Fantasy #1 Contender Tournament Round 1: #6 Dan Hardy vs. #11 Karo Parisyan
by Zach Krantz on Oct 3, 2009 2:00 PM EDT
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The UFC Welterweight Division has a plethora of young talent, a dominating champion, and many exciting match ups to choose from, but the one thing they lack is a true number one contender. I doubt the UFC would ever put together a welterweight tournament to determine a true number one contender (oh do I hope to be wrong), but we at WKR can have our own virtual (we're dorks, deal with it) tournament. The bracket and rankings have been set and it is time to begin the tournament. Let your vote choose who wins the most prestigious, meaningless, fake, yet enjoyable UFC Welterweight number 1 contender tournament.
The next match up is between #6 ranked Dan Hardy and #11 Karo Parisyan. Fighter details after the jump.
UPDATE: The last day to vote for any first round match ups will be Sunday October 4. The Second Round will start on Tuesday the 5th.
Dan Hardy 22-6 (1) (3-0 UFC): It is a little odd that Hardy is what can be a number contender bout with Mike Swick. He only has 3 wins the UFC and his best win so far is a split decision against Marcus Davis. A win over Swick would be the big one he needs to catapult up the ladder. Hardy a powerful striker who uses all points of contact and can do some real damage on his feet. Despite working his jiu-jitsu with Eddie Bravo he has shown some weakness is wrestling and fighting from his back. There is a lot hype around Hardy, but let us remember that of his three UFC wins, two are by split decision.
Karo Parisyan 18-5 (1) (8-3 (1) UFC): A couple years ago Karo was a top welterweight in the world and someone who had finally transitioned from Judo to MMA. His throws dominated fights and he was moving up the latter (won WEC title). Anxiety and injuries hit and we did see the same Karo in the cage. His unimpressive win against Dong Hyun Kim was overturned due to his testing positive for painkillers. His first fight back following the suspension and he gets a young prospect in Dustin Hazelett. Karo is clearly someone who has all tools to be a champion, if only his body and mind would allow it. Maybe he will settle down and do what Vitor Belfort has recently done, but until he strings a few good fights in a row we do not know which Karo we will see.
#5 Martin Kampmann vs. #12 Dustin Hazelett
#2 Jon Fitch vs. #15 Marcus Davis
#4 Mike Swick vs. Dong Hyun Kim
#3 Josh Koscheck vs. #14 Anthony Johnson
#7 Paulo Thiago vs. #10 Carlos Condit
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I think Karo would take it.
Hardy would be outclassed. He struggled mightily against Marcus Davis, who is not even close to being in Karo’s league. Karo’s judo would be the X-factor, as I don’t think Hardy would be prepared to deal with such a high level grappler.
BTW...
This is my first post at Watch Kalib Run! I’ve always loved the content here, but I think the thing that turned me off from joining for so long is the fact that your site reads “The Official blog for Ohio Mixed Martial Arts”. I know that you guys sometimes cover Ohio MMA in more depth than Bloody Elbow or any other MMA site, but most of your content is covering the same topics as BE, albeit with a much different perspective. (One that I like more than BE, which I feel has become kinda snobby and almost overly-censored [the comments]) I think the Ohio line throws many readers off, readers like me who were skeptical of reading a blog labeled as being for one specific state.
Love the site though! I’m sure I will be glad I joined.
As much as it pains me, I have to go with Hardy and his ability to land a knockout strike. Karo is one tough cookie, especially hopped up on aspirins, but I think his better years are behind him. With a few slick judo throws he could be right back in it, working to mash Hardy up from a dominant position, but I think Hardy’s youth, speed and power take this one in a late first round TKO.
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