KARO TO GET YOSHI VICTORY
By Jim Burman

The Sun
/article1649527.ece
Sept 5 2008
UK

KARO PARISYAN is looking to get back on the welterweight championship
trail against Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 88.

Armenian Judo star Parisyan could be described as the ‘almost guy’
of the welterweight division. The 26-year-old fighter has had an
excellent career thus far with the exception that he has never made
it as far as a title shot.

In fact he is the longest-serving fighter in the UFC to never make
it to No1 contender status. Soon to celebrate five years with the
promotion, he has only lost three of his 12 bouts – against current
champ Georges St Pierre, Diego Sanchez and his last bout against
Thaigo Silva.

Nicknamed ‘The Heat’ because of the intensity and fast pace he
brings to the Octagon, Parisyan has looked a little luke warm in his
last two fights. Revealing recently that he had been suffering with
stress and from panic attacks, he is looking for a return to form
come Saturday night.

Japanese ace Yoshida is another Judo player who has successfully made
the transition into mixed martial mrts. After losing his second and
third bouts, Yoshida is now on a nine-fight winning streak beating
Ultimate Fighter alumni Jon ‘War Machine’ Koppenhaver in his last bout.

Yoshida also holds a disqualification victory over recent UK UFC
signing Dan Hardy which is shrouded in controversy – many believe the
outcome should have resulted in a no contest as the low blow which
ended the fight was clearly accidental.

Although Yoshida has spent the bulk of his career fighting in Japan,
where rings are favoured over cages, the majority of these bouts
have been with the G.C.M. promotion who use a cage similar to the
Octagon. Parisyan would be a massive scalp for any fighter looking
to make their mark in the UFC and a win here will validate Yoshida
as a serious contender.

You could dub this fight ‘the Judoka MMA challenge’ – both fighters
are high ranking Judo players and we could be in for some high flying
from both men as they jostle to get each other down.

I would peg Parisyan as the favourite in this bout on experience
and the greater variety of skills he brings to the Octagon but if he
isn’t there mentally then the upset is there for the taking.

Realistically Parisyan will want to make the clinch as nasty a place
as possible for Yoshida, stick a jab in his face all night long and
stay off the bottom if the fight hits the mat.

The Armenian will likely take a decision victory outscoring Yoshida
over all three rounds. Yoshida loves to ground and pound and although
he does have submission skills if he wins it’ll be more likely to be
via TKO.

Jim Burman is an MMA expert and writer for Fighters Only Magazine.Issue
42 of Fighters Only is on sale now and features exclusive interviews
with Tito Ortiz, Paul Kelly and Thiago Alves.