Jeff Curran
Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran (33-13-1) experienced quite the rocky road leading to his second run in the UFC.
A veteran of more than 40 fights, Curran has established himself as one of the pioneers of the lighter weight classes. However, in the WEC, Curran hit a roadblock, exiting the now-defunct promotion on a four-fight losing streak.
This Saturday night at UFC 137, Curran faces former No. 1 contender Scott “Young Guns” Jorgensen and enters the bout a changed man with a new mental focus.
“I thought I was focused all those years, but I was so wrapped up into every other thing my life that I didn’t really get to focus on that training camp mentality,” Curran told MMAWeekly Radio.
“Part of that training camp mentality was to look at and get the opinions of my team on where I can fill those gaps on where I’m falling short.”
“The Big Frog” at one point didn’t even train full-time and focused on everything else going on in his life instead of making the full commitment to being a fighter. Now with Curran’s second chance in the Octagon, he’s not content with just being back and feels that the tale of a new Jeff Curran has begun.
“I’m definitely better, I mean because I train full-time. I don’t ever think my jiu-jitsu is good so it can stand still. I definitely always work on my wrestling. I always work on my boxing. I’m not meaning to make excuses whatsoever, but if the fans knew how submerged I was into other things other than being a fighter, they would probably freak out.
“My focus has never been just on fighting. Going into fights, I’ve had so many distractions mentally and I’ve never had that 100-percent focus on being a fighter and winning. It sucks that it had to be such a long road, to understand where I need to be and it sucks that there’s always that chance of still falling short.
“This is not a fairy tale ending guaranteed. I have to go out there and perform and I have to go out there with everything I got and every fight I fight from here on out is going to be fought like it’s the last time I get to step into the Octagon.”
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