BJJ

Travis Lutter - The Serial Killer 4th Degree BJJ Black Belt

Travis Lutter - The Serial Killer 4th Degree BJJ Black Belt

1. Travis Lutter’s Details

Name Travis Lutter
Pro MMA Record 10-6(W/L)
Nickname The Serial killer
Date of Birth May 12, 1973
Nationality American
Born Chamberlain, South Dakota, United States
Height 6’2 ft
Weight 185 lbs
Stance Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, Boxing, Orthodox
Last fight 2010
Weight Class Middleweight/ Light Heavyweight
Rank 4th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Career Disclosed Earnings  $140,000
Fought out of Fort Worth, Texas Travis Lutter’s Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Academy
College/University Aberdeen South Dakota
Trainer/Coach Carlos Machado
Team Team Lutter/ Lion’s Den Dallas
Foundation Style Guard
Lineage Mitsuyo Maeda -> Carlos Gracie Sr. -> Carlos Gracie Junior -> Carlos Machado -> Travis Lutter

2. Travis Lutter’s Biography

Travis Lutter was born on May 12, 1973, raised in Gann Valley, South Dakota. Travis Lutter is a retired American MMA artist. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, honored by Carlos Machado. He has won The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality T.V. show. Travis owns a martial arts training center that specializes in teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, mixed martial arts, and boxing in Fort Worth, TX.

2.1. Travis Lutter’s Early Life and Amateur Fighting

Travis Lutter comes from a family of farmers. He started wrestling at a very early age when he was only 12, continuing from high school to the first two years of college.


In May 1992, Travis graduated high school and went to Aberdeen South Dakota College. He started getting into JKD and Muay Thai around this time.


Travis had mainly begun training in Muay Thai, but his interest grew towards jiu-jitsu after he watched UFC 1. The tournament had a great impact on Travis.


In 1993, he was introduced to jiu-jitsu by Royce Gracie.

2.2. Travis Lutter’s MMA Career

In August 1997, he moved to Texas and started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Machado. He began fighting in grappling events regularly.


Travis met Carlinhos at Gracie Barra while he was training for the Worlds in Rio, Brazil.


He won 2nd place as a blue belt in the 1998 World Tournament. He won every jiu-jitsu match he had up until the finals.

In 1998, Travis opted to compete in mixed martial arts (MMA) for $100. His MMA career was put on hold until the prize money earned in this sport got better.


He returned to jiu-jitsu and won two ADCC North American trials, earning a seat in the ADCC finals.


In 2000, he went back again and won third place Purple Belt.


Lutter returned to mixed martial arts in 2002, winning the HOOKnSHOOT Championship and was awarded his black belt a few weeks later by Carlos Machado. After things began to look up for Travis financially, he made the decision to devote more of his time and energy to MMA and quit his competitive BJJ career.

3. Travis Lutter’s Historic Fights

In 2005, Travis made his UFC debut, quickly establishing himself as a successful member of the organization’s middleweight division. He rose to the position of number two finalist for the company’s championship belt following his victory at TUF season 4 and loss against Anderson Silva.

3.1. Ultimate Fighting Championship 67 Fail

The day before UFC 67 on February 4, 2007, Travis failed to meet the weight requirement on the day of the weigh-in. For his first attempt, he weighed 187 pounds and then 186.5 lbs only two hours later during his second attempt. Due to his inability to meet the 185-pound weight requirement, his fight with Silva was modified to a three-round non-title bout. He was hissed by many fans as he entered the Octagon for his next fight. Travis went on to lose the fight in the second round after being subdued by a triangle choke.


In an interview by NBCSports, Travis Lutter explained,


 “I really didn’t think I was too heavy until about four hours beforehand. I knew at the time I was in a lot of trouble. I told the guys, this is not good. And the weird thing was, I was ahead of schedule on paper. We keep track of weight cuts from fight to fight. And as compared to my fight against Patrick Cote (November 2006), we were 1.5 hours ahead as far as time”.

3.2. Ultimate Fighting Championship 74

On August 25, 2007, Travis was set to make his return to the UFC at UFC 74. He was scheduled to fight UFC newcomer Ryan Jensen, however, he was forced to drop from the event due to a neck injury he sustained while training.

