Upon winning the middleweight portion of The Ultimate Fighter 4 in 2006, things had not been going so well for Travis Lutter.
After looking good early on against Anderson Silva, Lutter was submitted in the second round. He also looked strong early against Rich Franklin in his next bout, but again tasted defeat, ushering in his release from the UFC.
Lutter had gone from being on top of the world to being out of a job in just two short fights. Upon his release, he sat on the sidelines for over a year, waiting for his opportunity at redemption.
“I just couldn’t get a fight,” explained Lutter to MMAWeekly.com. “I had so many things that just kept falling through over and over again.”
Due to a busy life, Lutter said the time since his last fight seemed to creep up on him, rather than agonize him.
“I’ve got kids, I’ve got my school and stuff like that, so I have enough distractions,” he stated. “You kind of wake up and think, ‘Holy (expletive), it’s been 17 months since I last fought.’
“It’s more of a situation where you can’t believe where it’s been that long, because it doesn’t seem like that long.”
Finally the clouds parted for Lutter and he got an opportunity to once again step into the cage and get back on the winning track for the MFC promotion this past Friday against fellow former UFC fighter Jason MacDonald.
“He’s a really tough guy and he’s always in the fight, too,” said Lutter of MacDonald. “You can never count him out. He’s a very, very resilient fighter. It was nice to finally get a fight and definitely finally get a win.”
As he had in previous fights, Lutter started off strong, dominating position and attempting submissions, before fading in the third round.
When asked how he felt in his first performance in over a year, Lutter responded, “I felt pretty good, especially with the first two rounds.
“I was a bit disappointed with the third round, about getting taken down and stuff like that. I think I can do better, and there is a lot of room for improvement.”
He hopes the wait till his next fight will be a lot less than his recent layoff.
“I’ll need to talk to the manager and see who he’s talked to,” commented Lutter. “I’m really hoping I can fight somebody by the end of the year. I’d like to get more fights in 2009 and kind of build momentum towards bigger stuff.”
As for where he’d like to fight, Lutter is open to any opportunity that comes his way to fight quality opposition.
“The best guys are in the UFC, and that’s where I’d like to be, but there are interesting fights in other places, too,” he stated. “I mean, heck, there are good guys in the MFC, so it’s like wherever I end up I want to fight the best guys as possible.”
Back on the winning track and eager to work his way back to a big promotion, Lutter is ready for whatever comes his way.
“I’d like to thank Greg Jackson and his team, my sponsors, and the guys at my gym who support me for everything they’ve done around here,” he closed out.
“If I end up in the UFC, Strikeforce or wherever, I just want to fight. Just tell me who I’m fighting and when.”
http://http://www.mmaweekly.com/abso...715&zoneid=13#
It would be very hard for him to get back into the UFC, considering how much they've bolstered that division in the last year, but I think he would be a good edition to Stikeforce. Say what you want, but the guys got mad skills. Thoughts?
Travis lutter talks rebound mfc win 
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