In 1999, Pariente went to the United States to train and fight for two years. He is reputed to have good
Muay Thai skills. Shields was Fighters.com's third-ranked welterweight and later EliteXC champion; Pariente was a lightweight. However, Shields, from San Francisco, defeated Pariente in the main event of the
K-1 competition. He dominated early, getting the mount position following a quick takedown, and when Pariente gave up his back Shields defeated Pariente at 2:06 of the first round on a
submission tapout by
rear naked choke. Shields won $24,000 for the fight, while Pariente received $2,500.
Walla! in Israel described it as one of the biggest fights ever for an Israeli, and called Pariente's fight an important milestone in the development of the fight industry in Israel. In October 2007, Pariente defeated Romanian Gica Apostu to retain the Desert Combat title, winning Desert Combat V. He fought at 85 kg, for Team Franko, coached by Yitzhak Franko. Pariente was a lightweight participant in 2008 on
Spike TV's
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir, but was eliminated in season 8 by
Efrain Escudero, The Ultimate Fighter lightweight winner of the season. Escudero started the fight quickly, scoring with shots to Pariente's body, and then slowed the pace down. Pariente got a trip takedown using a clinch, and followed with shots to Escudero's body. Escudero kicked his way free, scored a takedown of his own, worked onto Pariente's back, and finished with a modified
rear-naked choke. Pariente said later that TUF 8 had been his dream for a long time, and the loss was very hard on him mentally. Speaking about mixed martial arts fighting in 2010, Pariente said that MMA demands "strength, athleticism, flexibility and more balance than in any other sport", and that in contrast to those who view the sport as overly violent, "You can't call a sport in which the competitors are under close medical supervision and need a license to compete barbaric. It's not what people think. It's not just about people fighting in a cage. This is a serious sport". ==Retirement and post-fighting career==