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Mixed Martial Arts Top Ten Featherweights: Pat Curran Continues to Rise

Pat Curran Puches Roger Huerta in the Liver

Photo Credits: MMA Die Hard

In sixth season underway in Bellator, in getting the promotion’s featherweight champion, Pat Curran’s is running to beat Joe Warren. Allot a few minutes to take a look at how much Curran’s profile has risen in the MMA world, starting 2 years ago since he signed in Bellator.

For the Season 2 lightweight tournament, Curran originally entered the promotion. During that time Curran, was a little known fighter, who people just only knew about as being a throw-in for a tournament and is expected to anoint Roger Huerta as the No. 1 contender for the champion Eddie Alvarez. Instead, Curran fought down Huerta. In the end, he won the tournament.

When Curran didn’t win the title over Alvarez, he moved down to featherweight for the last Bellator tournament, and he was even more impressive at 145 pounds. He has shown extraordinary performance in his last two fights— in brutal knockouts with of Marlon Sandro and Joe Warren— but he has now firmly established himself as one of the truly elite featherweights in Mix Martial Arts.

So let’s find out where he ranks by taking a look at the information given below.

Mixed Martial Arts Top 10 Featherweights

(Number enclosed in parentheses is the fighter’s previous ranking.)

1. Jose Aldo (1): So far, the champion is so much ahead of the pack that UFC isn’t quite sure what to do with him. It is the wish of The UFC President Dana White that Frankie Edgar move down to featherweight and challenge Aldo, but Edgar refused to. Until now, it is not yet clear who Aldo will face next, though it is clear he’ll be heavily favored.

2. Hatsu Hioki (2): As Sengoku’s champion, Hioki left in Japan to further improve his skills, and he is now 2-0 in the UFC. He is the perfect match for Aldo but the UFC committee is still hesitant to put the fight together. Their hesitancy suggests that they are still in doubt if Hioki is already prepared for this kind of fight.

3. Pat Curran (4): At young age of 24, he is one of the reasons to love Curran-younger than Aldo. He still has lots potential which he can work on. Maybe someday, he will be the best featherweight in the world. Enough said.

4. Chad Mendes (3): Last January, Mendes suffered by a tough loss over Aldo’s fight. However, he can take down and control anyone else at 145 pounds with his wrestling prowess. I still see him winning a lot of decisions and become the Jon Fitch of the featherweight division.

5. Erik Koch (5): At UFC 143, Koch is still on the shelf with an injury after dropping out of his planned fight with Dustin Poirier and there is no word when he’ll be back on track.

6. Dustin Poirier (8): The main event against Chan Sun Jung, which will be held this coming May 15, could give the UFC next featherweight title contender. Since he moved to UFC featherweight division, Poirier has achieved a 4-0 and coming off a great submission of victory against Max Holloway in February.

7. Chan Sung Jung (9): Known as the Korean Zombie, he has the greatest opportunity over Poirier. He’s already beloved by the hard core fans but the challenge in main event will give him a big chance to get the UFC’s promotional muscle behind him, and a great chance to earn a shot over Aldo.

8. Tatsuya Kawajiri (7): New Year’s Eve is a lucky season for Kawajiri because he earned his 30th pro win and he now has earned two very impressive wins since he dropped down to featherweight division. The Japanese MMA scene has dried up to such extent that there aren’t much better opponents for him and that’s the only problem.

9. Bart Palaszewski (6): At UFC 144, Hioki ran right through Palaszewski but his punching power makes him a great threat to anyone at 145 pounds.

10. Charles Oliveira (NR): A great decision for Oliveira is to drop down in featherweight division. His best submission so far is the calf slicer submission of Eric Wisely, with age of 22 and height, he has is predicted to have a great future in the featherweight division.