Karo Parisyan (17-4) will fight Octagon newcomer Ryo Chonan (14-7) — not Hector Lombard — at UFC 78: “Validation” on November 17 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., according to WrestlingObserver.com.
Lombard — a Cuban living in Australia — as we reported earlier was denied access to the United States because of visa issues.
To find a solid opponent for “The Heat” on short notice he was paired up with the Japanese standout. Chonan was originally scheduled to clash with Thiago Alves that same night.
Chonan is one of four men to topple the current 185-pound titleholder, defeating Anderson “The Spider” Silva with an eye-popping flying scissor heal hook at PRIDE Shockwave 2004.
The “Piranha” has competed against some of the top names in the sport, including Hayato Sakurai (win), Carlos Newton (win), Dan Henderson (loss), Phil Baroni (loss), Joey Villasenor (win) and Paulo Filho (loss), among others.
This marks not only his UFC debut, but his welterweight debut, too.
Parisyan is on a two-fight win streak and has been victorious in seven out of his last eight bouts dating all the way back to 2004. He most recently defeated Josh Burkman via unanimous decision at UFC 71 in May.
The Armenian-born Judo specialist has been clamoring for a title shot since he missed his chance against Matt Hughes in 2005 because of an injury sustained during training.
However, Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre are already lined up in front of Parisyan, meaning he won’t get his crack at 170-pound glory until mid 2008 at the earliest.
A win over a talent like Chonan would certainly keep him near the front of the line.
To check out the latest rumored UFC 78 fight card click here.
(Thanks to Drew [Mr. NC-17] for the assist.)
31 Comments »
well it makes since, to switch the fight up, should be good, but i see the heat winning this. now who is alves fighting now
[quote comment="177223"]well it makes since, to switch the fight up, should be good, but i see the heat winning this. now who is alves fighting now[/quote]
Chris Lytle.
just found out alves is fighting lytle
good fight i guess for now chris is staying in the ufc and not going to the wec
i like it, parisyan vs. chonan. should be an interesting & entertaining fight
Chonan is gonna give him a rough time.
[quote comment="177255"]Chonan is gonna give him a rough time.[/quote]
i bloody well hope so – karo has quality skills – but he’s clearly a dick
this should definately be an exciting fight.
I think this match is going to be a show stealer.
If Karo goes for a judo throw he needs to be careful because if Ryo gets lifted off the ground, he might do a 740 ninja split flying neck hook to secure the tapout.
This guy Ryo Chonan has sick submission skills. Karo is a great fighter and I see him pulling this one out, but Ryo Chonan is going to be one of the few pride fighters to actually look good inside of an octagon.
PLEEEEASE Chonan kick the living snot out of the arrogant arse wipe Parisian. That dude annoys me more than life itself :/ Give him his dues though good Judo lol
Good match even. This will be tough for Karo considering the size of the guys Chonan is use to fighting must make Karo seem like a feather weight.
Definately up in the air.
This is a great match….This will definitely be a fight to watch. I really hate Karo but at the same time….he is going to have to fight for at least another half a year for a title shot. I dont like seeing that even to someone I dislike and wish a beating upon. Joe Silva reaks…the only divisions that arent screwed up is the HW and MW. Pretty much impossible to screw up the MW division though.
I ain’t no hater but I hope Karo gets the living daylight beaten out of him the arrogant Son a B*tch he’s an annoying m%$&tha f^ck.
Karo should officially change his nickname. Bruce should introduce him as Karo “Do You Know Who The F*ck I Am” Parisyan.
[quote comment="177617"]Karo should officially change his nickname. Bruce should introduce him as Karo “Do You Know Who The F*ck I Am” Parisyan.[/quote]
LOL… Nate Diaz did know who he was and stood up anyway. According to Parisyan, no one should ever fight him if…. they “Know who the F*ck He is”
This will be really tough for Karo, hope he can pull it off. Would finally prove that guy.
Karo has the best nickname and introduction from buffer in the UFC
This bout definately takes fight of the night
good to see UFC finally got rid of that dumb ass blow horn changed to a bell.
Now they need to change the canvas color to white the fighters would stand out so much better
Whats with John McCarthy asking the fighters if they have any questions in the stare down I know hes been there since the start and is the best ref in the sport but that makes no sense
I am very happy to hear about this fight. Originally I said that if Karo couldn’t fight “Mach” Sakurai, then he should fight Ryo “the shark, not the pirhanna” Chonnan. Also Lytle vs. Alves should also be a great fight.
