Kevin Payne, President & CEO: "As we spent more and more time talking with Ben, I think it became more apparent that Ben has already grown substantially."
Payne: "Congratulations to Ben, I'm confident that he will do a great job as our Head Coach."
Dave Kasper, General Manager: "Ben just gets it... I know we've made the right decision."
Ben Olsen, Head Coach: "Personally a lot has happened in a year for me.... I am very, very confident at this point that I can lead this team."
Karo Parisyan has [expletive] over the UFC, the fans and his opponent again!!! He will not be fighting saturday or ever again in the UFC!!
Parisyan has worked way back into the good graces of the promotion and the UFC president. He returns to the Octagon this weekend at UFC 123 against Dennis Hallman.
The Armenian had been fighting for White since 2003, so he never lost hope.
"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."
In addition to bailing from a fight at UFC 88 because of his mental struggles, he was also fined $32,000 and suspended for nine months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after a positive test for pain killers at UFC 94.
"Anxiety led to that going even more crazy," Parisyan said. "It was just whole combination of things, man. 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."
Optimism was about all Parisyan had after what were two difficult years. He was also confident that he could talk White into giving him another shot.
"Dana's got a heart, man. He has a heart. And he does care about his fighters. He does care about people," Parisyan said. "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."
Now the pressure is really on for Parisyan. He’s only fought once in 22 months and the NSAC fine buried him in debt. At least this is a start. It’d be nice to see Parisyan reach his potential. This was a guy who was on the verge of a UFC welterweight title shot back in 2005. His career is now a fight-by-fight proposition.
Filed under: East Carolina, Southern Miss, Bowl Games
Southern Miss, which finished second in Conference USA's East Division, has been invited to the Beef "O" Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl, while East Carolina is headed to the Military Bowl, industry sources told FanHouse Monday.
The Chrome Ball Incident has a new interview with Chris "Dune" Pastras.
Fight Hub TV had a quick minute to speak with former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi about what he has been up to and how he has handled his loss to King Mo. He also commented on his reaction to Feijao's surprise win over King Mo and tells us that Satoshi Iishi might be his next opponent at Dream in Japan for their annual New Years show.Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipović
UFC 123 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie):
PAY-PER-VIEW
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (205)
Matt Hughes (169) vs. B.J. Penn (169)
Tim Boetsch (205) vs. Phil Davis (205)
Joe Lauzon (155) vs. George Sotiropoulos (155)
Maiquel Falcao (185) vs. Gerald Harris (185)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
Matt Brown (170) vs. Brian Foster (170)
Mark Munoz (185) vs. Aaron Simpson (185.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)
Dennis Hallman (170) vs. Karo Parisyan (170)
Edson Barboza (155) vs. Mike Lullo (155)
Paul Kelly (155) vs. T.J. O'Brien (155)
Nik Lentz (155) vs. Tyson Griffin (155)
