Parisyan Under Pressure
Sep 2, 2008
The fight comes natural to Karo
Parisyan (Pictures), an Armenian-born welterweight
who started Judo when he was 9 years old and mixed martial arts
when he was 14.
Looking to rebound from his first stoppage loss -- a TKO at the hands of American Top Team’s Thiago Alves (Pictures) -- in seven years, Parisyan (18-5) will meet Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Pictures) at UFC 88 “Breakthrough” this Saturday at Philips Arena in Atlanta. He declared himself ready for the Japanese standout mere days before they collide.
“If I get hit by lighting and I lose, God forbid, I don’t care,”
Parisyan says. “All I know for this fight is I trained twice as
hard as I did for the Thiago Alves fight. I have to thank Thiago
Alves. He woke me up.”
New to the UFC scene but seasoned by plenty of international experience, Yoshida (10-2) made his Octagon debut in May and choked Jon Koppenhaver (Pictures) unconscious with an anaconda choke. “Zenko” will enter the bout on a nine-fight winning streak. Included in that streak was a TKO victory of Akira Kikuchi (Pictures), the last man to defeat reigning EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields (Pictures). Despite the obvious risks, Parisyan wants to match skills with the fourth-degree Judo black belt.
Outside the cage, Parisyan (18-5) fights a different battle, one with which millions are familiar. Panic disorder has become a daily threat to normalcy.
According to the American Psychological Association, one out of every 75 people suffers from the condition. Parisyan noticed symptoms prior to his UFC Fight Night 13 bout against Alves in April. It affected his training, and, at one point, he wanted to go home before the fight, not for fear of competing but as a coping mechanism for his anxiety. He succumbed to strikes against the red-hot Brazilian in the second round. A nine-year veteran, he had been finished only one other time as a professional.
“I blame the loss because of my training, not being mentally focused and being burned out from all these years; I didn’t blame it on my panic attacks,” Parisyan says. “If people think I blame the loss on a panic attack -- people say I’m lying -- it really upsets me. People that actually don’t have any idea what we go through can just sit there and just judge you and say, ‘He’s just lying. He’s bulls--tting. He’s a liar.’ It’s not right.”
Parisyan found an ally in the form of
MMA coaching guru Greg Jackson.
Panic disorder manifests itself in many ways. Symptoms include
dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, paralyzing terror and feelings
of insanity or oncoming death. They range from mild to severe.
“I thought it was heart problems,” Parisyan says. “But when I asked the doctor what was wrong, he said throughout the years, all the stress you go through in fighting, working out to fight -- all that stuff you go through -- it builds up like a bubble, and eventually it bursts and hits you with panic attacks. That’s what they told me. Twelve years down the line you start burning out, and somehow you have to repair it.”
Despite his refusal to take prescription pills, Parisyan actively addresses the problem. He stays away from triggers -- small rooms make him feel claustrophobic -- and has found support in doctors, friends and family. However, the unpredictable nature of the disorder makes it nearly impossible to wrangle.
“After the Alves fight, I had moved into a new house,” Parisyan says. “The night before I was going to move, it hit me. At the middle of the night, 2 a.m., I woke up just breathing crazy. My heartbeat was going through the roof. My blood pressure was 160 over 120. My mind was racing. I thought I was having a heart attack; I didn’t know what was going on, and I was afraid to wake anybody up because I didn’t know what it was.”
Panic disorder can even distort reality. In a profession that demands control over one’s mind and body, Parisyan finds himself in a daily struggle with an elusive opponent.
“I think my biggest problem with these panic attacks is I’m not able sleep,” he says. “Sometimes my bed becomes like a casket, like a dungeon. I can’t go in the bed. I have to sleep on a couch sitting up and stuff.”
Even though panic attacks are short and infrequent because the body cannot handle the dramatic changes over an extended period, the simplest act can set off Parisyan.
“If I put my head into a pillow and my head sinks into the pillow, I feel like I’m gonna choke,” he says. “All kinds of stuff; it’s unbelievably hard.”
Parisyan discovered an ally in revered mixed martial arts coach Greg Jackson. He traveled to Jackson’s academy in Albuquerque, N.M., to train alongside Rashad Evans (Pictures), Keith Jardine (Pictures) and others in advance of his fight with Yoshida. When anxiety forced Parisyan to return to California after only one full day in the gym, Jackson followed him to the Golden State in support.
“It means a lot,” Parisyan says. “He came out for a couple of days just to see where I’m at, how I’m doing for training, put a game plan together and went back home.”
While fans await the latest additions to his lengthy highlight reel of Judo throws and rolling kimuras, Parisyan seems anxious to climb back into the cage again. Supporting five family members, the 26-year-old has a heavy burden to shoulder every time he competes, and his match with Yoshida will be no different.
