#214 – Jeff Curran: MMA Pioneer & Jiu-jitsu Flag Bearer

Enter the Lionheart

Lawrence Dunning

Entrepreneurship, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Business

5 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jeff Curran is a 5th-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and a pioneer in elevating the lighter weight classes in MMA. Through an extensive MMA career, Jeff is a veteran of over 100 fights and was a flag bearer for representing Jiu-jitsu in UFC, WEC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, and Bellator.

Jeff remains deeply involved in the jiujitsu community, hosting the Big Frog BJJ Retreat, and now promoting the Jeff Curran Invitational (JCI) grappling events, and teaching seminars.

0.00: Intro

3.00: Jeff finding Jiu-jitsu at 14 years old & early days of Jiujitsu in the Midwest

11.00: Childhood appeal of martial arts for young men

15.00: Planting seeds of jiu-jitsu as a backup for his sons without any pressure

21.00: Motivating out kids without giving them pressure

26.00: Being a flag bearer for the Gracie family in MMA

31.00: Finding a mentor in Pedro Sauer

37.00: Early days in WEC and fighting on UFC 41

44.00: Career advice for aspiring pros (fight less and improve in the gym more)

52.00: Jiu-jitsu in MMA

58.00: Philosophy of training the individual arts separately and then putting together for MMA

1.04.00: Juggling teaching, training and fighting

1.07.00: Longevity and Joint injuries

1.11.00: Retiring from MMA and the end of Jeff's career

1.23.00: Secrets of a long marriage (both having your own mission)

1.28.00: The Jeff Curran Invitational (JCI)

Jeff Curran Jiujitsu: https://teamcurran.com/

Jeff Curran Invitational: https://jcinvitational.com/

Follow Jeff on IG: @bigfrogbjj

Until next time, love and good vibes.

Podcast Website: https://enterthelionheart.com/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Jeff,
0:00.6	is too narrow for great minds and daring hearts.
0:15.5	Get ready to enter the lion heart with your host, Laurence Dunning.
0:20.5	Jeff, this is such an honor.
0:21.6	I've wanted to have this conversation for a long time. For people that are listening to you with my first, you know, real MMA coach before I joined Team Current, I was trying to put the pieces together. I was so disillusioned. I don't even know if you know the story. I was training in Utah, so I had a friend say you should come out of this gym in Utah. Utah. I think I'll get you fights filled fights. They had all these big promises. I was just a sparring partner for the guys, couldn't
0:40.5	get any fights. I was about to quit Jiu-Jitsu and our mutual friend shout out, Christi Ronesa was like, bro, what are you doing? Come back home. Get in your car, drive to Chicago. I'm going to take you to see Jeff and Dougie, take you to Team Karen, and then I had a great, you know, last few years
0:55.5	of my career and I ended on a three-fight win streak, and it's all thanks to you. So I'm always
0:59.4	so grateful to everything you did. Well, you and Christian, you're like two of the very, very few. I
1:05.3	don't even know if there's others that I did like a collaboration with, a respectful one,
1:10.4	where I was like, hey, you know,
1:12.4	you guys, you train under Jay, stay under him. You know, he's your professor. He's the one
1:18.2	teaching you jiu-jitsu. That's your academy that you train. But when you come train with us,
1:23.5	and I came out to Chicago here and me and Jay had lunch and dinner and probably a few beers.
1:29.0	And we talked about it and it's like, hey, man, it's all good.
1:31.3	I just, I don't, I'm not trying to steal your guys.
1:33.9	And he's like, you know, I just, they need a place to spar and get some other work.
1:39.3	And I think it was a perfect marriage and you were always so respectful.
1:43.9	And man, you and Christian,
1:45.4	you were both examples of how it should be.
1:47.7	Unfortunately, that's not how it goes, but it went that way with you guys.
1:51.4	So I'm always appreciative and I'm very proud to see like your success beyond fighting.
1:56.7	And you were a great fighter.
	...

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