Jeff Curran Is Back In The UFC To Stay

Jeff Curran has tasted competition in the UFC before and, now that he's gotten a second shot in the promotion, he doesn't plan on ever competing anywhere else.

A veteran of over forty fights, Big Frog has run the gamut from the highest highs to the lowest lows over his career and has fought through both personal and professional battles outside of the cage. He first competed in the UFC back in 2004, where he lost a unanimous decision to Matt Serra. From there, he competed in promotions all over the world against solid featherweight competition; after putting together a solid winning streak, Curran found himself back under the Zuffa banner, competing for the WEC.

He took out Stephen Ledbetter to make good on his debut, but was dashed in his next outing against Urijah Faber in a WEC featherweight championship bout. Though he had moments of real success, Curran was unable to capitalize and was eventually submitted in the second round. He would drop three more contests in the promotion (to Mike Brown, Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki) before being let go.

Once again Curran found himself a fighting nomad, competing for Strikeforce, Bellator and XFO, admittedly contemplating retirement before finally getting the call he'd been waiting on for so long: an offer to return to the UFC.

"This means the world to me," Curran said of making his way back to the promotion. "It is a testament to myself more than anyone else of what I am made of. I wasn't brought in to be filler for the next big thing, or as a publicity stunt. I earned it. I literally fought my way back to UFC…through physical, emotional, mental, and financial battles.

"Here I am, and I am here to stay."

Curran is on the docket to face Scott Jorgensen at UFC 137: St-Pierre vs. Condit this October 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Mark Wayne is the head writer for FightLine.com. He can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/_MarkWayne.