TACHI PALACE TITLE FIGHT
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Karakhanyan, DeJesus Tangle for Vacant Tachi 145 Belt on Dec. 2
With recently crowned Tachi Palace Fights featherweight champion Eddie Yagin UFC-bound, officials from the Californian promotion revealed Monday that Bellator veteran Georgi Karakhanyan will take on former champIsaac DeJesus for the now-vacant 145-pound strap.
“It took some time and a lot of work, but we are very happy with this fight,” Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Coordinator Jeremy Luchau told Sherdog.com. “Georgi is a well-rounded veteran and we are excited to have him on the roster and fighting a fan-favorite like Isaac.”
The title bout will occupy one of the top slots on TPF 11 “Redemption,” set to go down Dec. 2 at the Tachi Palace in Lemoore, Calif. The company’s flyweight champ, top-ranked 125-pounder Ian McCall, will defend his belt on the same card against former WEC and UFC talent Will Campuzano.
A two-time Bellator featherweight tournament participant, 26-year-old Karakhanyan (Pictured) posted a 2-2 record in the circular cage, scoring wins over Bao Quach andAnthony Leone while falling to eventual tourney winners Joe Warren and Patricio Freire. Since departing the promotion earlier this year, the Millennia MMA representative has notched a pair of first-round submission wins on local shows in California.
DeJesus was originally slated to meet Yagin before the “Filipino Phenom” departed for the big show. The Stockton, Calif., resident will look to get back against Karakhanyan following a turbulent 14 months.
After suffering first-round defeats to Rob McCullough and Micah Miller in non-title bouts, DeJesus missed weight for his May defense against Russ Miura and was stripped of his Tachi gold. While he would punch Miura out in less than three minutes at TPF 9, the victory was ruled a no-contest by the California State Athletic Commission and DeJesus was suspended for six months after testing positive for marijuana.
Jeff Sherwood contributed to this report.
OCTOBER 15th SHARK FIGHTS
Neer vs. da Silva, Karakhanyan vs. Downing among Shark Fights additions
by Dann Stupp on Aug 12, 2011 at 6:20 pm ET
Three bouts have been added to upcoming Shark Fights cards.
The fights include welterweights Josh Neer (30-10-1) vs. Romario Manoel da Silva (17-9-1) and middleweights Rob Kimmons (23-8) vs. Chuck Parmelee (33-12-1) at Shark Fights 19, as well as featherweights Jared Downing (7-0) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (16-3-1) at Shark Fights 20.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the bookings with KO Dynasty, which represents some of the fighters.
Shark Fights 19 takes place at Independence Events Center in Independence, Mo., near Kansas City. The event, which airs via delay on Fuel TV, marks the Texas-based organization’s Missouri debut.
Shark Fights 20 is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 15 in Laughlin, Nev.
Neer looks for his fourth straight win and sixth victory in seven fights since his UFC release in 2009. Most recently, he scored a TKO victory over Jesse Juarez in the Shark Fights 16 headliner. He now meets da Silva, a veteran of the Brazilian fight scene who owns nine knockouts in 17 career wins. Most recently, he went 1-1 in a two-fight series with Hernani Perpetuo (12-3) in the Shoot Brazil organization.
Kimmons, who recently concluded a seven-fight UFC stint, competes in his home state while looking to snap out of a three-fight losing skid that included a decision loss to Brendan Sequin at Titan Fighting Championships 19. He takes on Parmelee, a 12-year vet in the midst of a six-fight win streak and a 13-1 run since 2009. Of his 33 career wins, 22 have come via knockout.
Downing, a fast-rising prospect, recently scored a 98-second knockout of Ran Weathers at Shark Fights 16. It was the Bellator vet’s seventh straight win since opening his pro campaign in 2009. He now meets one of his toughest opponents yet in Karakhanyan, a two-time Bellator tourney competitor who’s 2-0 since an opening-round loss to eventual Bellator tourney champion Patricio Freire earlier this year.
SHARKFIGHTS.COM
MARCH 19TH LIVE ON MTV2
Q&A with Vegetarian MMA Fighter Georgi Karakhanyan
How awesomely talented are MMA fighters? They’re in the best shape ever and are in the ring fight after fight displaying crazy amounts of athleticism. Joining the ranks with other veggie athletes like Mac Danzig and Jake Shields, we’d like to introduce you to vegetarian MMA fighter Georgi Karakhanyan. Georgi recently took some time out of his busy training schedule for a quick peta2 Q&A. Check it out!
1. What prompted you to become vegetarian? Were there any bands, books, etc. that influenced your decision?
The reason why I became a vegetarian is because I do not like animals being hurt. I also believe that being a vegetarian is a healthy way to live.
2. What are some of your favorite vegetarian foods?
One of my favorite foods is veggie burgers.
3. Of all of the major animal rights issues (factory farming, dog fighting, animal testing, the fur industry, animals in entertainment, etc.) are there any issues that are particularly close to your heart?
I think that all of these issues are important, but the one that I am most passionate about is the fur industry. I am very against animals being treated as objects. They should be treated with respect and people should realize they are not on this planet for our amusement.
4. If a fan were to approach you with questions about how to get involved with animal rights, what advice would you give him or her?
I would tell them to start as soon as possible at home by being a vegetarian. It’s something that can be done right away and it gets the people around them involved because they will begin to ask about why he/she is becoming a vegetarian and that will lead to more people being aware of animal rights.
5. What do you have coming up that we can be looking forward to?
I have a fight on March 19th, 2011 that will be aired LIVE on MTV2. It is an MMA tournament.
6. What do you say to fellow fighters who say, “You can’t fight if you’re a vegetarian!”
I would tell them, “I don’t need to eat meat to kick their ass!”
I read an article this week on Top MMA Fighters Raving About Vegetarianism. We all know that a plant-based diet is the healthiest diet out there. Vegans reduce their risk of many of the nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. So take after our pal Georgi and embrace that vegetarian lifestyle!