kim returned to the octagon in las vegas, nevada, on january 31, 2009, as he faced off against fellow judo practitioner karo parisyan at "ufc 94". with frank mir in his corner who served as his boxing coach prior to the fight. kim originally lost to parisyan via split decision. fans in attendance booed the decision, and former ufc champions matt hughes, randy couture and ufc president dana white have commented that they thought kim had won the fight. afterwards, however, parisyan tested positive for three banned pain killers: hydrocodone, hydromorphone and oxymorphone. the nevada athletic commission declared the match a no contest, and parisyan was suspended for nine months. later on march 5, 2009, kim signed a four fight extension with the ufc.