Parisyan: I put Judo on the map in MMA

Karo Parisyan has overcome a well-documented struggle with panic attacks and an addiction to prescription painkillers. In an extensive interview with to Ben Fowlkes for MMAJunkie Parisyan explains he is off the painkillers and has not had an anxiety disorder for over a year.

However, tt was not always that way.

Seventy percent of my fights, I wasn’t in good enough shape, said Parisyan. I won based on ability and mental strength. I’ve never feared anybody in my life. No man ever scares me. When the physical part of a panic attack hits you, you can’t breathe. I could take that. My heart beating fast, blood pressure through the roof, I can take that too. It’s my mind running a hundred miles an hour that I can’t take. I don’t know what to do. I can’t settle down. People think about suicide from that. It’s horrible. And I had to walk out and fight.

Now Parisyan want to move on, to talk about his fight with Phil Baroni at Bellator 122 on Friday.

“He’s an old training partner of mine and a buddy,” said Parisyan. “But I’ve got to make the bread, and so does he… I don’t care if he knows what I’m going to do. I have more guns than he does. I want to remind people of that. I want to remind people who Karo Parisyan is.

Parisyan also want to remind the fans who brought Judo to mixed martial arts. Hint: The individual isn’t blonde, female, or named Ronda.

Ronda’s like a little sister to me, and I give her all the props, said Parisyan. She’s a great fighter, great person, great judoka. But I don’t want people to forget who brought judo to the table in mixed martial arts. No one can deny that I was the one who put judo on the map in this sport. There were a hundred guys carrying the flag for wrestling, a hundred guys for kickboxing and jiu-jitsu, but there was only one guy for judo… They can say I’m cocky and arrogant, but it’s the truth. There was only one guy carrying the flag for judo, and that was me.