Karo Parisyan, an Armenian-American MMA fighter, who is known for bringing judo to MMA, has had an epic fall from grace. A UFC star in his early twenties, it’s hard to believe that he is only twenty-nine, after all the ups-and-downs of his career.

I became a fan of his because of his beautiful judo throws, the only MMA fighter I can remember who was able to integrate them so flawlessly into his MMA game. He had a very good record while fighting the best in his division, notching a win over Nick Diaz, before his career inevitably started to decline.

But then after enduring some losses and an addiction to painkillers, he was let go from the UFC and since then has lived in a sort of MMA purgatory. He, unfortunately, has gone on a losing streak, fighting on various independent promotions. But it was his most recent loss to John Gunderson that I think might be the most telling of Karo’s career. While until this fight, I believe that he still had the potential to resurrect his previous glory, his loss via guillotine choke to unknown John Gunderson was his worst loss versus someone he should have beaten. He suffered a broken cheekbone in the fight and then tapped out to the choke. At this point, I don’t think Karo has the tools to become the top contender that he was in his early twenties.