Both of these fights are very tough to call. Karo is one of my favorite fighters, but least favorite personalities. On the other hand Chonan is an extremely capable opponent, who is very tricky, battle tested, and a submission guru. Every fight on this card will be better then the main event.
Lytle vs. Alves should also be extremely entertaining. Both fighters are more then capable of finishing the other, and it should make for a great fight, and a very technical ground fight!
Everyone’s knocking Karo’s personality here, but there are just so many arrogant fighters in the UFC, I feel like it’s not even an issue. He’s one of the most exciting welterweights to watch, so I’m pumped for this fight. He soon deserves a title shot.
i like this fight better than the lombard fight…i think this makes the ppv a lot more attractive, but i still think karo is going to win a unanimous decision…like him or not karo is maturing as a fighter and always fights hard, i got respect for chonon, he hits hard and fights smart too, but karo is going to win this fight…
plus karo has randy couture in his corner and that has meant nothing but success recently and you better believe randy couture will have karo come into this fight with a nice game plan for chonon…
[quote comment="178592"]plus karo has randy couture in his corner and that has meant nothing but success recently and you better believe randy couture will have karo come into this fight with a nice game plan for chonon…[/quote]
but do u think Randy will be there because of the whole falling out with UFC
[quote comment="178591"]i like this fight better than the lombard fight…i think this makes the ppv a lot more attractive, but i still think karo is going to win a unanimous decision…like him or not karo is maturing as a fighter and always fights hard, i got respect for chonon, he hits hard and fights smart too, but karo is going to win this fight…[/quote]
with this fight and the Lytle fight it got better but the Lytle fight isnt confirmed on UFC.com
oh and isnt this beginning to look like an Ultimate Fighter reunion show we have what 3 past participants
I am difinitely looking forward to this match up. I will be very exciting. However, it’s too bad they couldnt get Koscheck to fill Lombard’s spot. He sure wanted to take the fight, and the UFC should have given it to him. The only reason why they wouldn’t have? To leave another name off the 78 card. They switch around opponents and fill in with Chris Lytle, who by all accounts is a WEC fighter now.
If Chonan wins this fight he should move up and challenge Anderson Silva. I think Silva would want to redimmed himself after that sick submissin by Chonan.
KARO DEFENATELY NEEDS A TITLE SHOT.. i CAN’T BELIEVE THEY GAVE THE THE TITLE SHOT TO JOSH KOSCHEK. KARO WOULD OF BEEN THE MAN FOR THE JOB, NOT KOSHECK. SURE HE LOST TO DIEGO SANCHEZ,BUT THEN AGAIN SO DID KOSCHEK, AND HE GOT A REMATCH. IT WOULD OF BEEN A BETTER REMATCH TO SEE KARO VS DIEGO SANCHEZ..AND THEN THE WINNER OF THAT TO FIGHT GEORGE ST. PIERRE. IT ALMOST SEEMS AS IF THE UFC DOESN’T WANT KARO TO GET A TITLE SHOT.. I THINK HE HAS PROVEN HE IS CHAMPION MATERIAL AS WELL AS JON FINCH.
BUT WHAT SHOULD OF HAPPENED IS HUGHES VS GSP 3. THE WINNER OF THAT THEN GETS THE TITLE SHOT AGAINST SERRA.
SOME NICE DREAM FIGHTS!
(Evendo some r not in the same weights division i will pay to see!)
RICH FRANKLIN VS FORREST GRIFFIN –
CHUCK LIDDEL VS CRO-COP –
ANDERSON SILVA VS GEORGE ST. PIERRE – WHAT!!?
KARO PARISIAN VS MATT HUGHES –
KENNY FLORIAN VS BJ PENN
BRANDON VERA VS ARLOVSKI
EVAN TANNER VS JEREMY HORN
RAMPAGE VS COUTURE
BISPING VS KEITH JARDINE
HOUSTON ALEXANDER VS CHECK KONGO
BROCK LESNAR VS TIM SYLVIA
Karo is going to win the fight in a tough match bu t who gives a shit how his personality or what ever is. its a fight not a personality contest and there are people who are bigger dicks then he is
Who evers got a Problem with Karo, is got a problem With Alot of people.
[quote comment="209836"]Who evers got a Problem with Karo, is got a problem With Alot of people.[/quote]
you got that right!!!
I hope Chonan wins. I am almost thinking to put money on it because I don’t think the odds represent how close this fight will be. The only problem is haven’t seen Chonan fight for a while…