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. 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), 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

Mixed martial arts record

Submission grappling record

Professional boxing record

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