NSAC issues Karo Parisyan nine-month suspension; UFC 94 win overturned

John Morgan of MMAjunkie.com was in Las Vegas to report on UFC welterweight Karo Parisyan’s appeal hearing in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission regarding a suspension for testing positive for prescription pain killers following his UFC 94 decision victory over Dong Hyun Kim in January.

According to Morgan, NSAC has formally suspended Parisyan for nine months and has issued a 40 percent fine of his purse coming out of UFC 94. The long-time UFC veteran received a total of $80,000 for his win over Kim with $40,000 coming in the form of a guarantee and the other $40,000 being paid as a win bonus. Based on the percentage assessed to Parisyan’s disclosed payout, his fine will total $32,000.

Additionally, the NSAC board of commissioners has overturned Parisyan’s split decision victory over Kim and declared the official result of the bout a no contest. As a result, Parisyan’s record has been reduced from 19-5 to 18-5. Meanwhile, Kim’s undefeated record will be restored as he is now 11-0-1.

It was first reported on Feb. 10 that Parisyan had tested positive for the presence of hydrocodone, hydromorphone and oxymorphone in his system. Initially, Parisyan claimed he disclosed to NSAC before his fight that he had taken the prescribed medications prior to his fight but NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer contradicted that statement and claimed that Parisyan only disclosed his use of the medications until after his fight and only once he was instructed he had to undergo a random post-fight drug screening.

According to Morgan’s report, NSAC representative felts that the high level of pain killers in Parisyan’s system — 3,551 ng/mL of oxymorphone and 4,654 ng/mL of hydrocodone — possibly gave him an unfair advantage in his fight vs. Kim by increasing his tolerance to pain.