. Some Greco grappling, with neither getting an advantage. Karo has really popped Burkman several times but Burkman is real tough and keeps on motoring. Round 2 also goes to Parisyan, as he was more aggressive and controlled the tempo. Burkman is hanging with him, but needs to take more chances. Round 3: They stand and trade in the first minute, then Burkman shoots in on Karo and pushes him back into the fence. Karo goes for a throw, Burkman switches position, Karo tries to sink in a guillotine, and Burkman picks him up for a slam. Karo gets up and scores a trip on Burkman. They get up and clinch along the fence. Karo gets in underhooks, but lets go and they come back out to the middle with two minutes left. 1:30 left, both fighters looking to pick their spots. Burkman's either tired or thinks he has the match won, because he isn't really taking it to Karo. Burkman chases Karo backwards to finish and the two fighters embrace at the end of the match. Close third round, but I again have it going to Parisyan. Parisyan wins on a unanimous decision, taking scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28. He says he wants a title shot in his post-fight interview. It's hard to argue with him. Parisyan was supposed to fight Matt Hughes for the belt at UFC 56, but suffered a quad injury and had to pull out. There's a logjam ahead of him in the deep welterweight division, with Serra holding the belt, Hughes looking for his rematch, and St. Pierre in the picture, but Parisyan deserves his shot. |
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