While speaking during the opening of his new fight gym in Crystal Lake, Ill. this past weekend, WEC competitor Jeff Curran made the announcement that he will be dropping down to promotion’s bantamweight division, according to an article on Sherdog.com.

Nicknamed “The Big Frog,” Curran is 30-10-1, according to Sherdog’s fight finder. He has competed for PRIDE, the IFL, and King of the Cage promotions in the past. Since returning to the WEC under Zuffa’s ownership, he has posted a 1-2 record.

After recording a unanimous decision victory over Stephen Ledbetter in his WEC debut at WEC 29, Curran fought WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber at WEC 31, where he tapped out to Faber in the second round due to a guillotine choke. He returned at WEC 34 in June, where he lost a unanimous decision to Mike Thomas Brown.

Curran is ranked as a top-ten featherweight by most of the top major websites but still believes that a move from 145 pounds to 135 pounds makes sense.

“I think that the fast pace and the real high technical level is a great fit for me,” Curran is quoted as saying. “The talent pool in that division is sick.”

The division’s talent pool currently includes WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres and top contenders such as former champion Chase Beebe, Brian Bowles, Manny Tapia, Yoshiro Maeda, Damacio Page, Antonio Banuelos, and Scott Jorgenson.

Graciemag.com recently caught up with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Demian Maia, and he had some information to share about his future with the UFC.

“I got back to Sao Paulo today; I was vacationing in California with my wife, where I also shot some Jiu-Jitsu dvds. I’ll be back at the UFC on March 8th to fight Ed Herman, who I don’t know, but my manager brought me a tape with some of his fights to analyze, but I haven’t had time to watch yet.”

On preparing for his next commitment, the black belt said: “At this moment I’m with my physical trainer putting together a training spreadsheet, since I’ll start today and starting next week training is going to be heavy, as I only have seven weeks till the fight. I’m going to put greater importance on the standup part, I don’t know if I’ll be able to practice Jiu-Jitsu the way I would like, but I will never neglect it, because that’s what resolves my fights for me.”

Maia is coming off a first-round submission victory against Ryan Jensen at UFC 77. The BJJ black belt is boasting a 6-0 MMA record with 5 of 6 of his victories coming in the first round.

Ed Herman is on a bit of a win streak, as he won all 3 of his fight in 2007. His two submissions and one knockout came against Chris Price, Scott Smith, and Joe Doerksen respectively.

An exact date and venue have not been announced by the UFC for UFC 83.

In my latest article for CBSSports.com, I take a look at eight fighters that I believe will break out in 2008. At the top of the list is UFC middleweight Demian Maia:

Demian Maia: There are plenty of good pure grapplers in the UFC such as Roan Carneiro, Tony DeSouza, B.J. Penn, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Ricardo Almeida, Alberto Crane, Mark Bocek and others. But there are many pundits who consider Maia to be the best currently on the UFC roster. He even won the illustrious Abu Dhabi grappling championships that were held in Trenton, N.J., this past summer, beating Yushin Okami in the 77-87-kilogram final.

While Marcelo Garcia is a prime example of how a strong grappling background is not a guarantee at success in MMA, Maia has begun his pro career with a 6-0 record. He was successful in his UFC debut at UFC 77 this past October, submitting Ryan Jensen with a rear naked choke at just 2:40 into Round 1.

There are still plenty of questions that need to be answered about Maia’s standup game, but he’s one of the brightest prospects in the UFC’s thinnest division. Maia not only has the talent but has the opportunity to rise through the ranks of the middleweights, a rise he’s likely to make in 2008.

In order to see who else made the list, just click here.

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Kazuhiro Nakamura tested positive for marijuana following his loss at UFC 76 to Lyoto Machida. He’s been fined and suspended three months by the California State Athletic Commission. Man, could this whole Pride thing get any worse?

The marijuana positive still doesn’t explain the umbrella. I know that was his deal in Pride but it seemed even more out of place in the UFC. Does CSAC test for LSD?

Seriously though, I still think it’s rather silly that some commissions test for marijuana. I don’t smoke it (only because I’m already a paranoid person to begin with and I also hate cottonmouth) but even someone like me who has no use for it believes it should be legal.

Also, it doesn’t look like the results are back yet for the performance enhancers. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Other notes:

- Brazilian website Gazeta De Povo is reporting that Mauricio “Shogun” Rua had ligament damage in his knee leading up to his UFC 76 bout with Forrest Griffin and that it limited his ability to train. According to the report, Shogun will be undergoing surgery this Friday. He doesn’t expect to resume training until late-January or early-February.

So let me see, Forrest Griffin says he won’t be ready for Dec. 29; Rampage has a hand injury that could prevent him from fighting again in ‘07; and now Shogun is on the shelf? What does that leave as far as big light heavyweight fights for UFC 79? You could go Chuck Liddell vs. Houston Alexander and Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva? Or, you could go Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine II and Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell! I’m being serious, I think all these injuries could force the UFC to make a Silva vs. Liddell match for UFC 79.

- UFCDaily.com is reporting that Heath Herring plans to return to UFC action after some time off by early-2008.

- MMAJunkie.com broke the news on Wednesday that Ryan Jensen will be replacing an injured Marvin Eastman against Demian Maia at UFC 77 in Cincinnati on Oct. 20. It’s an Adam Morgan dream match from what I hear and the reason why he’s buying tickets to the show.

The web site ADCombat.com is reporting that the UFC has signed Abu Dhabi submission grappling champion Demian Maia to a contract.

It is believed that Maia will compete in the 185 lbs. division.

There are a lot of rumors out right now about Maia’s first opponent but I don’t want to comment on anything until I hear something definitive. Once I hear something more official, I’ll have news of his first opponent here.

You can check out ADCombat.com’s story by clicking here.