Karo Parisyan scored his third win in four fights when he stopped Ron Keslar on Friday at Bellator 116.
On being healthy: “I’ve been healthy for about six months to eight months, very healthy. I keep myself mentally prepared, physically and in every way possible. I’m not going to get into details right now, but that being said, I had to train for the fight. I felt good. I felt like my cojones were there, like always. In shape, out of shape, I always come out to fight wherever the fight goes.”
On flicking blood at Keslar: “I always show my respect, but I remember that when I was bleeding through my nose, I didn’t like this guy that much. He thought he was a big shot. I was like, ‘You asswipe. Do you know who you’re fighting?’ I remember when I was bleeding through the nose, I kind of picked up the blood and I flicked it on him. I did the same with Diego Sanchez. I spit my blood on Diego. That’s, in a way, in my mentality, I was like, ‘I’m going to throw my blood on you and I’m not done. I might be bleeding, but I’m not dead. You’ve got to come after me.’”
On finishing Keslar with strikes: “I wanted to make a statement. I wanted to put that stamp on top … . I was an underdog in this fight, a 2-1 underdog. I was like, ‘All right, great, that makes me feel much better. People don’t expect me to win.’ I was like, ‘Just watch.’ I trained for the fight not to my potential, but I still trained. The most important [part] was I kept healthy. The weight cut is always hard for me, but it was a little bit better than the last fight I had against Rick Hawn. It felt good. My conditioning wasn’t bad at all. I just knew that eventually I’m going to catch this guy either with a submission or a punch. Once he started backpedaling after he tried to take me down, I threw him. He started backpedaling and I was like, ‘That’s it.’ I see people break from 10 miles away. It’s the one thing that I have besides the judo throws. I can tell, and once they start backpedaling and I see it in their eyes, I’m like, ‘That’s it. I’m going to clap and you’re going to dance whichever way I want it.’”
On fans and critics: “A lot of people are behind me. A lot of friends, a lot of family, a lot of people. True fans, I love each and every one of them. They’re great. And there’s a lot of people out there that are haters. I mean really haters, and I don’t know who these people are, but f--k them. I don’t like them. I never did like them. I’ve never been an asshole to anybody. I might be a d--k sometimes, but at least I’m funny about it.”
Listen to the full interview (beginning at 2:01:14).