Jeff Curran

Jeff Curran (born September 2, 1977) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2016, Curran 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.

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 fourth grade and did that until his freshman year when he began Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He graduated from Woodstock High School (Illinois) in 1995. Curran also says that as a teen he would box with his grandfather. Curran holds a rank of fourth-degree black belt under Pedro Sauer. and 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 four 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 later defeated 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.

Curran announced that he will be featured in a documentary entitled "This is the Fight". It was expected to be released in early fall 2010. The film will be about his 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 won the fight by unanimous decision. He underwent surgery for the injury on New Year's Day 2011.

Curran was 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 would 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 for personal reasons and was 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 was then 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 split 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 was to take on fellow UFC vet Iliarde Santos in April.

Grappling career Curran was scheduled to compete in a rematch against Urijah Faber under Combat Jiu-Jitsu rules at A1 Combat 21 on May 25, 2024. Curran withdrew from the match due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Jeff Glover.

Personal life Jeff and his wife Sarah have two sons. Jeff opened up his own gym facility in 2018, where he was coaching Felice Herrig for her comeback but was forced to close it in 2020 due to financial complications resulting from COVID-19.

Championships and accomplishments Ironheart Crown IHC Featherweight Championship (1 Time, First, Last) Shooto Shooto Americas Lightweight Championship (1 Time)

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Raufeon Stots Decision (unanimous) VFC 53: Curran vs. Stots

Waterloo, Iowa, United States Loss

Melvin Blumer KO (backfist) RFA 24: Smith vs. Romero

Prior Lake, Minnesota, United States Loss

Pedro Munhoz Decision (split) RFA 9: Munhoz vs. Curran

Los Angeles, California, United States Win

Josh Killion Decision (unanimous) Extreme Challenge 227

Bettendorf, Iowa, United States Loss

Johnny Eduardo Decision (unanimous) UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier

Fairfax, Virginia, United States Loss

Scott Jorgensen Decision (unanimous) UFC 137

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Billy Vaughan Decision (unanimous) Xtreme Fighting Organization 39

Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States Win

David Love Decision (unanimous) Xtreme Fighting Organization 37

Lakemoor, Illinois, United States Loss

Bryan Goldsby Decision (unanimous) Bellator 14

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Tomohiko Hori Decision (unanimous) XFO 34: Curran vs. Hori

Lakemoor, Illinois, United States Win

Dustin Neace Submission (rib injury) Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers

Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States Loss

Takeya Mizugaki Decision (split) WEC 42

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Joseph Benavidez Decision (unanimous) WEC 40

Chicago, Illinois, United States Loss

Mike Brown Decision (unanimous) WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver

Sacramento, California, United States Loss

Urijah Faber Submission (guillotine choke) WEC 31

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Stephen Ledbetter Decision (unanimous) WEC 29

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

John Mahlow Decision (split) KOTC: Damage Control

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Kevin English Submission (guillotine choke) IFL: Moline

Moline, Illinois, United States Win

Donny Walker Submission (rear-naked choke) KOTC: Hard Knocks

Rockford, Illinois, United States Win

Raphael Assunção Decision (majority) XFO 13: Operation Beatdown

Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States Win

Wagnney Fabiano Decision (split) APEX: A Night of Champions

Gatineau, Quebec, Canada Loss

Hatsu Hioki Decision (unanimous) Pride - Bushido 12

Nagoya, Japan Win

Charles Bennett Submission (armbar) KOTC: Redemption on the River

Moline, Illinois, United States Win

Antonio Carvalho Decision (majority) IHC 9: Purgatory

Hammond, Indiana, United States Won Shooto Americas Lightweight Championship Win

Steve Kinnison Submission (rear-naked choke) XFO 6: Judgement Day

Lakemoor, Illinois, United States Win

Luke Spencer Submission (rear-naked choke) SuperBrawl 40

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Win

David Douglas Submission (rear-naked choke) IFC: Eve Of Destruction

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Win

Jason Dent Decision (unanimous) Xtreme Fighting Organization 3

McHenry, Illinois, United States Win

Masahiro Oishi Technical Submission (guillotine choke) Zst 6

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kimihito Nonaka Submission (rear-naked choke) SuperBrawl 35

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Win

Dan Swift Submission (triangle choke) XFO 1: The Kickoff

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, United States Loss

Matt Serra Decision (unanimous) UFC 46

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Norifumi Yamamoto Decision (unanimous) SuperBrawl 29

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Win

Todd Lally Submission (triangle choke) WFA 3: Level 3

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Ryan Ackerman Decision (unanimous) IHC 5: Tribulation

Hammond, Indiana, United States Won IHC Featherweight Championship Win

Baret Yoshida KO (punch) UCC Hawaii: Eruption in Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Win

Bao Quach Decision (majority) WEC 4

Uncasville, Connecticut, United States Loss

Ivan Menjivar Decision (unanimous) UCC 10: Battle for the Belts 2002

Hull, Quebec, Canada Win

Max Marin Submission (triangle choke) UA 1: The Genesis

Hammond, Indiana, United States Loss

Anthony Hamlett KO (elbow) HOOKnSHOOT: Kings 2

Evansville, Indiana, United States Draw

Ryoji Yoshizawa Draw HOOKnSHOOT: Quake

Evansville, Indiana, United States Win

Jamie Webb Submission (punches) Freestyle Combat Challenge 3

N/A Win

Tony DeDolph Decision (split) Extreme Challenge 31

Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States Win

Ron Matthews Submission (triangle choke) Bangkok Brawl

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Sam Wells Submission (triangle choke) Midwest Absolute Challenge

McHenry, Illinois, United States Loss

Phil Johns Submission (strikes) Cage Combat 4

Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States Win

Jeremy Bolt Submission (triangle choke) ECC: Extreme Combat Challenge

Illinois, United States Loss

Phil Johns KO (punches) HOOKnSHOOT: Rising

Evansville, Indiana, United States Win

Charles Barron Submission (armbar) Chicago Challenge 6

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Sam Wells Decision Freestyle Combat Challenge 1

N/A Win

Jeff Rick Submission (rear-naked choke) HOOKnSHOOT: Trial

Evansville, Indiana, United States Win

Larry Koneizka Submission (armbar) Chicago Challenge 5

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Jason Chambers Submission (front choke) Chicago Challenge 4

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Mike Haltom Submission (armbar) Extreme Challenge 17

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Loss

Henry Matamoros Submission Extreme Challenge 13

Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States Submission grappling record

Professional boxing record Result Record Opponent Method Round, time Date Location