As the head grappling coach at the famed Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, Nevada, Neil Melanson has seen some of the best fighters in the world come and go.
That’s why many fans, analysts and even fighters are probably going to be surprised at who Melanson believes is the most talented athlete he’s come across: former UFC welterweight Karo Parisyan.
“Karo is the most talented person I’ve ever met in my entire life. What he could do without training at all was amazing. If people saw the kind of life that he lived and then watched his performances, you’d be like ‘Are you serious?’” Melanson told Sherdog Radio Network’s “Rewind” show.
Known for being the first fighter to effectively utilize Judo inside the Octagon, “The Heat” posted a solid 8-3 record under the UFC banner between Sept. 2003 and April 2008.
His losses were to top 10 fighters in Georges St-Pierre, Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves and the bout with Sanchez was voted the 2006 “Fight of the Year” by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
However, an due to an on-again, off-again, battle prescription painkillers has left him with a pedestrian record of 4-3-1 since then, with his victories not coming over any fighters with name recognition.
Melanson also believes that Parisyan never reached his full potential due to a well-documented lax approach to training.
“Here’s a guy that probably only ate cake the week of the fight, and after weigh-ins he’d have a few cigarettes. That’s the type of guy Karo was.”
Melanson also indicated that the highly-touted grappler, a black belt in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, “just had it” and showed an obvious talent at just nine of 10-year-old.
On the occasion Parisyan made it to the gym, Melanson recalls that it usually wasn’t particularly productive.
“Guys like him, it was hard to drag him into the gym. He didn’t really want to do it. He just wanted to show up and fight. He would never remember to bring his cup or mouthpiece. He just didn’t care. I remember when we used to spar, he’d just strip down to his boxers and spar like that. He was a character.”
At 30-years-old, is it possible for Parisyan to make a run in the UFC and have an impact in the stacked welterweight division?