WEC veteran Jeff Curran will make his debut with Strikeforce against Sam Thao on the non-televised preliminary portion of the Strikeforce: "Fedor vs. Rogers" card in November.

Earlier this week, Curran signed a two-fight, non-exclusive contract with Strikeforce following his release from the WEC and will be competing in his backyard at the event which takes place just outside Chicago at the Sears Centre. He operates his Curran Martial Arts facility in Crystal Lake, Ill.

Curran (29-12-1) was released from the WEC after suffering four straight losses in the promotion. He first competed in the WEC as a featherweight losing to some of the organizations top fighters in Mike Brown and Urijah Faber. He would drop to the bantamweight division to try to rejuvenate his career but things would not get any better as he lost back-to-back decisions to Joseph Benavidez and most recently Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 42 in August.

Prior to his current losing streak, Curran had won six straight, which included victories over Wagnney Fabiano, Raphael Assuncao and Stephen Ledbetter. He has been competing professionally since Jan. 1998, fighting for many promotions along the way such as the UFC, IFL, Pride, SuperBrawl and King of the Cage. Curran had finished 19 of his 29 career wins including 18 by submission.

After his Strikeforce bout, Curran will compete in the main event of XFO 34 on Dec. 5 against Tomohiko Hori. The Xtreme Fighting Organization (XFO) is a promotion owned and operated by Curran.

Thao is a midwestern prospect who is making the jump up from 125-pounds to take on Curran. He most recently defeated Eugene Crisler at a Konquer the Kage event in May. Prior to the win, he suffered his first career loss against Daniel Otero in July 2008. Thao is off to a 4-1 start to his young MMA career, with three of his wins being by TKO.

The Nov. 7 CBS televised event is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers. Also slated for the event, Jake Shields and Jason "Mayhem" Miller will meet for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight belt, UFC and Pride veteran Sokoudjou faces Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi in a non-title fight, and former EliteXC heavyweight champ Antonio Silva will fight in the U.S. for the first time in more than a year when he takes on Strikeforce heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum.