Last week, it was reported that former WEC featherweight number one contender Jeff Curran had been added to the Strikeforce "Fedor vs. Rogers" event opposite Sam Thao in a featherweight battle at the Sears Centre on November 7.
Today, however, MMAFanhouse revealed that the fight failed to meet the approval of the Illinois Athletic Commission, and that Curran will instead be facing Dustin "The Beast" Neace (17-13-1) instead.
"The Beast" has been fighting professionally for over three years now, compiling an impressive number of starts (31) in that small amount of time. However, the Damage Incorporated member has only fought once in 2009, a fight in which he was on the wrong end of a first round technical knockout courtesy of Nick Gonzalez back in August.
That loss was the fourth in his last six fights. Still though, Neace is a capable fighter with big fight experience. And he's exciting to watch because he goes for the finish. Of his 17 victims, 14 were finished by way of submission while the other 3 were put down with strikes.
Curran (29-12-1) recently announced his Dec. 5 participation as the main attraction under the Xtreme Fighting Organization (XFO) banner — a promotion owned and operated by "The Big Frog."
In the interim, he’ll make his Strikeforce debut on the preliminary card of the CBS prime time event.
Curran has dropped back-to-back decisions to Takeya Mizugaki and Joseph Benavidez since making the move from the 145-pound division down to the 135-pound bantamweight class earlier this year.
Before that he had lost his last two contests as a featherweight as well. Of course, those fights were against former champ Urijah Faber and current title holder Mike Thomas Brown, neither of which is anything to be ashamed of.
Regardless, the switch down in weight was supposed to rejuvenate him, but instead it’s done nothing but prolong the longest losing streak of his nearly twelve year long career.
Headlining the Nov. 7 Strikeforce/CBS event will be a heavyweight clash between former PRIDE champion Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko and undefeated knockout artist Brett "The Grim" Rogers.
Several of the promotion’s other top fighters will be in action on the card as well, including a Strikeforce middleweight title bout pitting Jake Shields vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller for the 185-pound belt recently vacated by budding film star Cung Le.
For more on Strikeforce: "Fedor vs. Rogers" click here.
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