Georgi Karakhanyan’s Cold Realities

Georgi Karakhanyan could not have known how his upbringing would shape him. The son of Armenian parents, he grew up in Moscow, where bitter cold, hard work and an unsettling uncertainty challenged the heartiest of souls. Karakhanyan, a mixed martial artist who now lives and trains in California, was a talented soccer player but unsure of what direction he was going to take in life.

“Growing up there was rough,” he told Sherdog.com. “It was very cold, unlike out here in California. Just the memories of my childhood being in soccer camps, there were times where if you didn’t play good, you’d get yelled at. There were many days when I was a little kid and I was crying. They’d make me run six, seven, eight miles in the snow. We were training three times a day. Being a kid who is 6, 7 years old, it was very hard.”

While his childhood experience left a lot to be desired, there were positives. He concedes that he would not be where he is today -- a former World Series of Fighting and Tachi Palace Fights champion -- without being exposed to extreme elements and harsh discipline during his formative years.

“There were a lot of bad memories -- some good, of course -- but I think it made me the person I am today,” he said. “It gave me this tough skin. When you come to the United States and see how different things are, it makes you appreciate life a lot more.”

Soccer took Karakhanyan abroad, but he knew he would have to make a drastic change in order to fulfill his dreams. He moved to the United States as a teenager. The culture shock was real.

“I was excited to move to America because I was like, ‘Hell, yeah! I’m going to eat some McDonald’s!’” he said with a laugh. “In Russia, if you go to McDonald’s, it was on a special occasion. If you go eat there, you have to have a lot of money. You take your girlfriends there. So when I moved out here, I was all about McDonald’s; and then I found different spots like Denny’s and IHOP. S---, it was exciting.”

Excitement aside, Karakhanyan encountered some struggles in the transition.

“At first, it was kind of hard because it was such a culture shock because everybody would say hi to you and they’d be nice and friendly,” he said. “In Russia, everybody keeps their heads down, no smiling. It’s never sunshine because the sky is always gray. Everyone is always so strict, but out here, everybody is cool.

“I knew a little English when I got here -- just enough to get around,” Karakhanyan added. “It was hard at times, but I’m the type of person who can adapt to any culture or any country because I traveled so much with the soccer team. I also had a lot of friends here, so it wasn’t very hard after all.”

When his soccer dreams soured, Karakhanyan moved briefly to Mexico before returning to California. He enrolled in college, which led to his falling into fighting for a living.

“I was going to college and doing construction work with one of my friends, and he was doing jiu-jitsu,” Karakhanyan said. “He invited me down to the gym to try out a few classes, so after I tried a few of them, I was hooked into it. From there, it was nothing but jiu-jitsu, and then I started training in actual fighting.”

The transition from soccer to MMA was not much of a stretch. Karakhanyan was accustomed to violence.

“Even back when I was only playing soccer, I was always getting into fights,” he said. “I would always get red cards, even when I was a little kid. Whenever our team would start losing, I would try to injure the other players and fight them. If that didn’t happen, I would actually hit the referee. I got suspended from soccer so many times for hitting the referees, so I’m glad I took up MMA because now I can fight without getting in trouble.”

It was a wise career choice. Karakhanyan has compiled a 24-4-1 professional record and has emerged as one of top featherweights in Bellator MMA. The 30-year-old will take on former M-1 Global champion Daniel Weichel in the Bellator 147 co-main event on Friday at the San Jose State University Event Center in San Jose, Calif. The winner will have a legitimate claim as the No. 1 contender for the Bellator featherweight championship.

Weichel saw his seven-fight winning streak grind to a halt in a knockout loss to Patricio Freire at Bellator 138 in June.

“Overall, he’s a well-rounded fighter,” Karakhanyan said. “He’s had a lot of fights under his [belt] and he’s fought a lot of good names. He’s one of those tough fighters that I can’t wait to go up against, but coming off that knockout loss, I think I’m the worst matchup for him. I really don’t care how he fights me; I’m going to fight him the way I want to. If he takes his time, good for me. If he tries to rush in, good for me. At this point in my career, I’m really expecting anything.”

Karakhanyan has studied Weichel and remains confident in the game plan his Millennia MMA trainers have put in place.

“He’s got a real good right hand, but there are a lot of counters that I don’t see a lot of people using against him,” he said. “I expect him to use that right hand a lot but he’s a journeyman who has done quite a bit, so really, I expect him to try anything against me, from pressure to takedowns to him trying to take my head off -- anything.”