Travis "The Serial Killer" Lutter Released from the UFC

Travis "The Serial Killer" Lutter announced on Sunday, via his MySpace account, that he had been released from his UFC contract.

According to Lutter himself, Joe Silva contacted Lutter's manager and informed him that Lutter's services were no longer required with the company, due to his back-to-back losses.

Many people had speculated before the Rich Franklin - Travis Lutter fight at UFC 83 that Lutter would be released from his contract if he lost. This is exactly what happened, as Franklin knocked out Lutter midway through the second round. This followed Lutter's second round loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 67. The UFC decided that they had had enough of Lutter, and released him halfway through his contract.

Lutter has a lifetime professional record of 9-5-0, with seven of his victories coming via submission. He first appeared in the UFC in 2004, scoring a victory against Marvin Eastman via knockout. After a unanimous decision loss to Trevor Prangley at UFC 54 - Boiling Point, Lutter left the company.

He re-appeared during the fourth season of the Ultimate Fighter, scoring a victory against Patrick Cote in the finale. This led to a six-fight contract and a match against Anderson "Spider" Silva, in which he was knocked out (as mentioned). The UFC cut Lutter just two fights into his six fight deal, and Lutter becomes the first Ultimate Fighter winner to be cut by the promotion.

Lutter got on the wrong side of UFC management after failing to make weight for his fight against Silva. This meant that a once-in-a-lifetime title shot was blown, as the fight became a non-title bout. This certainly didn't endear Lutter to UFC management and fans, and meant that Lutter would need an extremely strong showing against Rich Franklin to redeem himself. As usual with Lutter, he started strong but became gassed in the second round, eventually succumbing to Franklin via knockout in the second round.

It is unlikely that Lutter will get a third shot with the UFC. He has the potential to be a great middleweight fighter but needs to greatly improve his conditioning. Lutter will likely be forever known as the guy who had the opportunity to fight for a UFC title but threw it away due to not being able to make weight.

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