Born in Chamberlain, South Dakota, MMA middleweight Travis Lutter currently fights out of Fort Worth, Texas. A BJJ blackbelt under Carlos Machado, ‘The Serial Killer’ also runs the Travis Lutter Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy, where he is preparing for UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2.

Lutter made his Octagon debut at UFC 50: War of ’04, and as a jiu jitsu practitioner, he shocked MMA fans when he knocked striker Marvin Eastman out cold-as-an-icepick, just 33 seconds into round two. Then on November 11, 2006, Lutter notched up an impressive win over Patrick Cote in The Ultimate Fighter 4, after submitting Cote by arm bar, 2.18 into round one.

Travis also sent shock waves through the Octagon cage when he gave UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva a scare in round one of their fight, despite Lutter’s being dehydrated after failing to make weight. Lutter managed to gain side control and get the mount over Silva, and delivered some serious g’n’p to the Brazilian.

Now sporting an MMA record of 12-4-0, Travis is set to face off with Rich Franklin in Montreal, Canada, on April 19, in what could be an opportunity for the victor to have another shot at Silva’s belt.

A former Ultimate Submission World Champion, Travis defeated a number of other world-class BJJ experts, including Ryron Gracie, to snare this internationally acclaimed title, and he has shown that his ground game is not to be underestimated. But Lutter has not competed since his match with Silva, and some fans are wondering how well prepared he will be for Franklin.

But right now, Travis is sitting in his hot tub at home, talking to Knucklepit.com on his cell phone. Any more relaxed and he could be mistaken for a Jack Daniel’s Distillery field tester.

Travis, why did you move from South Dakota to Fort Worth, Texas?

“To learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – that was the one and only reason. I just had to do it.”

And where is Carlos Machado from you?

“Carlos is in Dallas, and I live in Fort Worth, Texas: It’s about 45 minutes from here.”

How is your preparation for UFC 83 going?

“It’s going great, man; I couldn’t be happier. For every fight, I feel like I’m getting better and better. And this one’s no different. It’s like with every fight, you either learn something, or walk away from it and change a few things, then come back better for the next one.”

Have you been free of neck injuries?

“Well, I had a shot right into the neck joint and that seems to have fixed a lot of the problems for the time being. It’s always sore, but it’s not bothering me that much right now. It’s okay.”

Before your fight with Anderson Silva, you said you’d probably be, “The best guy he’s ever faced on the ground.” Do you believe that was the case in round one?

“Yeah, definitely… definitely.”

Would you like to elaborate?

“I don’t think anyone’s done to him what I did to him in round one. He caught me in round two, but it’s one of those things where sometimes you do get caught. If it were a stand-up fighter and the guy’s beating someone up all fight long, then the opponent lands a lucky punch: That’s the way I look at Anderson Silva’s triangle on me. It’s the same thing where I felt I was eating him up the whole first round, and right until he caught me in that triangle. And I just couldn’t get out, and was forced to tap.”

Despite Anderson’s reputation as a dangerous striker, you had your hands low when the fight opened. Was that to draw him in for a shoot?

“Man, it’s like everybody says to put your hands up, but the way I spar and the way I fight, I end up with my hands kinda low, which is probably not the best idea; it’s just the way I feel comfortable. And he didn’t hit me, so I’m happy about that. I haven’t been hit on my feet for a while now. My boxing coach is always yelling at me to get my hands up… Not that I’m over-confident. I know it’s a hole in my game. It’s just that when I’m trying to take somebody down, it’s sometimes best to go with what skills I have.”

I thought it was a smart plan on your part to get him to come in so you could shoot.

“Nah, I’m not that smart, man.”

His body triangle would have worried a lot of other opponents, but you seemed to shrug it off. Did you feel threatened?

“I was fine. I’ve seen him do it before.”

You got side control and the mount against him in round one. Was dehydration your biggest enemy for that fight?

“You know, I don’t want to take anything away from Anderson: He caught me. I made a mistake more than anything; more than the dehydration or any of that stuff. I went out there and I thought I had him. I was going to pound him out. I felt like I hurt him, and I got excited, and just started pounding away, thinking, ‘The referee’s going to stop this pretty soon. I’m hurting him; I know I’m hurting him.’ But he got that foot. I know I sat up a little too high, and he rolled me off. Unfortunately, that’s all she wrote. But Anderson’s tough, and he’s a survivor. My hat’s off to him for beating me.”

But you’re tough, too, and people have said you’re the best opponent Anderson’s had.

