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[Ramma]

"As usual, my time has been put on hold," stated UFC middleweight Travis Lutter who talked about his potential clash with Rich Franklin falling through. Although the fight will not be taking place as anticipated, Lutter made it clear that he'd still like to face Rich Franklin as he discussed his future plans, his thoughts on Silva vs. Henderson and much more. Check it out!


PC: How have you been doing Travis?


TL: Good man. What's going on with you guys?


PC: Just trying to launch this site; working hard!


TL: Okay, cool. Where are you guys based out of?


PC: Ohio and Louisiana. I'm in Louisiana and my partner is in Ohio. I'm not too far from you. Were you at the HDNet Fights?


TL: Yeah, I was there.


PC: You must have been laying low. I'm surprised I never crossed you.


TL: Yeah, they gave me better tickets the last time, but it's all good; no worries.


PC: I know the fight hadn't been officially announced, but it looked like you were going to fight Rich Franklin at UFC 82. Is that the fight the UFC was trying to put on?


TL: Yeah, we were supposed to fight, but it's been changed now. I've heard rumors about what's going on after that, but I'm not even 100% sure what's going on. I hear one thing from this source and then Rich saying he's not fighting until June and stuff like that. I don't know what's going on. As usual, my time has been put on hold.


PC: How disappointing is that for you that this fight fell through?


TL: Man, I still want to fight Rich is what I'm hoping to happen. I don't see anybody else…I think Rich makes sense for me. We both lost to Anderson in slightly different ways, but I'd like to see me and Rich throw down to see who's better.


PC: Now that Rich is injured and he's off the card, are they still going to put you on the UFC 82 card?


TL: No, I'm definitely not fighting on that card no more. They're not putting me on the card; I'm done. Rich is the draw and I'm just the bad guy in that situation so without Rich, there is no fight. They like him to fight in Ohio and if they're going to take an event to Ohio, I think they would like him to be one of the main events there. He sells tickets; he's a hometown boy.


PC: Who do you like in the main event on that card between Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson?


TL: Dan can for sure take him down, but once he gets there, Dan will be on top, but Anderson has got those long legs and that's different to deal with for a lot of people. I give a slight edge to Anderson in that situation, even though he's on his back. I see it probably going to a decision after 5 rounds. I think it's a tough fight, but Dan's a tough fight for everybody. He's good man and he could beat Anderson, but if I had to bet, I would bet on Anderson. Anderson is hot right now and Dan has lost to similar fighters not quite as good as Anderson in kickboxing matches where he forgets to wrestle sometimes. Dan and Anderson both hit hard so maybe someone can get knocked out, but if I had to bet, it would be for a 5-round decision for Anderson.


PC: Who brought the fight with Franklin to your attention and what was your initial reaction?


TL: Joe Silva called my manager and asked if we wanted it and my manager said, "Yes." Then he called me. I wanted to fight Rich so I was like, "Hell yeah!" Rich has got a really big name and that's the kind of guys I want to fight. I want to fight the best guys. If I could fight Rich and then get a rematch to go back in and fight Anderson, that would be a great situation.


PC: It says a lot about you for you to be willing to take such a dangerous fight with someone like Rich Franklin after a long layoff due to an injury.


TL: I don't want an easy fight. We only have so many fights. I'm older and I train all of the time. Yeah, I got injured and had to take some time off, but I'm back in the gym; literally in the gym every day. I'm a guy that has been training constantly so I just don't see me having ring rust or anything like that. I'm not one of those guys. I don't get that nervous; I just go in there and do my job and hopefully come out with my hand raised. I really, really want to fight Rich!


PC: It's no secret where both of you guys are more comfortable fighting at. How do you see a fight with Rich playing out?


TL: I'm going to make it into a wrestling match and if he could outwrestle me and keep me from taking him down, he's going to win the fight. If I outwrestle him and take him down, I think the fight is mine. I think Rich is good and stuff like that, but I honestly believe I'm better on the ground. Rich is far from a one-trick pony. He's one of the best fighters out there. He's a very bad matchup, as we saw, with Anderson, but it still doesn't erase the fact that he's a tough fighter. Anderson is a tough fight for a lot of guys. He makes really good fighters look bad. I still think Rich is a really good fighter.


PC: How has your neck been doing?


TL: The neck's doing good. I got a shot and that helped a lot. They put me to sleep and gave me a shot right in the joint where the problem was and before that, I was rehabbing and stuff like that so it seems like it's pretty good. Hopefully it will get me through for a while, but I would guess that eventually, I will hurt it again because that's just the nature of the beast, but for right now, she feels pretty good.


PC: Michael Bisbing is making a move down to 185. Do you think that's a good move for him and what do you think of him as a fighter?


TL: I think he's got a big gas tank. I was really surprised Rashad had as hard of time taking him down as he did and maybe I'm underestimating his wrestling. In the 1st round, he didn't have any trouble taking him down and Rashad's Jiu Jitsu isn't as good as somebody like me or anything as far as his passing, but his wrestling is really good. I was a little surprised by that, but Bisbing has a big gas tank and I'm sure Rashad got pushed in all of those takedown attempts. I guess he got tired, but I didn't think it was as close of a fight as the cards had it, but that's just my own opinion. I thought Rashad won the fight. That's another guy that probably could drop down to 185 pounds. He hits hard and will probably have some success at 185 pounds.


