(Photo courtesy of 5oz.)
Following his bust for three unapproved painkillers following UFC 94, Karo Parisyan was hoping to take his suspension and try to move on with his life. Unfortunately, he's still stuck in punitive limbo, as he was informed in a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing yesterday that a final decision regarding his positive drug test won't be announced until next month. Though Parisyan is still under a temporary suspension, his actual suspension will be retroactive to January 31st; in other words, it won't begin on the date that the final suspension is determined, which is good news. Still, the uncertainty isn't exactly helping the Heat's panic-related issues. As he told MMA Junkie:
"I've got to come back (in March), and if they take my money and [heavily] fine me, I won't make it until the end of the year. It's that bad for me with income. If they won't level with me, it's going to be pretty hard for me.
I'm just going to tell them, 'Listen, I'm sorry.' I had a prescription for one pain pill; the other I didn't have a prescription for. I have a very high resistance to pain pills, and I took some. I'm sorry.
This is the only way I have to support my family. If I don't fight, I'm going to be homeless by the end of the year. I'm going to try to get married in August. If I don't fight and I get fined, my entire year — everything I was supposed to do — will just go down the toilet. Between my marriage and my house, I'll lose everything if you take my money away. So I beg God and I'm begging you guys, please don't do that to me."
Listen Karo, as long as we have a couch, you'll never have to be homeless. But yeah, the marriage and house thing kind of sucks. You'd think the half-dozen relatives that live with him would be able to help out in some way, but it's a different culture, and we must not judge.
Related: Dr. Johnny Benjamin clarifies why painkillers like the ones Parisyan was taking are banned in mixed martial arts competition:
During the bout, the net effect of narcotic pain medication would tend to be more harmful than helpful to actual performance. A general dulling of the senses, slowed reaction time and poorer coordination would significantly outweigh any potential increase in pain tolerance.
As a physician that regularly treats trauma patients, any medication (narcotics, etc.) that can alter brain function and other vital systems (such as respiration) can pose a significant risk for those that suffer significant injury (a spleen injury, for example), head trauma, concussion and/or brain injury. This fact is the major reason that narcotics are banned — not because they are performance-enhancing drugs (PED).
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Comments
Noah Says:
yay!
Machete for hands Says:
why the fuck would he get married in the siituation he is in right now?!?!?!?! getting married means spending money!
fourTwenty Says:
Holy Shit, TUF Guy saves the day again. All you l00sers should worship the moldy base of his uncleaned toilet.
Seriously though, this sucks. I like Karo and hope it ends up working out well for him. On the other hand, if your in enough pain that you need pills maybe you don't need to be cagefighting at that exact moment.
Jay Smith Says:
Professional athlete = Off the hook with a slap on the wrist
BuckWild Says:
Dude.. Don't get married !
Don't take un-prescribed meds when you know you get tested ! What were you thinking???
Now... Its not the end of the world.. you might have to be like the rest of us on this planet and go out and get a 9 to 5 and save up in preparation for the financial hard times that you see coming. I mean, you have plenty of notice and you can't fight until this all blows over anyway so why not get a job and just workout as much as you can ?????
Whats the problem here?
PoleVault1543 Says:
Ahhh man they gotta cut the guy a break wtffff he's got a prescription.. It is hard enough to make it into the UFC and finally get paid and now he's losing it all what a damn shame.
BIG CHRIS Says:
Karo reminds me of the 200 pound, diaper wearing chimp they killed in Connecticut this weekend...they say you cannot domesticate chimps, that no matter how nice you are to them they will eventually turn, and that they belong in a cage, so I would retract that couch comment if I was you CP.
PoleVault1543 Says:
Probably couldnt even get a job right now. He moved here from Armenia to fight for a living which means no college education, what kind of job is he going to go take that could support a grown man. And he's got relatives living with him that depend on the guy, you gotta understand the tough / broke-ass situations some people come from.
PaalSunde Says:
What a lame post.. Give us something to work with Ben!
