Parisyan: I knew I’d be back, I didn’t kill nobody
Karo Parisyan hit rock bottom at UFC 106, when he dropped out of his bout against Dustin Hazelett with less…
Karo Parisyan hit rock bottom at UFC 106, when he dropped out of his bout against Dustin Hazelett with less than 24 to go. UFC President Dana White characteristically supressed his feelings, twittering:
“Karo Parisyan has f—– over the UFC, the fans and his opponent again!!! He will not be fighting saturday or ever again in the UFC!!”
Saturday night Parisyan returns to the Octagon at UFC 123, against Dennis Hallman.
“I never thought the door was closed,” Parisyan told The Canadian Press. “I knew that I would fight again, I just knew it.
“I know Dana White. I know how he thinks, I know how he works. And when somebody says something like that, I know that in the heat of the moment he got pissed and he just said that. I knew I would eventually make my way back to the UFC because I didn’t kill nobody.
“Dana’s got a heart, man. He has a heart. And he does care about his fighters. He does care about people. So what he makes more money than fighters and he gives them a little bit and he keeps a lot for himself. Yeah, he’s a businessman. He’s the one that put the whole empire together. So he does deserve it.
“Sure, if you need money, you talk to him, you tell him. Dana never says no that much, unless it’s something outrageous. He’ll work with you.”
“He said ‘You know what, kid? Sorry.’ He gave me $15,000. He just sent me a cheque. He said ‘Here I’ll just send you this money, just keep it between me and you.'”
“He even let me wear that (shirt) because he didn’t want to take any money out of my pocket. He’s a very nice guy, when it comes down to it. But if you screw with him, he’ll screw you back even two times worse. So you have to be loyal and nice.”
“I’ve never been 100 per cent walking in the cage. The best I’ve been was maybe 70 per cent and I wasn’t even 10 per cent for that (UFC 88) fight.”
“My overheads were just through the fricking roof. How am I going to survive? That ($32,000 fine by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after a positive test for pain killers at UFC 94) put me into debt, a lot of debt, more debt than I’ve made in the last two years fighting. That’s the bullshit part of this sport, that if you don’t fight, you don’t make any money.”
“It dug me into a hole from where I’m trying to crawl out now. It’s really bad, it’s really unfortunate situation. We’re trying to get that out of the way. It’s going to take me a while.”
“So that’s what I’m shooting for. my eye on the prize, fight and make money, pay off my debts and live my life. I don’t give a shit about anything else or anybody else. No one ever gave a shit about me when I fell.”