“I have so much at stake,” Parisyan says. “I have so much stress on me. People don’t understand how tough it is. I need to be able to conquer this match. Not sounding selfish at all, [but] I fight for myself. I fight to prove something to myself, to feel good about myself when I walk outside.”
Looking to rebound from his first stoppage loss -- a TKO at the hands of American Top Team’s Thiago Alves (Pictures) -- in seven years, Parisyan (18-5) will meet Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Pictures) at UFC 88 “Breakthrough” this Saturday at Philips Arena in Atlanta. He declared himself ready for the Japanese standout mere days before they collide.
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New to the UFC scene but seasoned by plenty of international experience, Yoshida (10-2) made his Octagon debut in May and choked Jon Koppenhaver (Pictures) unconscious with an anaconda choke. “Zenko” will enter the bout on a nine-fight winning streak. Included in that streak was a TKO victory of Akira Kikuchi (Pictures), the last man to defeat reigning EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields (Pictures). Despite the obvious risks, Parisyan wants to match skills with the fourth-degree Judo black belt.
“I think I’m a little better MMA fighter than he is,” Parisyan
says. “Anyone can beat me at 170. I know what’s going to be on the
table. I’m going to try my best to neutralize everything he does
and beat him up.”
Outside the cage, Parisyan (18-5) fights a different battle, one with which millions are familiar. Panic disorder has become a daily threat to normalcy.
According to the American Psychological Association, one out of every 75 people suffers from the condition. Parisyan noticed symptoms prior to his UFC Fight Night 13 bout against Alves in April. It affected his training, and, at one point, he wanted to go home before the fight, not for fear of competing but as a coping mechanism for his anxiety. He succumbed to strikes against the red-hot Brazilian in the second round. A nine-year veteran, he had been finished only one other time as a professional.
“I blame the loss because of my training, not being mentally focused and being burned out from all these years; I didn’t blame it on my panic attacks,” Parisyan says. “If people think I blame the loss on a panic attack -- people say I’m lying -- it really upsets me. People that actually don’t have any idea what we go through can just sit there and just judge you and say, ‘He’s just lying. He’s bulls--tting. He’s a liar.’ It’s not right.”
Jeff
Sherwood/Sherdog.com
Parisyan found an ally in the form of
MMA coaching guru Greg Jackson.
“I thought it was heart problems,” Parisyan says. “But when I asked the doctor what was wrong, he said throughout the years, all the stress you go through in fighting, working out to fight -- all that stuff you go through -- it builds up like a bubble, and eventually it bursts and hits you with panic attacks. That’s what they told me. Twelve years down the line you start burning out, and somehow you have to repair it.”
Despite his refusal to take prescription pills, Parisyan actively addresses the problem. He stays away from triggers -- small rooms make him feel claustrophobic -- and has found support in doctors, friends and family. However, the unpredictable nature of the disorder makes it nearly impossible to wrangle.
“After the Alves fight, I had moved into a new house,” Parisyan says. “The night before I was going to move, it hit me. At the middle of the night, 2 a.m., I woke up just breathing crazy. My heartbeat was going through the roof. My blood pressure was 160 over 120. My mind was racing. I thought I was having a heart attack; I didn’t know what was going on, and I was afraid to wake anybody up because I didn’t know what it was.”
Panic disorder can even distort reality. In a profession that demands control over one’s mind and body, Parisyan finds himself in a daily struggle with an elusive opponent.
“I think my biggest problem with these panic attacks is I’m not able sleep,” he says. “Sometimes my bed becomes like a casket, like a dungeon. I can’t go in the bed. I have to sleep on a couch sitting up and stuff.”
Even though panic attacks are short and infrequent because the body cannot handle the dramatic changes over an extended period, the simplest act can set off Parisyan.
“If I put my head into a pillow and my head sinks into the pillow, I feel like I’m gonna choke,” he says. “All kinds of stuff; it’s unbelievably hard.”
Parisyan discovered an ally in revered mixed martial arts coach Greg Jackson. He traveled to Jackson’s academy in Albuquerque, N.M., to train alongside Rashad Evans (Pictures), Keith Jardine (Pictures) and others in advance of his fight with Yoshida. When anxiety forced Parisyan to return to California after only one full day in the gym, Jackson followed him to the Golden State in support.
“It means a lot,” Parisyan says. “He came out for a couple of days just to see where I’m at, how I’m doing for training, put a game plan together and went back home.”
While fans await the latest additions to his lengthy highlight reel of Judo throws and rolling kimuras, Parisyan seems anxious to climb back into the cage again. Supporting five family members, the 26-year-old has a heavy burden to shoulder every time he competes, and his match with Yoshida will be no different.
“I have so much at stake,” Parisyan says. “I have so much stress on me. People don’t understand how tough it is. I need to be able to conquer this match. Not sounding selfish at all, [but] I fight for myself. I fight to prove something to myself, to feel good about myself when I walk outside.”
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