BDG Says:
I hear Mcdonalds is hiring...
Machete for hands Says:
good point polevault15432342dc.jdfjo.
i think many is living with him too so i guess manny is the man of the house bringing home the food and shit. yea this guy is stupid for not thinking of the decisions hes making right now. big chris is right this guy is a fucking chimp. he's living the rockstar life a littel too hard
Old, Bald and Irish Says:
"I'm just going to tell them, 'Listen, I'm sorry.' I had a prescription for one pain pill; the other I didn't have a prescription for. I have a very high resistance to pain pills, and I took some. I'm sorry."
Ok, Karo. Let me give you some advice:
Shut up. Right now.
Pain killers that you don't have a prescription for? Dude, that's called ILLEGAL!
Drop the shovel now and stop digging yourself any deeper.
Levi Says:
I really don't have any pity for him. He knew he was gonna be piss tested. He knew he wasn't supposed to take pain pills. He knew he didn't have a prescription. What the fuck did he think was going to happen?
the chronic Says:
whadda dumb fuck. This explanation for his behaviour is worse than A-Rods'!
I took some pills for which I did not have a prescription, whats the big deal?
Again, whadda dumb fuck.
biohazardone Says:
Poor Karo,
I feel bad for the guy. What the commission needs to keep in mind is that since Karo already has a mental health disorder, his thinking can sometimes get altered. Having panic attacks can make a person so desperate that they will do anything to stop the out of control manic thinking. Perhaps Karo got very desperate and this is the reason he took those pain killers. I hope the commission has mercy on him but they might just turn around and suspend him like they have everyone else. Maybe this will help Karo realize that maybe he needs to visit a psychiatrist so that he may be perscribed some psychotropic meds. I hope all goes well for him. Good Luck Karo.
drowe Says:
I thought his performance in that last fight sucked. fuck that dude. just like all these other dudes said, he knows he's getting piss tested. without a prescription that's considered like a class c drug or something i think. fuck that dude take the pain and quit being a pussy that breaks the rules and thinks its ok.
YourMOMsRoastBeefCURTAINS Says:
he needs money? he should start selling painkillers
Fedor a million ankles Says:
The dude tells us he's broke and has a high tolerance for pain killers.
No sympathy from me buddy.
The Yert Says:
Sorta ironic. Think about how you BUILD a tolerance to pain killers, by eating a shitload of them.
Skippybob Says:
Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater
Than Says:
I feel for him, and it would be a shitty situation. That said, he would not be homeless, he has a coaching job at Legends gym in hollywood that probably pays pretty well. He also has a book out and probably some other stuff that can give him some money. Worst comes to worst he can pull a bigfoot Silva move and fuck the NSAC and go fight in Japan. Good luck Karo, hope it works out for you.
NeW jErSeY-nEw JeRsEy Says:
Damn, things have gone from bad to worse for this guy...not to mention that since losing to Diego this guy has been pretty uninspiring. I mean, he's a tough guy with a lot of skill, but he's not pleasing the crowd with his fights.
BuckWild Says:
He needs to tell those dead beat relatives to get off there arses and start working ! Then he needs to go out and find any job he can maybe two jobs and work until he is cleared to fight! That is what anyone else would have to do in that situation. Well I really don't know his situation with his live in relatives but family needs to pull together and help him out.
Maybe, just maybe he will learn from this mistake and not ever do it again. Don't get me wrong. I don't think he is a bad guy for taking pain pills without a script. He probably doesn't have insurance so you know how that goes. But dang, be smart about it. Come on ! Take responsibility for your actions and the effect of them. Don't whine about it and look for sympathy !
Jay Says:
That is pretty sad.
SiDeBuRnZ Says:
Okay I'm thinking, he has a prescription for one, why not just take much more of that one? The cocktail supposed to have synergistic effects or something?
ArmenianArmenianArmenianArmenianFalafel Says:
Don't know any racial terms for Armenians.
mayhem420 Says:
I feel for ya buddy....
