A retired mixed martial arts fighter, coach and owner of a Crystal Lake jiu-jitsu school is bringing professional “super fights” – with athletes from around the country – locally to McHenry County.

Jeff Curran, who owns Curran Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Crystal Lake, hosted his first jiu-jitsu event – called the Jeff Curran Invitational – earlier this month at the MAC Sports Center in Crystal Lake. The sold-out show brought in a live audience of about 600 people and athletes from over 33 clubs around the country and drew in an online audience of about 5,000 live views.

Jiu-jitsu is a form of mixed martial arts, or MMA. Curran’s events focus on what’s known as a “no-gi, submission-only, grappling style” of fighting that emphasizes technical expertise with no punching or striking, Curran said.

“The straight-up grappling is very exciting when you get people on the mat who know what they’re doing,” Curran said. “They win by putting their opponent into chokeholds, arm locks, leg locks and other joint locks to the point of forcing the opponent to tap out. The competitions tend to be more intense and active.”

It is a lifelong dream come true of Curran’s to host a super fight event that is “fan-friendly and athlete-forward,” according to the release. Curran, who has a fifth-degree black belt, has an extensive career in the sport including teaching, coaching, promoting and being inducted into the Illinois Martial Arts and Boxing Hall of Fame.

He’s also co-founder of the Xtreme Fighting Organization and fought for the UFC and “every major organization in the world,” the release said.

Since he retired as an MMA pro almost nine years ago, “I’ve been focused on building my jiu-jitsu team and making plans to start this event.” He said his sons, Ty, 18, and Jacob, 16, with pushing him to make that happen.

Next Curran will be making it happen at The Vixen in McHenry, where the Jeff Curran Inviational 2 is already scheduled for Jan. 10.

His first event, held on Sept. 6, brought in local fighters along with athletes from Florida, Utah, North Dakota and Washington D.C. Local fighters included Justin Seeberger of Curran’s academy against Mark Millare of Hart Jiu Jitsu in Woodstock.

Local restaurateur Dan Hart is the owner and a coach of Hart Jiu Jitsu. Having seen super fights at stages around the world, he said he sees Curran’s “absolutely top-notch” events as having the potential to grow to those sizes.

“To have an event of this magnitude local is pretty amazing,” Hart said.

Hart, who has been practicing the sport for about 15 years, said he enjoys the friendly competition he has with Curran’s team.

“Seeing Jeff compete on the world stage is one of the things that got me interested in jiu-jitsu honestly,” Hart said.

About $30,000 was poured into production at the MAC for the first super fight, which included a raised stage and a giant screen.

Curran’s focus is on athletes, who he pays to be there. Many times, athletes have to pay to participate, plus cover costs of traveling.

“I want the athletes to go away saying, ‘Man, I felt love. I felt appreciated. It was a super cool experience and I want to do it again — win or lose,’” Curran said in the release. “I think this can be, not a fast track, but it can be a consistent way for the people who really believe in themselves to learn the opportunity to fight someone who is going to catapult them to something else.”

Curran, an Island Lake resident, still competes in jiu-jitsu at the age of 48. Growing up in Wonder Lake, he started with karate at age 5 before discovering Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 15. He was immediately hooked and constantly traveled to train with world-renowned fighters.

“There was nothing like it in our area,” he said.

Since he opened his first school in 1997, the sport has significantly grown in the county, he said.

For the next fight at The Vixen, the crowd will be more intimate, as it has about half the capacity of the MAC. But Curran’s goal is to expand his online streaming audience. Currently, his first super fight event has 11,000 views.

Curran’s envisions hosting about two to three shows a year. He’s already looking to do another event at the MAC in the spring, with a goal of filling it up with a crowd of 1,500.

“This is a professional sporting event, and I think the community deserves to know that,” he said.

If Curran is able to do more, he will take it on the road to feature athletes in their hometowns, he said. Curran plans to “keep cultivating” players for future fights.

“I want to build champions and kind of have my own little ranking system,” he said.

Hart said he hopes to compete at the next invitational in January, and plans to have his athletes compete again.

“You don’t have to be knowledgeable about jiu-jitsu, or even a fan of jiu-jitsu or MMA. If you just like watching people compete, this is an event that would be fun for people to watch,” he said.

Updates on future shows and a video of the first invitational can be found at Curran’s website and YouTube page at jcinvitational.com and youtube.com/@JeffCurranInvitational.