Pat Curran's cousin, Jeff Curran, had long been one of the best fighters in the world, competing in both the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting organization as well as the UFC.
He saw his cousin defeating some of the world's elite mixed martial arts fighters and thought to himself, "I could do that."
Getting into the cage, though, was an entirely different story.
"In the beginning, it was kind of [intimidating]," Pat Curran said. "I didn't know anything about the sport, other than what I knew from watching on TV. I saw guys getting knocked out left and right, sometimes turned into a bloody mess, and it was like, 'Whoa.' It could get to you.
"It took years of experience and getting my [expletive] kicked every day before I finally got it figured out."
Pat Curran has now become one of the world's elite fighters. He's the Bellator featherweight champion and is generally regarded as one of the world's top-five 145-pounders.
He's 18-4 and has wins over the likes of
Read More »from Bellator featherweight champ Pat Curran endured plenty of punishment on his road to the top







