Pat Curran Q&A: Bellator Scraps, Construction Work and Junk Food
Pat Curran is approaching eight years with Bellator MMA. His first bout with the organization came in April 2010 with a first round knockout of Mike Ricci at Bellator 14. “Paddy Mike” recently had two fights cancelled due to injury but has been able to pull together a string of three consecutive victories along the way. Tony Reid of MyMMANews.com caught up with Pat Curran to talk about his career.
Tony Reid – What is the best thing nobody knows about you?
Pat Curran – “I’m a really mellow, calm, chill person outside the cage. I like being aggressive in the cage and taking my opponent out as quickly as possible but outside the gym I want to lay around and relax.”
Tony Reid – What’s the best advice you could give to a younger you?
Pat Curran – “Be better with my diet and be smarter in my training. The experience I have now, knowing what I know now it would have really sped up my development and made me that much better. Those things you learn over time.”
Tony Reid – What is your inspiration to fight?
Pat Curran- “To become the best I can be. I have always been a competitive person. I want to see how far I can go and how good I can become. That feeling of winning is like a drug. You have that high of winning and that adrenaline rush…there is no other feeling like it. You keep chasing after it over and over.”
Tony Reid – What is the best memory from your first fight?
Pat Curran – “The first amateur fight I ever had was in front of a hometown, maybe 700 or 800 people. It was a small room but it looked packed! It was nerve racking. I was anxious, nervous… all those feelings at once. I went in there and I landed a hard kick on the guy and I took him down, slammed him to the ground, let my hands go, ground and pounded him until the ref had to stop it. I will never forget it. There is no other feeling like going in there and taking a guy out quickly, especially as a young fighter when you don’t have the experience or even know how to control yourself in some ways. It was interesting and very cool. I was hooked.”
Tony Reid – What was the best moment in your career so far?
Pat Curran – “My first fight in Bellator against Mike Ricci. I went into Bellator as an alternate. I was coming up a weight class as well. I went in and knocked the guy out in the first round. They were expecting me to lose and they just brought me in to fill out a spot. They didn’t know anything about me or who I was and that started it off.”
Tony Reid – What is the best thing about MMA compared to other sports?
Pat Curran – “Just the background. You can mix any style of fighting you want and it’s all on you. It’s solely on you. You can develop your own style and make a style your own and become your own fighter. That’s why I love this sport.”
Tony Reid – What feels best, a knockout or submission victory?
Pat Curran – “I don’t get a chance to knock people out too often so I would say a knockout but I will take a knockout or submission. They both feel the same. But I would be happier with a knockout.”
Tony Reid – Who has been your best opponent?
Pat Curran – “Patricio Pitbull. Those were tough fights. I felt like that was one of the best fights of my career. It was a five round battle back and forth and I thought I put on a good show for everybody.”
Tony Reid – What is the best way you have found to get pumped up before a fight?
Pat Curran – “I warm up with pad work. I get really quite and focused. I picture the fight, I replay the fight in my head, all the possible scenarios. I slowly and surely start to amp myself up as we start to walkout. I will start jumping up and down, moving back and forth and I really can’t stop moving. It’s hard to explain. The whole camp you are preparing for this fight. Walking out to the cage, it all clicks at the right time.”
Tony Reid – What was your best job before becoming a fighter?
Pat Curran – “I have had a lot of jobs from bartending to construction. Right before I signed with Bellator I was working heating and air conditioning with a small company. It was a good trade, something good to fall back on. I enjoyed that the most HVAC.”
Tony Reid – Best cartoon character resemblance?
Pat Curran – “I would have to go with Captain America.”
Tony Reid – If you could have any three people in the world, past or present, who are your dinner guests?
Pat Curran – “Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali. That’s all I need.”
Tony Reid – What is your guilty pleasure?
Pat Curran – “I have a sweet tooth. I love ice cream. I love pizza and I love fast food. That’s not a good thing when you are a professional athlete.”
Tony Reid – What is the best lesson life has handed you?
Pat Curran – “The harder you work, with the right mind-set and the goal in mind, you can make anything happen.”
