5 Reasons To Watch Bellator 122

5. Phil Baroni vs. Karo Parisyan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcDpHHJDIxM Two names from the past collide at Bellator 122, and for casual fans, they're probably the two biggest names on the card, despite both having fallen drastically over the years. It's hard to believe that Karo Parisyan is only 31 years old, given that he started his professional MMA career way back in 1999 (it's also hard to believe that 1999 can now be considered "way back" but that's a bit of nostalgia for another day). Point being, his UFC run was quite some time ago now. Parisyan first fought pro at the tender age of sixteen, and debuted for the UFC at twenty-one. In 2004 he won the WEC welterweight championship, after fighting in the UFC twice in 2003-2004, and later would be back in the big show, beating Nick Diaz, Chris "Lights Out" Lytle, and Matt Sera in three consecutive fights. He would fight in the UFC until 2010, including a Fight of the Year bout with Diego Sanchez in 2006, but by the time he left the promotion, most considered his best days to be behind him. Parisyan 23€“10 (1) is 1-1 in Bellator and is coming off a KO win of Ron Keslar at Bellator 116. Phil Baroni (15€“17), meanwhile, 38, has been a pro since 2000, and appeared all the way back at UFC 30. 3-7 in the UFC, Baroni is best remembered for some of his trash talking and comments outside the cage, and he seems to know this is probably his last shot at going out on a high note. On a two-fight losing streak, Baroni is coming off a loss to ONE FC welterweight champ Nobutatsu Suzuki. Not surprisingly, the bout has found itself swathed in trash talk leading into Friday night. Speaking to Fansided about Parisyan's Judo, Baroni was quoted as saying "I don€™t plan on or expect to be thrown. He is going to have to grab me, and in order to do that he will put himself in punching range. When he does that I am going to f***ing light him up and knock him out. I am still explosive, and I still have a short fuse. I am a better fighter now. I don€™t want to give away any secrets, but I can do a lot more than punch. I plan on blowing through this motherf***er like s**t through goose." Parisyan's retort included this statement: "I am going to hurt him. When I take him to the ground I won€™t go for a submission, I will cut him and throw elbows at him to deform his face. I€™m going to make him pay for talking on Friday night." If you buy the talk as legit, and not just two old warriors selling a fight, then expect some explosives in the ring Friday night.