Pat Curran

Pat Curran rocks Joe Warren with a knee.

Pat Curran is the former two-time Bellator featherweight champion, known for his knockout power.

Run at Bellator LW Title

Curran most recently defeated UFC veteran Roger Huerta in the lightweight tournament's semifinals.

He went on to fight against first season lightweight finalist Toby Imada in the second season finals and defeated Imada by split decision controversially in what some dubbed the biggest robbery thus far of 2010. Nonetheless, Curran is the winner of the second season lightweight tournament and he will get what he so richly deserves: a shot at the imposing lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

Unfortunately, he was injured before he could face the champion and he was replaced with the man he defeated: Roger Huerta. The contest itself was changed to a non-title affair. Alvarez defeated Huerta via a doctor stoppage between rounds two and three and he next faced Curran.

Alvarez defeated Curran via a dominant unanimous decision.

Drop to Featherweight

Afterwards Curran dropped to featherweight and secured a spot in the featherweight 'Summer Series' tournament. He faced former lightweight Luis Palomino in the quarterfinals. He defeated Palomino via first-round Peruvian necktie. The necktie isn't a submission that was used every day... and Curran pulled one off against a Peruvian. It was rather impressive and it was a fantastic way for Curran to move on to the semifinals.

Curran next faced British prospect Ronnie Mann in the semifinals. He defeated Mann via dominant unanimous decision. With the victory, he advanced to the finals to face former Sengoku featherweight champion Marlon Sandro. Curran defeated Sandro via emphatic second-round headkick knockout to earn his second tournament championship and a title shot against the winner of the featherweight title fight between champion Joe Warren and veteran Patricio Freire.

Winning the Title

Freire was soon injured and Curran stepped in to get his title shot a little sooner against Warren. Curran defeated Warren via third round knockout after a great fight. With the victory, Curran became the third Bellator featherweight champion.

Curran was next set to defend his title against Patricio Freire. The fight was on for seemingly forever until Curran was injured a mere few weeks before it was scheduled to take place. Curran suffered a broken orbital bone in training and was forced to drop out of the fight.

Curran next defended the title for the first time against Freire in Bellator's Spike TV debut in January 2013, defeating Freire via a close split decision.

He was next set to defend his title for the second time in a rematch against Daniel Straus in March 2013 but unfortunately the fight was scrapped after Straus suffered a broken hand in training. Curran would possibly stay on the card defending his title either in a rematch against "Pitbull" Freire or against Russian tournament champion Shahbulat Shamhalaev.

Indeed, Curran defended his title for the second time against Shamhalaev choking Shamhalaev unconscious in the very first round.

Curran next signed to defend his title for the third time in a rematch against Daniel Straus on the first Bellator pay-per-view. Straus outgrappled Curran impressively en route to a unanimous decision victory, wrestling the Bellator featherweight title from Curran's grasp.

Redemption

Curran received an immediate rematch -- which would effectively be a rubber match -- against Straus. Curran regained his title impressively after being dominated for nearly the full twenty-five minutes, submitting Straus with a rear-naked choke in the final fourteen seconds.

Fights

• Pat Curran vs. Ramiro Hernandez
• Pat Curran vs. Mike Ricci - The fight was the Bellator debut of both men and it was in the second season's lightweight quarterfinal. Mike Ricci came in undefeated and it was his first loss.
• Roger Huerta vs. Pat Curran - The fight was in the semifinals of the Bellator second season lightweight tournament.
• Toby Imada vs. Pat Curran - The fight was in the finals of the Bellator second season lightweight tournament. The decision awarding Pat Curran the victory and title shot was considered to be a colossal robbery.
• Eddie Alvarez vs. Pat Curran - The fight was for the Bellator lightweight title with Eddie Alvarez defending. It was Alvarez's first defense, and the first defense of the lightweight belt overall.
• Pat Curran vs. Luis Palomino - The fight was in the quarterfinals of the Bellator summer series featherweight tournament. The fight was the featherweight debut of Curran.
• Pat Curran vs. Ronnie Mann - The fight was in the semifinals of the Bellator summer series featherweight tournament.
• Pat Curran vs. Joe Warren - The fight was for the Bellator featherweight title with Joe Warren defending.
• Pat Curran vs. Shahbulat Shamhalaev - The fight was for the Bellator featherweight championship with Curran defending.
• Daniel Weichel vs. Pat Curran
• Pat Curran vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
• Pat Curran vs. Georgi Karakhanyan