Gamburyan Gets Title Shot, Parisyan Returns to UFC

By HAKOP ALAJAJYAN
Haladzha@uci.edu


Former ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ finalist, UFC, and WEC veteran Manvel “The Anvil” Gamburyan (11-4) has finally received his long-awaited title shot against WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (17-1). Gamburyan, a Gokor Chivichyan judo black belt, had long been considered a contender for the featherweight belt after dropping down to the 145-lb division. Gamburyan debuted with a win over John Franchi (5-2), and followed up with a decisive victory against Leonard Garcia (14-5-1) at WEC 44. However, it was not until “The Anvil” knocked out former WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown (23-6) with a vicious counter right-hook that Gamburyan was considered the clear number-one-contender.

Aldo, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from Manaus, Brazil, has steamrolled through every opponent the WEC has thrown at him. Since taking the title from Brown at WEC 44, Aldo dominated Urijah Faber (23-4) to a unanimous decision victory.
Aldo will be a very tough fight for the Armenian from North Hollywood. However, just like prior to the Brown fight, Gamburyan has stated that he relishes being the underdog and is confident that he can win the featherweight gold.

Following a submission victory over Australian Ben Mortimer (5-3) at Impact FC 1, Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (19-5-1) has been reinstated into the UFC and will be fighting veteran Dennis Hallman (42-13) at UFC 123. Parisyan was cut from the UFC after pulling out a day before his scheduled fight with Dustin Hazelett at UFC 106. Parisyan has previously pulled out of a fight with judoka Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 88 at the weigh-ins, citing a last-second back injury. However, he later publicly stated he was having panic attacks. Parisyan went on to defeat Korean judoka Dong-Hyun Kim (13-0-1-1) via split decision at UFC 94. However, Parisyan’s victory was turned to a no contest when a post-fight drug test found Parisyan had three different pain killers in his system.

Hallman, a former collegiate wrestler and expert grappler, will be a good test for Parisyan and a victory would only help elevate “The Heat” back into the welterweight title contention.