PC: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is hinting at fighting in mixed martial arts. What do you think of a skilled boxer like Mayweather coming to MMA?


TL: It all depends on how they want to match him. Floyd Mayweather is obviously a great athlete, but to learn all of the nuances of wrestling or Jiu Jitsu within a year; no! He's a good athlete and is going to do what he does, but if they want to match him wrong, he'll lose his first fight. Go get Sean Sherk and see what happens. That's a first round fight for Sherk. If they want to put him in there with someone whose wrestling is not that and wants to stand and bang with him, then of course he's going to win. It's all about how you want to match him and they're talking about paying him 30 million dollars to fight MMA; I think it's good for the sport, but let's give him a world champion. Give him a couple of fights and then give him Sean Sherk. He's what, the 147 pound champ? Okay, if he won't fight Sherk, give him Urijah Faber. What's Faber going to do to him? That kid's wrestling is good enough to take him down.


PC: Mayweather is an excellent boxer, but I don't think he has the power to keep an MMA guy off of him.


TL: Yeah, I mean, how many times that little guy…Hatton was in his chest. The hardest working guy in the ring for that fight was the referee. It's so different, and he's obviously a great athlete, it just takes so long to get good at all three. If he's not going to get good at all three, then he's going to have to have world-class wrestling so no one can take him down. I just don't see him having that. I hope he does and I wish him all of the luck in the world, but it's just like Cung Le. He hasn't been beaten yet and I'm not taking anything from his opponents, but he hasn't fought Anderson Silva. If you want to protect somebody and keep them undefeated, then it could be done. He's not fighting Silva, Matt Lindland or Trevor Prangley. That's three guys that I fought that he hasn't fought and there's no way he will beat any of them. I've never met Cung Le and it's not to say anything bad about him, but as soon as they quit protecting him…people are not going to want to watch Mayweather beat up people that they never heard of. He's going to be happy with HDNet because they're going to be paying him a lot of money, but he won't be too happy when he gets choked out.


PC: Travis, it's always a pleasure speaking with you my man. I hope the fight with you and Franklin materializes again. Is there anything you want to say in closing?


TL: Tell the fans to be patient and look for me. I'll be back!

Source - FIGHTHYPE \\ CONTENT

[LefthookStcrook]

Good read!

I dunno if it's just me but he seems a little bit confident lol

I have never really been that impressed by Lutter i think any Top5 MW will take him out(Silva,Hendo,Filho,Franklin and maybe Okami) IMO would all beat Lutter.I prolly dont like him too much because I still find it disrespectfull that he won TUF4 but didn't make weight for the title fight.

[2mcgrath]

^^your right he seems very confident,almost looking past rich if they fight,saying that maybe he could get a rematch with anderson.

i would really really love to see this fight,i think rich takes it though.as stated i also think any top 5 mw would take him out.given he does have a great ground game,i still say they would beat him

[jrube]

Originally Posted by TUF5

Good read!

I dunno if it's just me but he seems a little bit confident lol

I have never really been that impressed by Lutter i think any Top5 MW will take him out(Silva,Hendo,Filho,Franklin and maybe Okami) IMO would all beat Lutter.I prolly dont like him too much because I still find it disrespectfull that he won TUF4 but didn't make weight for the title fight.

Lutter has amazing BJJ... not many that can compete with his BJJ at 185lbs. I've talked to some folks here in DFW that have been to his gym, and they say he is a hell of a nice guy as well...

I hope to see him back, watch him beat Frank, and watch him roll with Silva again.... that was good stuff!

[foutch550]

Man I like Franklin, but I dont think he'd walk thru Lutter like some people may think. I'd like to see that one, but I'd like to see how Lutter would fair against a healthy Anderson Silva. I may be giving Lutter too much credit..I dont know. I dont know alot about what Franklin's jj is like, but I'd be interested in seeing if Franklin would force Lutter to stand or if Lutter could take the game to the ground. Where the F is Marquardt anyway? Leben?

*side note*
My sister just moved back from Texas where she was good friends with a workout partner of Lutter's. She too said that Lutter is a very nice and respectful guy.

[Bran]

good read. i like lutter and think that if he can make weight and continue to fight, he'll be a contender again not too long from now

[jlruthven84]

Lutter would give Rich a hell of a time, especially on the ground, but he's got to be willing to eat a few on the way in.

Something in me wishes like hell that they'd match him up with Bisping's 185 debut; I think he'd maul The Count.

[sandywh]

I like Lutter a little more everytime I read an interview with him.

[Penn4prezident]

he'll probably have to blow Dana White after that stunt he pulled not making weight and downgrading that fight to 3 rounder.

[mma guru]

Franklin should shut up all the middleweights who bad mouthed him on tuf 4 id bet that he would beat them all . Lutter will be a tough fight for rich but heas got the standup advantage . Unles he drops to one knee. lmao