3.3. Ultimate Fighting Championship 83

Being out of the UFC for more than a year, Lutter battled against the former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin at UFC 83 for his return. With an armbar on the ropes in the first round, Lutter was almost caught by Franklin who defeated him in the second round by TKO.


Travis was released from his contract after losing two consecutive fights with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He became the first Ultimate Fighter Champion to be released from the UFC contract.


On October 2, 2009, Travis defeated Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald in the main event of Maximum Fighting Championship 22.


On May 21, 2010, Travis battled with Rafael Natal. This fight was part of the Moosin- God of Martial Arts in Worcester, Massachusetts. After two takedown attempts, Travis appeared to be getting weary and was defeated by a knockout in the first round.

4. Travis Lutter Academies

6913 Camp Bowie Boulevard Fort Worth 76116 Suite 133.

1732 E Square Fort Worth TX 76120.

5. Travis Lutter’s Championships and Accomplishments

  • The Ultimate Fighter 4 Middleweight Winner.
  • HooknShoot Lightweight Championship.
  • Winner Texas State BJJ Champion.
  • Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Black Belt under Carlos Machado.

6. Travis Lutter’s Main Achievements

Main Achievements
Achievements  Event Year
Winner Ultimate Submission Challenge 2003
Winner National USA ADCC Qualifier 2001
Winner National USA ADCC Qualifier 2000
Competitor ADCC World Championships 2001
Competitor ADCC World Championships 2000

7. Travis Lutter’s Main Achievements (Belts)

Position Belt/Weight Event Year
3rd Heavyweight Purple Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship 2000
3rd Heavyweight Purple Belt Pan American Games 2000
1st Heavyweight Champion Texas Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Open 1999
1st Heavyweight Overall Champion Texas Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Championships 1998
2nd Winner Brazilian Jiu-jitsu WorldChampionships 1998
1st Heavyweight Champion USA Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Championship 1998
1st Heavyweight Champion San Antonio Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Open 1997

8. Travis Lutter’s Professional Record Breakdown

Professional Record Breakdown
16 Matches 10 Wins  06 Losses
By Submission 7 2
By Knockout 1 3
By Decision 2 1

9. Travis Lutter’s Fight History

Year Event Opponent W/L/D Method Stage Weight Class
2010 Moosin: God of Martial Arts Rafael Natal L KO (punches)   Middleweight
2009 MFC 22 Jason MacDonald W Decision (unanimous)   Middleweight
2008 UFC 83 Rich Franklin L TKO (punches)   Middleweight
2007 UFC 67 Anderson Silva L Submission (triangle choke)   187 lbs
2006 The Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback Finale Patrick Côté W Submission (armbar)   Middleweight
2006 IFF 1: International Freestyle Fighting 1 Cedric Marks W Submission (armbar)   Middleweight
2006 Cage Rage 15 Jose Landi-Jons W Submission (armbar)   Middleweight
2005 UFC 54: Boiling Point Trevor Prangley L Decision (unanimous)    
2005 Cage Rage 12 Matt Ewin W Submission (keylock)   Middleweight
2005 UFC 52: Couture vs Liddell Matt Lindland L Submission (guillotine choke)   Middleweight
2004 UFC 50 Marvin Eastman W KO (punch)   Light Heavyweight
2004 EVT 2: Hazard Grzegorz Jakubowski Win Submission (kimura)   Light Heavyweight
2003 EVT 1: Genesis Mark Epstein W Submission (rear-naked choke)   Light Heavyweight
2002 USMMA 2: Ring of Fury Jorge Rivera L TKO (punches)   Light Heavyweight
2002 HOOKnSHOOT: Relentless Chris Munsen W Submission (rear-naked choke)   Light Heavyweight
1998 PRW: Power Ring Warriors James Cooper W Decision   N/A

10. Retirement

Travis left the Ultimate Fighting Championship(UFC) in 2008 after nearly four years with the company, Travis participated in mixed martial arts two more times, but a severe neck injury that was sustained in his final battle against Rafael Natal brought an end to his career.


Lutter made the best of his forced layoff by teaching as a full-time BJJ and MMA coach.

11. Video Links

Travis Lutter on Kevin Holland’s fight against Derek Brunson, fighting Anderson Silva, and more

Anderson Silva vs Travis Lutter UFC 67


Photo credit: @travislutter

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