A training partner to UFC veterans Karo Parisyan and Manvel Gamburyan, Karen Darabedyan is a fast rising lightweight prospect currently signed to the WEC. Darabedyan possesses an extensive martial arts background with training in karate, taekwondo, boxing, kickboxing, judo and wrestling, and is a student of legendary grappling coaches Gokor Chivichyan and Gene LeBell. Hailing from Armenia, Darabedyan now fights out of Glendale, California where he trains alongside Parisyan and Gamburyan at the Main Event Sports Club.

Like fellow Armenians Karo Parisyan and Manvel Gamburyan, Darabedyan is a strong overall grappler who comes to the sport with a judo black belt and proficient ground skills. Darabedyan is also a competent wrestler who has displayed good takedowns from both the clinch and at striking range, an effective sprawl and good takedown defense. Once he has his opponent down he's shown good control on the ground and has been very effective from the top with punches and quick elbow strikes. Darabedyan shows excellent composure with his ground skills, and by all accounts has a good knowledge of submissions and is fully capable of handling himself well on the mat. He hasn't been tested against top grapplers yet, and much of what's known about his grappling abilities is based on his credentials and what he's proven outside of fighting. In that regard he will need to continue proving himself in MMA competition.

Despite Darabedyan's grappling prowess and strong judo background, he's proven more than capable of handling himself well on his feet and has actually shown a strong preference in keeping his fights standing. Darabedyan does not get wild or sloppy with his striking, and is very calm, composed and collected when he's throwing punches. His standup game features very nice footwork, good defensive skills, excellent handspeed and strong technical boxing skills. Darabedyan throws very "tidy" straight punches and he did enter the sport with backgrounds in karate, taekwondo, kickboxing and boxing - where he held a perfect amateur record. Darabedyan's possesses an effective stiff, stinging jab, a nice left hook and right cross and has proven capable of stringing together very crisp combinations to the head and body using his hands. He's very quick, displays strong counter punching abilities and more then held his own against former World Muay Thai and former WEC Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough with his impressive technical boxing game. Darabedayn will need to work on defending against kicks (specifically leg kicks which McCullough was able to land at will) but his standup game is very refined and he has excellent potential as an MMA striker.