Carlos Machado black belt Travis Lutter (Pictures) is 1-2 in the Octagon. The two-time Abu Dhabi World Championships competitor and 1999 and 2000 HOOKnSHOOT National ADCC Qualifier champion runs his own BJJ and kickboxing academy in Texas. Hes also trained with UFC veterans Guy Mezger (Pictures) and Alex Andrade of the Texas Lions Den.
His road to the contract on TUF 4 began with a dismantling of Scott Smith in the first round. In the semifinals Lutter faced Pete Sell (Pictures). Travis controlled the pace and kept Sells striking in check while doing enough damage to win a unanimous decision.
Patrick Cote (Pictures) came to the UFC on short notice as a late replacement for Guy Mezger (Pictures), who was scheduled to face Tito Ortiz (Pictures) for their rubber match. Cote filled in nicely and made Ortiz work for 15 minutes to earn a decision. He would come back twice more, losing by submission to Joe Doerksen (Pictures) and taking Chris Leben (Pictures) the distance.
For The Predator the road to contract night was paved with decisions. First he kicked El Conquistador Rivera in the face and worked him over to take the win in the preliminary round. Then he hit Dewees with a stamina-zapping uppercut early in the bout and coasted (avoiding the odd submission attempt) to another time-limit victory.
Cote didnt have to worry much about stand-up with Dewees. Rivera is a handful on the feet, yet like many strikers his submission defense is better than his application. Score another one for The Predator. This time he faces a complete package and I think his number is up. Travis could pull out the blueprint for the Drago fight and almost repeat it. Cote hits pretty hard too, so I would expect Lutter to resemble a methodical octopus until the opportunity to stretch one of Cotes limbs presents itself. Lutter earns the right to fight Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight belt by winning via submission.