It sucks that he will not be working but come on now. You dont have any other way of making money? Why not teach Judo at a school or something?
I am sure that it doesnt pay well but it can help to put food on the table.
Maybe do some seminars?
your mother's poutine Says:
how do you guys reply to this shit so fast? are you all RSSing this at work or something. no wonder the shit-ass state the US economy is in.
...or maybe you're all unemployed?
lulz
google Says:
WTF? that was uncool.
TkenD Says:
If your nickname is "The Heat", shouldn't you be able to take some?
I'm agreeing with the "he knew what he was doing, what did he think was going to happen" stance.
Neve been much of a Karo fan, and this isn't helping.
TUF Guy Says:
This section failed !
HAHAHAHAHHA
The first douche that wanted to diss me Failed! AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
Dakyn Says:
Here's an idea:
Can't pay the rent. Get a job. (That means actually looking for one - you know you're gonna get fined, you know its going to be significant so stop looking for sympathy and be prepared).
Can't afford to get married? Then don't - it doesn't mean anything anyway and nowadays its just an excuse for the women to have attention lavished upon her so she can feel "oh-so-special".
Dana White Says:
"dont you know who i am" Yes karo a broke ass bastard.......
^^ im pretty sure he said something like that when he was on TUff lol.
homieG Says:
o l
c o !
lol how the hell do u do that?
nyways sounds like karo is in a tough way, i wish him the best to climb out of it.
Anonymous Says:
He broke the rules. he knew of the piss test. Im sure there are fighters fighting with pain like him who would die for the chance to be in the UFC. Hes a sloppy fighter, he didnt look good in his fight (which i still believed he lost) which was probably because of the meds. If you do something illegal, face the consequences. He should have thought about his shitty home life before getting mixed up with meds. How do we even know if hes addicted or not. The guy could be a straight up junkie. He put his life and whoever else is free loading off him in jeopardy. Suspend his ass
homieG Says:
just testing... Subscriptedhello
Subscripted hello
homieG Says:
test2
Subarctic
homieG Says:
coooolllll mannnnn...
COOL
homieG Says:
whoa
C O
O L
homieG Says:
hey man, how did u do that?
Machete for hands Says:
FAH-Q. now that was coOOOooOOOL
Ricky Says:
I feel bad for the guy so I am going to help him out.
I am buying a brand new, $4000 stainless steel refridgerator this weekend and I am going to donate the box it comes in to Karo. I am also going to include the styrofoam packing so he has a pillow.
Hell ya, I am a nice guy.
Grow up! Says:
I feel bad for the man. He definitely screwed up, but he should look at how many chances he's been given.
The guy has a lot of talent and decides to show up to fights flabby and out of shape. When he was on the ultimate fighter to support his cousin he acted like a total douche. Hopefully, these life experiences will humble him as a person.
John Kimble Says:
I feel so bad for him. He's broke. How would a professional fighter with a blackbelt in judo, six national junior chapionship belts, and olympic level experience make money? It's not like he has any marketable skills he can teach.
Bill C. Says:
Look on the bright side: with that killer 'stache, Karo's got an excellent future in porn.
Anonymous Says:
take your case to Obama. He'll bail you out!
Anonymous Says:
Kayro Syrup is one of the biggest under achievers in the UFC! He has the talent but he always fucks up! HE lacks a good training camp, he is a dick, now he snorts pills... damn what else...
Kayro and Manny needs to go back to Middle East and race camels, give up on fighting!
Holla!
Fedor a million ankles Says:
I wish I knew something about fighting... This one time my dad told me we would have a sword fight so we took our dicks out and started hitting each other with them.. He won so he told me I had to catch that day.. It was a fun day.. My ass hurts..
Craig Says:
Karo is a complete twat. Seriously.
On top of that he did the crime, so it's time to pay. Chump.
Go get a job like everyone else - don't cry to me little girl.