
(Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)
Shortly after Karo Parisyan‘s unfortunate post-UFC 94 drug test results were released, the Heat expressed frustration at his situation, telling MMA Weekly that he’d revealed all his medications before the fight and was under the impression that he was not in violation of any rules. But Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer has contradicted Parisyan’s account of the events, spurring the troubled UFC welterweight to sort of change his story. Now, Parisyan says his complete honesty about his painkiller use didn’t happen until after after the fight:
“I told (the commission) ‘listen, by the way, if pain pills come positive, I have prescription, I told you.’ They said, ‘no problem, as long as you have a prescription for it, and it’s like a pain pill, it’s not a big deal.’…
I did not even think about any of that stuff. I was just thinking about my fight, and my anxiety and how I’m going to walk in the cage. I had so many problems in my head. I didn’t even think I should write [it on my pre-fight medical questionnaire] — I was just doing it fast, fast, fast, just to get out there and weigh in and fight. I completely forgot about all this stuff."
Apparently, that’s not a good enough excuse. Regarding Parisyan’s statement that a prescription would absolve him from punishment, Keith Kizer was dismissive:
“I mean, I wasn’t back there, but that’s nothing we’d say…It’s up for the commission to decide. You can’t wait till after the fight, when they’re about to urinate in the cup, and say ‘oh, by the way, I took a prohibited substance yesterday.’ That’s what it sounds like happened here, but we’ll give him his chance to explain to the full commission.”
Karo will get that chance next Tuesday, when he officially responds to these charges in a NSAC hearing. For the record, he claims that his usage of Hydrocodone, Hydromorphone and Oxymorphone stems from the hamstring injury he suffered in 2007, and a back injury sustained last year. And if this painkiller drama sinks his chance to fight Josh Koscheck at UFC 98 (May 23rd, Las Vegas), he’ll be seriously pissed:
“They better not do anything to screw that up. I’m gonna go beyond training for this fight. The deal is, I couldn’t travel because of my anxiety. I would go crazy in hotel rooms and et cetera, so all kinds of reasons. But now, thank God, I’m fine. I can travel and I can train. And that’s what I’m shooting for, I want to travel and train with St. Pierre and my original camp, with Greg Jackson, and I’ll be in the best shape of my life. I guarantee that. I’m not (expletive) around no more. Everything that I was (expletive) around with, no more.”
it must be hard to look tuff with such pink nipples