Exclusive: Georgi Karakhanyan on WSOF 7 matchup with Lance Palmer: “You have to go out there and finish it”

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Category: WSOF News

Published on Saturday, 23 November 2013 17:36

Written by Darren Barcomb

MMA DIRT’s Darren Barcomb had the pleasure of chatting with World Series of Fighting’s Georgi Karakhanyan as he preps for a shot at the promotion’s inaugural featherweight title at WSOF 7 in Vancouver on December 7^th. With Mike Kyle pulling out of the main event against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson due to a broken toe, Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer has been elevated to the night’s main event.

The 28 year old “Insane” Karakhanyan, who fights out of Millennia MMA, has compiled a sparkling 22-3-1 record fighting for Bellator, Tachi Palace Fights, DREAM, and Legacy FC. In his debut for the WSOF back in September, he rumbled to a quick 1^st round submission over the savvy ring veteran Waylon Lowe. With that victory under his belt, he was primed to fight for the WSOF featherweight title, to add to his championship resume that already includes a Tachi Palace Fights strap.

His original opponent was scheduled to be Rick “The Gladiator” Glenn (14-2) who is coming off of two WSOF victories. A Glenn withdrawal from the bout left the WSOF to find a suitable replacement in the form of the 25 year old Lance “The Party” Palmer (7-0).

When asked how the change of opponent affected his focus, a determined Karakhanyan stated “The opponent change didn’t affect me that much. As a fighter I have to adapt to all kinds of styles and all types of fighters. As far as Palmer, he comes from a good wrestling background, and he comes from a good camp at Team Alpha Male. As far as me fighting him, it’s a good matchup for me fighting another southpaw. My previous opponent was Waylon Lowe and they kind of fight the same. I’m just looking to go out there and fight my fight and put on an exciting fight for an exciting show.”

Of course, putting on exciting fights is what Karakhanyan seems to do best. Currently riding an eight fight victory streak with five 1^st round stoppages, Karakhanyan knows that he’s come a long ways fast in his MMA career, stating “I started MMA in late 2006 when I was 20 years old. I had done karate when I was a little kid for two years, but nothing serious. When I got into MMA I did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I got my first fight in October of 2006 and since then I’ve been fighting.”

With Palmer slated to be his 27^th opponent in that 7 year period, Karakhanyan has kept busy, put in the work, and seen himself progress as a fighter. Now as the headliner for WSOF 7 on the NBC Sports Network, he is ready for big things, and expects huge things from the promotion in the coming months, adding “My experience with World Series of Fighting has been great. They are really professional and very organized. I think they are going to make more noise by next year and be the second biggest organization behind the UFC.”

If their recent shows and growing stable of talent are any indication, the WSOF certainly is primed to take over that #2 position sometime soon, and Karakhanyan looks to be a face of the company for some time.

Looking back at his career though, he did say that he takes something from every fight, but did admit he’d like to avenge losses to Joe Warren and Patricio Freire from Bellator. With regards to the Freire fight, which was his only career loss by stoppage, Karakhanyan said “Going onto that fight I had a bad staph infection. They were like “don’t fight”, but I did. I couldn’t find my timing. I’ve always said if you’re going to beat me, you have to finish me. I’m glad I got finished. I don’t want to get laid and prayed all three rounds. You have to go out there and finish it. That’s what I try to do when I go into the cage. The losses taught me how to be a different fighter, to be smarter, and not to over train. I had a habit of over training.”

The updated WSOF 7 Fight Card (December 7^th- PNE Agrodome- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada):

Main Card (NBC SPORTS NETWORK)

Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer - for inaugural WSOF featherweight title

Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jesse Taylor - middleweight tournament semifinal

Sabah Fadai vs. Nick Newell

Kalib Starnes vs. Dwayne Lewis

WSOF.COM-STREAMED PRELIMINARY CARD

Shawn Albrecht vs. Josh Machan

Michael Hill vs. Richard Arsenault

Matt Baker vs. David Perron

Ryan Chiappe vs. Marcus Vinicius

Dan Ring vs. Myles Merola

Micah Brakefield vs. Brendan Kornberger