Exclusive: Karo Parisyan forced to pull out of UFC 106 due to addiction to pain killers
Dana White dropped the bombshell earlier this afternoon via his Twitter account, twelve-time Octagon veteran Karo Parisyan has been cut from the UFC due to his having pulled out of his anticipated UFC 106 welterweight clash with Dustin Hazelett.
According to White, “Pulled out of the fight the day before weigh ins again with a laundry list of excuses!!! Let the press ask karo why! Let him explain.”
Well FiveOuncesofPain.com has had the opportunity to ask why.
Longtime friend and training partner to Karo, along with being the head Jiu-Jitsu instructor down at Xtreme Couture, Neil Melanson recently received Parisyan’s blessing to clear the air regarding the circumstances surrounding his recent withdraw from Saturday evening’s card.
Karo Parisyan has suffered from a brutal battle with an addiction to pain-killers for some time now. The Armenian born Judo specialist was first introduced to the widely addictive drugs following a severe hamstring injury sustained training for a scheduled welterweight title clash with Matt Hughes that never came to fruition. A long series of injuries following the injury that prevented what would have been the biggest fight of his career has created the monster that currently haunts Karo today.
Check back with FiveOuncesofPain.com shortly as we will have a much more expansive explanation of the details surrounding Karo’s removal from UFC 106 as explained through close friend Neil Melanson in the coming hours.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com, along with being a regular feature writer with Ultimate MMA Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/corybrady
| All posts by Cory Brady
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This is not the first time he’s had problems with pain killers and it’s not like he doesn’t have the money to seek professional help. To make matters worse he knew he was taking them, knew he would fail a post fight drug screen, and backed out the day before so that there was no way to reschedule an opponent for Dustin. That’s just low class and I’m not at all sad to see him go.
Way to throw away potential Karo.
Well-Done.
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Well-Done.
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Well-Done.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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Weak-Sauce.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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Well-Done.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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If you are battling personal demons, don’t accept a fight and if you do, don’t bail out TWO days before the event.
No sympathy for Karo. I hope he gets the help he needs but I don’t care to ever see him fight again.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Pain killers can be very addicting. It’s not just that they relieve pain, they can give a general state of euphoria and can actually cause hallucinations. Having had extensive surgeries in the past I will say that the feeling while on hydrocodone is a nice one, and I can understand why and how people become addicted. I cannot however condone it.
As much as Karo’s actions disgust me as far as his lack of concern for not just himself, but his opponent, his organization, his gym, and his family, I do wish him well if he is truly trying to fight this addiction.
Well-Done.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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Weak-Sauce.
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i guess dana shoved those pills in his mouth,
you know what this is not the first time he has done this and i do feel for this guy but come on. he knew he wasnt going to pass any kind of test so why wait so long? seriously what was the plan????
im not hateing on the guy. really. i wont him to get some help. but there is a choice when you have to know when the jig is up. and that was 3 to 4 weeks ago
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Waiting until 48 hours before the event doesn’t sound like a guy who admits he has a problem and will willingly seek help.
He SCREWED the UFC, why should the UFC help him out? And who knows what would have happened if he came to Dana and Zuffa brass months ago and admitted his addiction? Maybe they would have helped or maybe they would have cut their losses. Thing is, we won’t know because Karo decided to be selfish.
Karo has gone off the deep end. You do realize Cory spoke with Karo’s friend and training partner who Karo gave the blessing of breaking the addiction news only to have Karo deny these allegations to Josh Gross, right?
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Weak-Sauce.
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By the way some people who would never even steal a lolly pop before addiction will sell their mother for a fix when in full blown addiction. . I have seen guys from school that wouldn’t hurt a fly and are pretty straight laced become liars and thieves because of addiction, they are still the same person but whatever has them hooked has them doing things that they normally wouldn’t dream of doing.
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But Karo acted completely and utterly selfish. Yes, he might be addicted. And should that be the case, yes, he should get help.
But you don’t go about it by dropping off a PPV fight two days before the event.
Well-Done.
