Building on the success of his first invitational, JCI 1: The Inception, at the MAC Sports Center in Crystal Lake this fall, Jeff “Big Frog” Curran is gearing up to host JCI 2: The Ascension Saturday, Jan. 10 at The Vixen in McHenry.

The venue will be intimate, the production quality once again high-end and the intensity of the athleticism on display second to none, Curran said in a news release.

A resident of Island Lake, Curran is a retired professional MMA fighter, X-treme Fighting Organization (XFO) co-founder, fifth-degree black belt, owner of the Curran Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Crystal Lake and, adding a new twist to the list, budding documentarian.

“The Jeff Curran Invitational gives athletes an opportunity to showcase themselves on an elevated stage — not just physically elevated, but elevated in every sense,” said Curran in the release.

Twenty-five grappling matches featuring 50 athletes, including 16 women, are planned, with the middleweight championship bout, or main event, featuring Michael Mutter of Team Curran and Jeff Serafin of Serafin Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Evanston.

The grappling-style fighting exhibited involves no punching or striking, emphasizing instead the submission holds required to finish the super fights.

While a number of local fighters are on the card, competitors also are coming from Atlanta, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky and North Dakota.

Exciting match-ups will include Dan Hart, area restaurateur and owner of Hart Jiu Jitsu in Woodstock, and Justin Andrews of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who is coming off a win in JCI 1.

Team Curran has two fighters scheduled to compete: AJ Seratto, a black belt and instructor with Team Curran who also is an officer with the McHenry County Department of Corrections; and Adam Munaretto, a Crystal Lake Police sergeant who has been training at Curran’s academy since 2020.

The second-to-last, or co-main event, will pit Hayden Buckner of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, against UFC vet Mike Santiago from Chicago.

“Hayden is decorated in the grappling world, while Mike has fought at a very high level in MMA,” Curran said in the release.

Curran said he’s excited to bring his high-energy event to Green Street in McHenry, where the Riverwalk district has become a draw. Those attending JCI 2 will not be disappointed, Curran said, whose ambition is to help catapult the sport of Jiu-Jitsu/Submission Grappling into the big leagues while continuing to put McHenry County on the combat sports map.

“Although I want it to be a national brand, it still will have a local base,” he said in the release, adding that he’d love to see McHenry County become to the sport of Jiu-Jitsu what Las Vegas is to the UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“I’m trying to build champions,” Curran said in the release. “This is a sport that’s growing worldwide. I think it needs to be recognized locally. I’m out to get eyes on it by people who’ve never seen it before.”

Tickets, ranging in price from $75 for a reserved seat in Section 1 to $600 for a four-person mezzanine table with private bar, are on sale at jcinvitational.com.

Doors will open for the event at The Vixen at 4 p.m. Jan. 10.