Issue 083
December 2011
Just four years into his MMA training and Pat Curran has already won two eight-man Bellator tournaments at two separate weights. This 16-4 Floridian featherweight is starting to get a reputation…
Had 2011 not been filled with mind-blowing Brazilian high kicks, 24-year-old Pat Curran could well have been in Las Vegas this November giving an acceptance speech as he picked up his ‘Knockout of the Year’ trophy. On August 20th at Bellator 48, Curran delivered perhaps the most intense knockout for some time when a thunderous right head-kick threw the previously unstopped Marlon Sandro onto his back, stone-cold unconscious.
That highlight-reel finish saw Curran pick up his second grand prix winner’s check in 14 months as he took the Bellator featherweight tournament, matching his pay day back in June 2010 when he defeated UFC veteran Roger Huerta and Toby Imada to win the promotion’s lightweight competition. It’s about time he spoke to Fighters Only magazine then.
FO: Bellator has a unique way to bestow number-one contender status: they stage eight-man tournaments, spread out over a season. Someone who makes it to the final has to fight three times in three months. How does a fighter survive that?
Pat: “It’s a long three months; you’ve got to pray for no injuries. It’s [essentially] one long training camp. It’s really hard on your body. Mentally, you have to be pretty tough to go through it.”
You won the last Bellator featherweight tournament in August to earn a shot at the 145lb belt. When do you challenge for the title?
“It’s a bit complicated. Joe Warren is the current featherweight champion. He dropped down to 135lb (and was knocked out by Alexis Vila at Bellator 51), but he and Patricky Freire, they have to fight each other. The winner of that fight, I fight. Right now, I’m waiting. I’m training for fun, just enjoying it, just having fun with it.”
You started off using your submission skills to win fights, but you’ve definitely proven you’ve got striking skills with your highlight-reel KOs over Marlon Sandro and Mike Ricci. Do you feel you’re just hitting your stride as a fighter?
“Yeah, absolutely. I’m evolving as a fighter. Now I’m getting more experienced, getting better with my hands. I’m comfortable anywhere the fight goes.”
How did you get your start in MMA?
“I wrestled in high school in Florida, and my cousin, Jeff, saw a lot of potential in me. Over about two years, he kept calling me, sending me texts about traveling to Chicago to train with him. After I graduated, I was interested in fire and paramedic training. I went through all the schooling, but it didn’t take off like I wanted to. I decided to move to Chicago and give it a shot. I always wanted to come up and train.”e up and train.”
What’s it like living in the Chicago, the ‘Windy City’?
“Where I’m from, Palm Beach County, Florida, is pretty close to the beach. The biggest difference is the weather. My first winter was horrible up here. I had to work outside too, doing construction then training at night.”
Do you still have a day job, or are you training full-time?
“I’m helping out more around the gym; I’m teaching the amateurs and running the MMA and wrestling classes.”
When you’re not collecting heads what do you do in your downtime?
“My life is pretty much at the gym, Team Curran, [but] I’m starting to get involved in video games. Gears of War – I just started it. I also like fishing. Next week, I’m going salmon fishing in Wisconsin. I still have family in Florida, so I get back down there a couple times a year.”
You first debuted with Bellator back in April 2010. How did you get signed?
“I had just had a fight in the UK – I fought Robbie Olivier. I won that and as we were coming home, we found out there was a spot that opened up in the Bellator lightweight tournament.
“My agents, Brian and Jeff with SuckerPunch Entertainment, talked to Bellator and put in a good word for me. They listened to them. I was the underdog; nobody had ever heard of me and I was going up a weight class. The critics didn’t think I was going to win my first, second or third fight.”
You’re on quite a roll. How does the increased notoriety feel, and what are your thoughts on Bellator as an organization?
“I’m looking at it like this is my job; it’s a career. This is what I do for a living. … I’m with Bellator as long as they want me. They treat me like family, so I couldn’t be happier.”
TOUGH TESTS
There’s a recurring theme through several of the fights that Pat Curran ranks as his toughest in his 20 professional bouts: gassing out. The first time it ever happened was in 2008 against Darren Elkins for the C3 lightweight championship. Elkins won the fight by unanimous decision, was awarded the title and handed Curran his first loss. “That was the first time I’d ever been gassed in a fight. It’s probably the worst feeling in a fight. I can remember being flat on my back and not being able to lock in the guard.”
In December 2009 at XFO 34, Curran took on Travis Perzynski, and lost by rear naked choke in the second round. Curran, who was fighting at 145, jumped up a weight class, whereas Perzynski was coming down from 170. “He was a giant compared to me; I didn’t have the conditioning I should have.”
After entering the Bellator lightweight tournament and notching wins over Mike Ricci by KO and Roger Huerta by decision, Curran faced Toby Imada in the finals on June 10, 2010. Of Imada, Curran says: “He just kept coming at me… I was getting tired.” Curran was able to win by split decision, earning the right to face champ Eddie Alvarez.
Curran stepped up his cardio, enduring high-paced, high-intensity circuits, long runs and sprints. His motivation was a movie that played in his mind about the times he had gassed out, how it felt, and what he needed to do for that to never happen again. “I never wanted to have that feeling again… I started training with Dave Davis, who runs a strength and conditioning program out of the school,” he says. And although he lost the fight by unanimous decision, it was a moral victory for Curran. He went five rounds with the champ.
“It was a war; it was a great learning experience for me. I definitely learned a lot. I had never gone five rounds before. I left with a lot more confidence than going in to it. The first time I ever broke my nose was in the Eddie Alvarez fight. You can’t use it (your nose) at all, so you’re breathing through your mouth, and that’s going to make you more tired.”