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agreed Sergio. Karo should have had the decency to remove himself from the fight with enough time for Dustin to find a new dancing partner. Sad state of affairs for Karo, no less
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Logic, It’s amazing the stuff you’ll say to bash Dana and the UFC. I’d say the UFC did their part by trying to give him multiple chances at reneweing his career and I have a good feeling that if he came to them a month or two ago and came clean and asked for help he’d have gotten it. Karo I’m sure has the means to check himself into rehab and I have no idea if he’s done it before or not, but clearly that’s what he needs to do if he’s going to beat this. You can only screw a company over so many times before they are going to wash their hands of you and it seems like this might be the situation.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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If he has a problem (which is clear) and refuses to admit/do anything, what do you expect the UFC to do? You’ve just pointed out why what your saying is nothing but sensless UFC bashing.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Dana gives the fighter’s the opportunity of a lifetime. If they can’t get their shit together in time to take that opportunity then you don’t deserve it. And if you pull out of a fight with a reason which you’ve known has existed weeks before you are not only shitting on that opportunity but also the fans and in this case the man who is giving you a second chance. With all the injury hooplah of late I would have blasted this guys ass just like Dana did. In fact, Dana’s lack of “tact” is probably much more eye-opening and hopefully helpful to Karo in the long run. This is the era of Twitter and Facebook where opinions can fly off the cuff the minute they’re digested. I’m sure Dana wishes Karo personally nothing but the best but he’s set an example for the future. Dana’s hard but he’s fair. Would everyone just get used to that!
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Wow, that’s bad news. I wondered what had changed about Karo’s attitude. He seemed to get a lot more belligerent after his hamstring injury. That is one of the side effects of addiction of any kind (including gambling and cigarrettes by the way).
I have to say this is a really delicate situation for Karo. Sure, he deserved to get turfed, and in the long run, it will be of more help than hurt (it’s that “rock bottom” you hear referenced so often in this context). But when addiction happens, it’s rarely as “logical” as it is to normal people for the addict. He doesn’t have the ability to make logical choices. I really hope he gets the help he needs. Karo, I don’t know if you read this stuff, but if by some chance you do, get some help, brother. There’s no shame. You want to get better, right? Look man, I’ve got a sister that had an addiction to crack. We went through hell, but she got better. Now she has a job, a man, a new baby, and her life is really turning around. Contrary to popular myth, you don’t have to hit rock bottom, but you can’t fix what you don’t admit to. Bro, get help. Everyone will get behind you and help then. Your other choice is the grave man…no one wants that. Seriously.
What really sucks for me is that we don’t get to see Dustin Hazlet fight. I did like the idea of putting him with Mike and Joe at the announce table. Maybe them doing that will a) compensate for his sponsorship loss of revenue (Karo should be doing that, but he won’t) and b) let everyone know he’s still kicking!
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Reading through some of these posts about White and UFC and how they’re handling Karo’s issues is fascinating. White definitely goes too far with his comments sometimes, but it doesn’t really bother me. MMA is a sport based on the individual. A successful fighter has to work like hell to learn the necessary skills and to maintain the necessary level of conditioning. When they step into the Octagon, there’s no room for politics or hype. Either a fighter has the goods or he doesn’t.
White isn’t a fighter, but he’s definitely like-minded in the sense that he’s a strong personality and a maverick. Those types of people are focused on their goals, not on the feelings of others. Maybe that’s a weakness sometimes, but it’s also the key to their success.
Furthermore, all day long I listen to people in a business environment who are terrified that they’ll say something truthful but in a way that’s perceived as insensitive, intolerant, or politically incorrect. Turn on the television and watch elected officials bend over backwards to avoid telling hard truths for the same reason. Maybe Clint Eastwood had a point when he said in a recent interview that our obsession with feelings has turned us into a nation of pussies, especially when compared to the World War II era.
And what is UFC’s obligation to Karo? UFC is a business that promotes and shows fights for its customers. It gives fighters a world-wide stage to display their skills. If particular fighters have the necessary skill and discipline, they can achieve fame and fortune. In other words, UFC provides fighters with an opportunity. UFC isn’t a fighter’s mommy, and if fighters do stupid, self-destructive things for whatever reason, they are the ones who bear the consequences. Once again, the sport is based upon individual effort and individual excellence. Maybe it’s cold, but it’s also pure, and that’s the way I like it.
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