TUF Finale Prelim Breakout Star: Kailin Curran

The Prelim Breakout Star is a once per event article that helps fans get to know those who will be entertaining them from the undercard. The intention of the article is not to bring attention to the most talented guy on the preliminary card, but rather one that the common fan may have overlooked or underestimated.

Unlike many of  The Ultimate Fighter seasons, this season will not conclude with a bunch of the cast on the prelims of the finale card. While this is upsetting to many, viewers will likely be more familiar with this Saturday’s preliminary fighters. Let’s see who you should keep an eye on.

Kailin Curran

Affiliation – Kings MMA
From – Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Height – 5’3“
Weight – 115 lbs (Strawweight)
Record – 4-3 (1-3 UFC)

What makes her impressive

If you just look at a quick breakdown of her record and results, your first reaction might be that she isn’t very good. At 4-3, the record certainly doesn’t stand out. Similarly, you may also assume she doesn’t have a good ground game, with three of her  four losses coming by submission. However, what that fails to see, is that her ground game looked dangerous in nearly every one of her losses. When squaring off with tough grappler Alex Chambers, Curran dominated on the ground for nearly the whole fight. Also, while Paige VanZant clearly out-positioned her, Curran’s threats off her back were real.

Why she has been overlooked 

The obvious answer here is the record. With only one win in her four UFC appearances, it’s tough to get excited. What is really telling about that record though is the UFC’s choice to continue to book her. The matchmakers and management alike knows she’s far better than her record might suggest. A big win here would help confirm their suspicions.

What makes this a good match-up

In her match on The Ultimate Fighter with Amanda Bobby Cooper, Jamie Moyle showed that she had some really rudimentary striking. As a result, she’s forced to grapple if she wants to win. In addition to that, when she shoots takedowns, she leaves her neck open a bit for guillotines. It would not surprise me in the least to see a talented grappler like Curran take advantage of a mistake from Moyle and make it count.

Record: 102 Wins, 50 Losses, 1 Draw, 1 NC,  3 Did Not Fight (DNF)

1. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Bisping (W)
2. Simeon Thoresen – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Dodson (L)
3. Tyron Woodley – UFC 156 (W)
4. Vaughan Lee – UFC on Fuel: Barao vs McDonald (W)
5. Dennis Bermudez – UFC 157 (W)
6. Cristiano Marcello – UFC on Fuel: Stann vs Silva (L)
7. Daron Cruickshank – UFC 158 (L)
8. Ryan LaFlare – UFC on Fuel: Mousasi vs Latifi (W)
9. Bart Palaszewski – TUF Finale (L)
10. Yoel Romero – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Melendez (W)
11. Rustam Khabilov – UFC 159 (W)
12. Fabio Maldonado – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Rockhold (W)
13. Khabib Nurmagomedov – UFC 160 (W)
14. Antonio Braga Neto – UFC on Fuel: Nogueira vs Werdum (W)
15. Roland Delorme – UFC 161 (W)
16. Seth Baczynski – UFC 162 (L)
17. Jorge Masvidal – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Moraga (W)
18. Ednaldo Oliveira – UFC 163 (L)
19. Mike Brown – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Sonnen (L)
20. Dylan Andrews – UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Kampmann (W)
21. Soa Palelei – UFC 164 (W)
22. Elias Silverio – UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs Bader (W)
23. John Makdessi – UFC 165 (W)
24. Alan Patrick – UFC Fight Night: Maia vs Shields (W)
25. Andre Fili – UFC 166 (W)
26. Jimy Hettes – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Munoz (W)
27. Germaine de Randamie – UFC Fight for the Troops 3 (L)
28. Omari Akhmedov – UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson (W)
29. Sergio Pettis – UFC 167 (W)
30. Roxanne Modafferi – TUF Finale (L)
31. Takeya Mizugaki – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Bigfoot (W)
32. Alptekin Ozkilic – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Benavidez (W)
33. Siyar Bahadurzada – UFC 168 (L)
34. Mairbek Taisumov – UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs Lim (W)
35. Charlie Brenneman – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Philippou (L)
36. Walt Harris – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Thomson (L)
37. Clint Hester – UFC 169 (W)
38. Joe Proctor – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Mousasi (W)
39. Aljamain Sterling – UFC 170 (W)
40. Zak Cummings – TUF China Finale (DNF)
41. Cyrille Diabate – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)
42. Mats Nilsson – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)
43. Alex Garcia – UFC 171 (W)
44. Hans Stringer – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Henderson (W)
45. Jim Alers – UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs Nelson (W)
46. Ryan Jimmo – TUF Finale (W)
47. Caio Magalhaes – UFC on Fox: Werdum vs Browne (W)
48. Joe Ellenberger – UFC 172 (DNF)
49. Kyoji Horiguchi – UFC Fight Night: Brown vs Silva (W)
50. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC 173 (L)
51. Iuri Alcantara – UFC FIght Night: Mousasi vs Munoz (W)
52. Paulo Thiago – TUF Brazil Finale (L)
53. Jon Tuck – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Khabilov (W)
54. Mike Easton – UFC 174 (L)
55. Ian Entwistle – UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs Te Huna (L)
56. Ray Borg – UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs Stevens (W)
57. Rob Font – UFC 175 (W)
58. Derrick Lewis – TUF Finale (W)
59. Jessamyn Duke – UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs Miller (L)
60. Nikita Krylov – UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao (W)
61. Patrick Cummins – UFC on Fox: Lawler vs Brown (W)
62. Sam Alvey – UFC Fight Night: Bader vs Saint Preux (L)
63. Yuta Sasaki – UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Le (W)
64. Ben Saunders – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs dos Anjos (W)
65. Damon Jackson – UFC 177 (L)
66. Chas Skelly – UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs Mousasi (W)
67. Godofredo ‘Pepey’ Castro – UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs Arlovski (W)
68. Alex Caceres – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Nelson (L)
69. Cody Gibson – UFC 178 (L)
70. Marcin Bandel – UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs Story (L)
71. Jason Saggo -UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs Saffiedine (L)
72. Yan Cabral – UFC 179 (W)
73. Jake Mathews – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Bisping (W)
74. Thomas Almeida – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Saint Preux (W)
75. Gabriel Benitez – UFC 180 (W)
76. Paige VanZant – UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs Swanson (W)
77. Clay Collard – UFC 181 (W)
78. Aisling Daly – TUF Finale (W)
79. Jamie Varner – UFC on Fox 13 (L)
80. Jake Collier – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Dollaway (L)
81. Alexis Dufresne – UFC 182 (L)
82. Charles Rosa – UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Siver (W)
83. Konstantin Erokhin – UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs Johnson (L)
84. Sara McMann – UFC 183 (L)
85. James Moontasri – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Thatch (W)
86. William ‘Patolino’ Macario – UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs Mir (L)
87. Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto – UFC 184 – (NC)
88. Joseph Duffy – UFC 185 (W)
89. Christos Giagos – UFC Fight Night: Maia vs LaFlare (W)
90. Ron Stallings – UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs Mendes (W)
91. Stevie Ray – UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs Cro Cop 2 (W)
92. Beneil Dariush – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Machida (W)
93. Olivier Aubin-Mercier – UFC 186 (W)
94. Lisa Ellis – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Miocic (L)
95. Dhiego Lima – UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs Faber (L)
96. Islam Makhachev – UFC 187 (W)
97. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos – UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Alves (L)
98. Ricardo Abreu – UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs Henderson (L)
99. Henry Cejudo – UFC 188 (W)
100. Makwan Amirkhani – UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk (W)
101. Steve Mongtomery – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Romero (L)
102. Cody Garbrandt – UFC 189 (W)
103. George Sullivan – UFC Fight Night: Ellenberger vs Thompson (W)
104. Kevin Casey – UFC Fight Night: Mir vs Duffee (W)
105. Jimmie Rivera – UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Leites (W)
106. Andrew Holbrook – UFC on Fox 16 (W)
107. Warlley Alves – UFC 190 (W)
108. Frankie Saenz – UFC Fight Night: St. Preux vs Teixeira (W)
109. Misha Cirkunov – UFC Fight Night: Oliveira vs Holloway (W)
110. Nazareno Malegarie – UFC 191 (L)
111. Shinsho Anzai – UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs Nelson (W)
112. Sage Northcutt – UFC 192 (W)
113. Tom Breese – UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs Smolka (W)
114. Johnny Case – UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson (W)
115. Kyle Noke – UFC 193 (W)
116. Taylor Lapilus – UFC Fight Night: Gastelum vs Magny (L)
117. Yui Chul Nam – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Masvidal (L)
118. Santiago Ponzinibbio – UFC Fight Night: VanZant vs Namajunas (W)
119. Ryan Hall – TUF Finale (W)
120. Tecia Torres – UFC 194 (W)
121. Tamdan McCrory – UFC on Fox 17 (W)
122. Scott Holtzman – UFC 195 (L)
123. Ilir Latifi – UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs Cruz (W)
124. Dustin Ortiz – UFC on Fox 18 (L)
125. Noad Lahat – UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs Thompson (L)
126. Ashlee Evans-Smith – UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs Cowboy (W)
127. Arnold Allen – UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Bisping (W)
128. Vitor Miranda – UFC 196 (W)
129. Daniel Hooker – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Mir (W)
130. Bojan Velickovic – UFC Fight Night: Dos Santos vs Rothwell (W)
131. Oluwale Bangbose – UFC on Fox 19 (L)
132. Kevin Lee – UFC 197 (W)
133. Garreth McLellan – UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs Overeem (L)
134. Sergio Moraes – UFC 198 (D)
135. Adam Milstead – UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs Garbrandt (W)
136. Jessica Penne – UFC 199 (L)
137. Colby Covington – UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs MacDonald (W)
138. Gilbert Burns – UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs Alvarez (W)
139. Cory Hendricks – TUF Fianle (L)
140. Joe Lauzon – UFC 200 (W)
141. Lauren Murphy – UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs Lineker (L)
142. Dmitry Smoliakov – UFC on Fox 20 (L)
143. Michael Graves – UFC 201 (W)
144. Teruto Ishihara – UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Caceres (W)
145. Marvin Vettori – UFC 202 (W)
146. Kyle Bochniak – UFC on Fox 21 (W)
147. Jim Wallhead – UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs Barnett (L)
148. Ian McCall – UFC 202 (DNF)
149. Belal Muhammad – UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs Johnson (W)
150. Michinori Tanaka – UFC Fight Night: Cyborg vs Lansberg (L)
151. Ion Cutelaba – UFC Fight Night: Lineker vs Dodson (W)
152. Marc Diakiese – UFC 204 (W)
153. Enrique Barzola – TUF Latin America Finale (W)
154. Liz Carmouche – UFC 205 (W)
155. Darren Stewart – UFC Fight Night : Mousasi vs Hall (W)
156. Justin Ledet – UFC Fight Night: Bader vs Nogueira (W)
157. Tyson Pedro – UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs Brunson (W)