Other names Big Frog Reach 69.0 in (175 cm) Notable relatives Pat Curran Weight 125 lb (57 kg; 8.9 st) Spouse Sarah Curran | Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Role Mixed Martial Artist Nationality American Name Jeff Curran Children Jacob Curran | |
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Born September 2, 1977 (age 46)
Crystal Lake, Illinois, United States ( 1977-09-02 ) Division Flyweight
Bantamweight
Featherweight
Lightweight Movies Time Expired, The One Warrior, Pride FC: Bushido: Vol. 12 Profiles | ||
Jeff Curran & Rich Clementi Tag team MMA match!
Jeffrey M. Curran (September 2, 1977) is an American professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1998, Curran has fought at a number of different weight classes for a large number of promotions including Bellator, the UFC, Strikeforce, PRIDE Fighting Championships, WEC, IFL, the RFA, and KOTC.
Contents
- Jeff Curran Rich Clementi Tag team MMA match
- Jeff curran martial arts opens new gym in crystal lake il
- Background
- World Extreme Cagefighting
- Independent promotions
- UFC return
- Resurrection Fighting Alliance
- Titan Fighting Championship
- Personal life
- Championships and Accomplishments
- References
Jeff curran martial arts opens new gym in crystal lake il
Background
Curran started his path towards mixed martial arts with Karate and Tae Kwon Do when he was five years old. Curran has trained for 16 years and has fought for 5 years. He began wrestling in the 4th grade and did that until his freshman year when he began Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Curran also says that as a teen he would box with his grandfather. Curran holds a rank of third degree black belt under Pedro Sauer. Curran is also known as one of the most technical instructors in the Pedro Sauer Jiu-Jitsu Association.
Curran is president and head instructor of Curran Martial Arts Academy (CMA). He is also owner and promoter of Xtreme Fighting Organization. Curran appeared on the television series Tapout on Versus with fellow Team Curran pro Fighter Matt Fiordirosa.
World Extreme Cagefighting
After fifteen victories in sixteen fights, Curran fought Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight championship. Faber retained his title by defeating Curran via guillotine choke. Curran then lost a pair of unanimous decisions, first to former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown and then his Bantamweight debut to Joseph Benavidez at WEC 40. His most recent WEC fight was against Takeya Mizugaki on August 9, 2009 WEC 42; he lost by a split decision. And was subsequently released from the promotion for good.
Independent promotions
After losing 4 consecutive fights in the WEC, it was announced on October 20, 2009 that Curran had signed a two fight contract with North American promotion Strikeforce. He maintained that his ultimate goal was to return to the WEC, but was glad to still be able to fight on major cards for the time being. He made his debut for the organization as a part of the preliminary card on their November 7 event, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers, in Chicago, winning over Dustin Neace by submission in the first round. Curran would later defeat Tomohiko Hori via unanimous decision at XFO 34. Curran went on to lose a unanimous decision to Bryan Goldsby in a non tournament bantamweight bout at Bellator 14.
Jeff announced that he will be featured in an upcoming documentary entitled "This is the Fight". it is expected to be released in early fall 2010. the film will be about Jeff's difficult road to try to make it back to the WEC after 4 consecutive losses to, at the time, top 5 fighters in his weight class.
Curran faced David Love at XFO 37 on December 4, 2010. Although breaking his right forearm towards the end of the fight, He was able to win the fight by unanimous decision. He underwent surgery for the injury on New Year's Day 2011.
Curran is scheduled to headline XFO 39 on May 13 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. He took on late replacement Billy Vaughan and won via unanimous decision.
UFC return
Curran in July 2011 signed a new multi-fight contract to return to the UFC. His first fight back was against Scott Jorgensen, who was ranked the No. 4 bantamweight in the world by MMAWeekly.com at the time that Curran returned to the promotion. Curran lost by unanimous decision.
Curran faced Johnny Eduardo on May 15, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier. He lost the bout via unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.
Resurrection Fighting Alliance
On April 29, 2013 it was announced that Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) next card will headline Jeff Curran and Sergio Pettis for the inaugural RFA flyweight championship. However, in the days leading up to the event, Curran was forced out due to personal reasons and replaced by Dillard "Joe" Pegg.
On July 20, 2013 it was announced that Keoni Koch was injured and pulled from the main event of RFA 9, Curran is now set to face Pedro Munhoz at RFA 9 on August 16, 2013 in the main event for the RFA Bantamweight Championship. Curran lost the bout via unanimous decision and announced his retirement.
Titan Fighting Championship
On January 28, 2014 It was announced that Curran would return from his retirement to fight for Titan Fighting Championship he will take on fellow UFC vet Iliarde Santos in April.
Personal life
Jeff and his wife Sarah have a son who was born in March 2007. The couple had their second son, Jacob, in December 2008.