Feeling ‘The Heat’

Karo Parisyan (top) vs. Ben Mortimer: Scott Clark | Sherdog.com

Amends made with the UFC, Parisyan turned to his fight in Australia. For the Armenian-born welterweight, fighting in Australia represented an opportunity to show he could overcome anxiety problems, traveling halfway around the world to get a crucial win.

Parisyan submitted Ben Mortimer with a second-round kimura. However, reports out of Australia suggested anxiety issues were still plaguing “The Heat,” who reportedly requested his bout be moved from the co-main event slot to the first bout of the evening, so he could get end his wait as soon as possible. For his part, Parisyan flatly denies any problems during the tour.

Parisyan also turned away from painkillers. He does not believe he was ever addicted to prescription medication but admits he was on the path to addiction. Moreover, he thinks painkillers were having negative effects on his brain and increasing his anxiety. Parisyan still uses Xanax to prevent anxiety attacks at night, but he gave up pain medication.

File Photo

Dennis Hallman

With those problems addressed, Parisyan and the UFC reached a deal. He was offered a smaller contract than he had received previously, but the opportunity to compete in the Octagon made up the difference. He will take on Dennis Hallman -- a man he was scheduled to meet nearly eight years earlier -- at UFC 123 “Rampage vs. Machida” this Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Parisyan also received a warning from White: “If you screw me again, Karo, I swear to God, never talk to me again.”

With two weeks to go until his fight with Hallman, Parisyan is busy at work training in a converted garage gym in Van Nuys. A boombox in the corner plays music loudly enough to mostly drown out the sounds of grunting, heavy breathing and bodies struggling on the mat. The dimly-lit gym is filled with pictures of successful Armenian and American wrestlers, judokas and boxers.

“We Armenians all know each other,” Parisyan says. “Fighting comes from our roots. Since we were kids, it was all about fighting to survive. It’s in our blood. We have that fighting spirit, that big heart. You can’t even see our country on the map, but I can give you 15 names off the top of my head that are famous people and Armenian.”

After a series of five-minute grappling sessions with Dermenjian and UFC veteran Roman Mitichyan, Parisyan takes a couple minutes to rest on the canvas. He then slowly walks over to discuss his struggles of the past couple years. He wipes the sweat from his face and upper body, offering up a handshake with a smile.

This is not the outsized personality some imagine Parisyan to be, nor do any signs of emotional volatility creep out. He seems level-headed, lucid and in good spirits. The tinge of athletic arrogance is there, but there is no lack of honesty or self-reflection. There is motivation for Parisyan to once again show fans what he can do, as his most successful run in MMA came before much of the current UFC fanbase started watching.

“I’ll be at God knows where and someone will go, ‘I’m a big UFC fan,’” Parisyan says. “I’ll ask, ‘How long have you been watching?’ They’ll say, ‘Two to three years! I’m a huge UFC fan!’ I have to make a point, maybe not with Hallman, but there’s a lot of new fans that don’t know me. They don’t even recognize me on the street. I have to do it for myself first, but then for the fans, to show them who I am.”

As Parisyan trains for the fight, he notes the biggest difference relative to the past couple years is his mental outlook, something his training partners have picked up on, as well.

“

The past two years, every
second was torture. It was
like I was being tortured
every minute of my day.
Your mind is not calm. Your
mind is not healthy.

”

-- Karo Parisyan

“Mentally he’s much better than before,” Dermenjian says. “He’s a very mentally strong person. He’ll fight anybody and put on a show. Over the last two years, he had problems with that. He was scared to go out and fight. To see that change is the biggest difference. I think he needs this fight. God willing if this fight goes the way he wants it to go, that’s what’s going to get him going again.”

As he prepares for his matchup with Hallman, Parisyan reflects on what he has endured.

“The past two years, every second was torture. It was like I was being tortured every minute of my day. Your mind is not calm. Your mind is not healthy,” he says. “This fight, I’m not going to walk in like that. I lost a lot of weight, a lot of strength, a lot of confidence, but I gained a lot of it back now.”

Anxiety and panic attacks are psychological and physiological disorders, and there are no guarantees they will not return.

For a fighter as close to the precipice as Parisyan was, it has already been a long, torturous road back. If he is to reach the stature he once had in the sport, the road is longer and more torturous still.