Sherdog.com’s 2014 Fight of the Year

4. Pat Curran vs. Daniel Straus
Bellator 112
March 14 | Hammond, Ind.

The rivalry between Curran and Straus has an unusual arc by MMA standards. Most notable trilogies in the sport are formed and played out in their entirety at the highest levels of competition, but the Bellator MMA featherweights actually met for the first time as novices. Back in April 2009 at XFO 29 in Lakemoor, Ill., Curran notched a second-round knockout of Straus in what was each man’s seventh pro fight. Curran was a hot prospect, already on the map due to his relation to cousin Jeff Curran, the UFC and Pride veteran. Straus was just a scrappy ex-wrestler who turned pro and started fighting every two or three weeks to get experience; his first pro fight was just two months prior to his first meeting with Curran.

Worlds had changed when they met for a second time more four years later at Bellator 106 in Long Beach, Calif. The champion Curran closed as a -400 favorite, yet looked completely shell-shocked by Straus’ rugged clinch game and relentless wrestling, dropping a shockingly one-sided unanimous decision and the Bellator featherweight title to a man he probably assumed he would never see again in a cage after that night in Lakemoor.

Despite Straus’ belief that Bellator was favoring Curran by giving him an immediate rematch, the stage was set for the rubber match at Bellator 112, fittingly enough, in Hammond, Ind. -- a pro-MMA Midwest city where former bantamweight king Miguel Torres built his early career, apropos for an all-Midwest MMA rivalry.

Both fighters excelled, and their styles showed an entertaining interplay. Curran started hot, landing cleaner punches and playing top control while he and Straus scrambled, displaying a whole array of submission attempts; incredibly, there were multiple guillotine attempts both ways. The champion responded immediately in the second frame, dropping Curran with a left hook and diving in to finish the fight. Nonetheless, Curran fought back to his feet and went toe-to-toe with Straus in a constant exchange of punches, counterpunches, kicks and scrambles.

As the third and fourth rounds continued, albeit competitively, Straus’ smart kicks and quality left hands were piling up and becoming the focal part of the fight. Heading into the final frame, judge David Kinkel had it 39-37 Straus, while Otto Torriero had it 39-37 for Curran. Third judge Kelvin Caldwell had it 38-38. In reality, it was anyone’s ball game, one round to take the trilogy and the Bellator title.

Curran rose the occasion. He showed real desperation -- he had showed none four months prior when he lost the title -- as he stepped in on Straus’ kicks and landed strong right hands. He got Straus to the ground on a nice bit of chain wrestling, and finally, it seemed like the typically inflexible Straus was starting to break a bit. The champion tried to scramble to his feet, but Curran hopped straight on his back. At this point, Curran would have had a split decision victory locked up on the cards, but of course, he could not know that and he would not let it just slip away like last time. Curran sunk the rear-naked choke, forcing a spit-bubbling Straus to tap out and surrender the title at 4:46 of the fifth and final round.

“I knew it was close, but I think Daniel was edging each round,” Curran said. “I had to lay it all on the line, and thank God I got the choke in the fifth. All my blood, sweat and tears go into this. I’m just happy that I got my belt back and I can go back home and get my s--- together.”

Yet, as we enter 2015, Curran has given way to Patricio Freire as Bellator featherweight champion, and there is no immediate rematch this time. Instead, at Bellator 132 on Jan. 16, “Pitbull” defends against Straus. As previously mentioned, Curran-Straus is a unique rivalry, and given the intense parity of Bellator’s 145-pound division, it is the sort that could turn into a tetralogy.

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