Gabe trains as well as he fights going off how Paris tore into that bag.

Are you happy about Karo Parisyan being back in the UFC? I guess I am, but it would be nicer if we knew he'd gotten his problems under control. As of his last fight two months ago in Australia, he was still suffering anxiety issues to the point where he had to ask if he could fight earlier on the card so he could get things over with. And how about that painkiller addiction? You know, the one a friend described like this:

“Karo’s had some problems with an addiction to pain medicine due to an injury he sustained a few years ago,” began Melanson, who essentially began training under Karo Parisyan years ago while under the guidance of grappling legend Gokor Chivichyan in L.A., only to evolve to a point with his own grappling where he eventually became the teacher. “Then when he started having these anxiety problems, it didn’t seem like the anxiety pills were helping him. The only thing that was helping him was the pain medication that he had been taking for his injuries. That’s when he just started down that slope.

"He told me that he was on pain medicine, but he wanted to get off. He had a plan and he was working his way to get off of it. About a month ago he was taking about half the amount that he usually does and he was pretty optimistic. He was really trying to push it. He was going through some withdrawals and he would try to push it as hard as he could to get off the stuff. He really had a plan to be off three weeks prior to the fight and he really wanted to clean up. He really wanted to do this right. It was really important to him and his family. I hadn’t spoken to him for just a little bit, and I guess he tried, but he couldn’t."

Well, according to Karo there never was a painkiller problem:

“My issues had to do with my anxiety problems and panic attacks,” said Parisyan. “Painkillers were thrown out there, but that wasn’t it. People made these accusations because I’d been popped for medication (months before). I’d taken two pain pills the morning of my fight for a torn hamstring and didn’t think much of it.”

Parisyan said he alerted an NSAC official that he’d taken the medication after the bout when he was asked for a urine sample. Parisyan said he was told it wouldn’t be an issue as long as he had documentation from his physician.

Parisyan didn’t have a prescription for the ingested pills -- later identified as Percocet -- which the fighter said had been given to him by a friend. Thinking the pills were the same as what he’d been prescribed, Parisyan said he was shocked to get the call a month later telling him that he’d be disciplined for it.

“Every fighter I know takes pain medication like it's M&Ms,” said Parisyan. “I was the unlucky one who only took it the day of the fight without even thinking about it.”

I don't know ... you do have to jump through a lot of questionable logic hoops to make Karo's version of the story work. I appreciate Dana White reneging on his 'never / forever' banning of Karo, but I do kinda wish he'd said "You're welcome back when you've sorted your shit out" instead of bringing him back along with the same problems that got the guy kicked out in the first place.

We're all used to seeing Josh Koscheck rolling around the octagon playing up whatever foul real or imagined that's happened to him most recently. Now he's doing the same over some comments attributed referee Yves Lavigne where Yves allegedly criticized Koscheck's performance against Paul Daley and praised GSP as the better fighter. Koscheck doesn't just want to make sure Lavigne doesn't ref any of his fights again ... he wants the guy fired completely:

“UFC referee, Yves Lavigne is clearly not suited to be a referee after his rant of personal attacks and opinions on me as a fighter. It’s supposed to be his job to look at a fight unbiased, but how can anyone trust this guy to fairly referee any fight ever again after his comments? It’s scary to think this guy has been calling fights in the octagon for this long. It’s very fair to say Mr. Lavigne will never ref one of my fights again. I would never put all my hard work as a fighter or my livelihood in the hands of this ref.

The (UFC) and the commission would be irresponsible to let him continue his job- any call this guy makes would have to be questioned. You call MMA a professional sport? Well, professional starts at the top. Never would an NFL, NBA or other major sports official state there personal opinions publicly about a player and keep their job. I now question every call Yves has ever made as a referee. Hopefully no fighter ever has to step into a fight with Yves Lavigne as referee. Better get that resume ready Lavigne…..”

Meanwhile, Yves Lavigne is denying everything, saying:

1. I NEVER gave an interview to that journalist
2. I NEVER gave an interview regarding GSP vs Koscheck
3. My lawyer is taking care of this matter.

Since then, the original article with the alleged quotes has been taken down. But as far as Yves 'NEVER' giving an interview regarding GSP vs Koscheck, that's not exactly true. Here he is on a Quebec radio station classifying Koscheck's last fight as 'boring and dull' while defending GSP's last boring / dull fight as 'technical'. While the quotes aren't the same, they still kinda end up implying the same thing.

So is this enough to affect Yves Lavigne's status as a UFC referee regular? I certainly hope not, although he has probably given enough cause to be recused from any future GSP and Koscheck fights because of what he said. Referees need to be really careful about appearing above petty fan concerns, which makes it a not so great idea to go on radio shows and giving your personal opinion on fights and fighters. Big John McCarthy is still paying for saying stuff that was a lot more vague than that, and Yves Lavigne isn't exactly at the top of Dana White's 'favorite ref' list.

EA MMA gets a slightly different cover in Japan. Captain America gets replaced by Hidehiko Yoshida, aka General Judo. Goes to show you how hurting Japanese MMA is for big name stars when the best option EA had was a disgruntled overweight retiree.

(via MiddleEasy)

The UFC just announced that UFC 123, aka the event with the incredibly stupid Rampage Jackson vs Lyoto Machida headline fight, will be held in Detroit. Well, not technically Detroit ... Detroit suburb Auburn Hills. But same difference ... that's just where The Palace of Auburn Hills is, the 24,000+ person sports mega-hive that houses the NBA's Pistons.

Now I don't know much about Detroit. Everything I know I gleaned from the headlines of articles that make it sound a few steps above a post-apocalyptic Terminator 3 warzone. That doesn't sound like an ideal place to sell twenty four thousand tickets at the standard event average of $300 a ticket. Bloody Elbow writer and brave post-economy Michigan survivor Brent Brookhouse agrees:

Then there is the realist in me that is fairly certain the ticket sales for this event will be a disappointment. The Michigan economy is pretty awful and we're sporting the second highest unemployment rate in the country (even with a recent boom of new jobs). Nevada is first and obviously the UFC is strong there, but it also has the benefit of Las Vegas being a destination and there being a lot of money in the pockets of a lot of people. Michigan is a state that I just can't see a major UFC event selling well in.

Dana White complained about Boston ticket sales doing poorly (the event crawled sluggishly past 14,000 attendence) and blamed it on the economy being bad there. Even if Detroit does better, the Palace is a big freaking venue. Are we gonna be seeing cheaper tickets, or curtains covering the entire top bowl?