“And he’ll never beat me again: No disrespect to Anderson, but he’s never going to beat me again. He’s a tough fighter, but I just think I match up really well style-wise with him. I can not wait to fight him again.”

Travis, if you’re sick of being asked this question, please disregard it. But if you’re okay with it: What went wrong with your making weight?

“I went out there; I was trying to come into the fight as heavy as possible, because size is an advantage. For the Patrick Cote fight I was 204lbs, which is where I started my cut from. For Anderson, I was 208. And I made the weight from 204, but I couldn’t make it from 208: My body just quit sweating. It’s like you’re sweating out 10 percent of your bodyweight in less than 24 hours, and you’re facing organ shutdown. I was still trying to force the water out, but it was dangerous. It was stupid on my part, and I’m going with a much more sensible weight-cut from now on because of it.”

Thanks for answering that, Travis.

“No problem.”

Randy Couture questioned the legality of Anderson’s elbow strikes to your head. What did you think?

“I think they were illegal. I didn’t protest them. My corner wanted me to. I tapped out through a choke: I thought I was on my way out, and Anderson elbowed me a few times. I moved and the choke got tighter. But I think they were illegal.

“The way I interpret the rules: You can’t strike with a downward elbow. If it’s from 11 o’clock, it’s still a downward elbow, and I think they should discuss that rule a little bit more, because I’d like to know whether I can throw them or not. And before I fight Rich, I’m going to be asking that question. If I throw an elbow from 11 o’clock to five, is that illegal, or is it just from 12 to six? If it’s just the 12 to six, then I’ll just lean a little bit.”

The commentators asked Randy what’s legal and what’s not. And he said it’s a very gray area. They then said that if Randy didn’t know, then who would?

“I agree. And in the Florian vs. Lauzon fight last night, Florian seemed to be bringing the elbows in in the very same vicinity as Anderson was bringing them in, and they stopped the fight, then restarted them on their feet. I don’t know.”

You’ve proven you have one-punch KO power (Marvin Eastman). How is your stand-up game going these days?

“I didn’t get hit by Anderson Silva, and this is a fighter who lands 70 percent of his punches. Every fight starts on its feet and I didn’t get hit. He had a brushing knee that landed, but he didn’t land a single punch on me. I think that says a lot for my stand-up. I get criticized for my stand-up, but I’m in there sparring and I’ve got pro boxers throwing punches at my head, kickboxers throwing kicks at my head… And the big difference between Chuck Liddell’s thinking and mine is that Chuck wants to land a big punch, and I just want to take them down to my world and beat them up from there. My best chance for winning fights is if I can take you down and beat you up.”

What do you expect from Rich?

“Perfection. Anderson has Kryptonite and he beat down Superman to a degree. Rich beat everyone who stepped in front of him, except for Anderson and Machida, the 205-pounder. And Rich is going to beat ninety-five-plus percent of the 185-pounders out there, even though Anderson makes him look like he’s never trained before. So I expect a tough, knock-down, drag-out fight. And without giving too much away, I’m going to beat him up.”

And your ground game is going to be better than his?

“Oh, of course. If you call Rich, I don’t think he’s going to say his ground game is better than mine. The big question is whether or not I take him down: That’s the fight right there. Can I or can’t I take down Rich? I think I can. He’s a big, strong 185-pounder, and it’s going to be fun to see if I can.”

Is this an opportunity for you to get another shot at Anderson?

“Maybe, but no one’s said that to me, and they haven’t announced who his next opponent is, so I’ve got to wait and see how this fight goes. I think if I have a good showing, I think there’s a good chance you’ll see Anderson and me squaring off again. I think it’s a marketable fight, and he said some not-so-nice things about me after the fight, and since then I don’t like Anderson either, so I think that makes sense that we get it on again.”

Have we seen the best of Travis Lutter?

“No: I think I’m getting better and better, and for this fight you’re going to see a physically different Travis. Last time I was moving in slow motion against Anderson Silva, and I looked like a chemotherapy patient – no hair and washed out. This time I’m going to make weight easily and I’m going to look good. Hopefully, this will be the best Travis Lutter anybody has seen before, and hopefully, Rich will show up as the best he can be.”

Your sponsors?

“Warrior Wear.”

Travis, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I’d like to thank my training partners because they don’t get enough thanks: guys like Kenny McCleur, Usef, Paul Halme, Ronnie, Eric Sumbari, Tom East and all the guys who came out to help me get ready for this fight. And thanks to the fans. You’ve got to have good fans and training partners – you can’t do it alone.”