New UFC Signee Joilton Lutterbach on ‘Shara Bullet’ Matchup: ‘I’ll Sub-Zero Him’

A recent Ultimate Fighting Championship pickup might have "Mortal Kombat" on the brain.

On about a month’s notice, the promotion signed aggressive middleweight Joilton Lutterbach (38-9, 1 NC) to take on (12-0) at UFC on ABC 6 on June 22. The German by way of Brazil is elated to make his organizational debut in Saudi Arabia, and with this being his 70th pro fight in MMA and kickboxing combined, he does not expect the bright lights will get to him. Unafraid of the Russian’s knockout power, Lutterbach talked with Sherdog on Wednesday about his upcoming debut.

“I’m better than him in every area,” Lutterbach said confidently. “I see myself as far superior to him in boxing, wrestling and on the ground. The only thing he does better than me is kick. I’m a year older than him, but I have four times as many MMA fights and practically the same curriculum in kickboxing.”

Boasting a slew of grappling credentials, “Peregrino” nevertheless wishes that he has the opportunity to defeat his opponent on the feet.

“I’m a black belt in judo, jiu-jitsu and luta livre,” he stated. “From what he showed in the fight with Bruno ‘Blindado’ [Silva], my superiority on the ground is clear over him. If I take him down there won't be a fight. Since my biggest focus nowadays is putting on a show, I want to show in this UFC debut that I’m superior to him standing up. He won’t make it past the second round. I’ll sub-zero him in the second round.”

Born in Brazil but fighting and training out of Germany, Lutterbach has traveled the world competing for various combat sports organizations over the years. With multiple fights in Europe, Lutterbach felt pressured to represent Germany rather than his home country. This will be different in Saudi Arabia.

“As most events have a lot of Brazilians and my wife has German ancestry, I had to represent Germany several times, but everyone knows I’m Brazilian. I'm really anxious to debut in the biggest organization in the world beating this Russian with Brazilian flag on my gear,” Lutterbach noted.

The support from fellow countrymen and women has been overwhelming since this matchup was announced. It came as a surprise that Magomedov was quite unpopular in Brazil, although some of the Russian’s comments towards a fellow UFC star have changed their opinions of him.

“I was impressed by how hated this guy is in Brazil,” he admitted. “I think it’s because of the criticism of Michel [Pereira], who is having a heroic attitude in helping the victims in the south of Brazil. I received thousands of messages asking me to shut up the Russian loudmouth, something that only increased my motivation.”

While this fight against Magomedov will come at 185 pounds, Lutterbach would feel more comfortable down 15 pounds at his more natural weight class of welterweight. If given the chance, he would be glad to drop down and rejoin the 170-pound category’s crowded ranks.

“I signed to fight at middleweight and I promised [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby that I would be available to him in the division, but obviously if I could choose, I would prefer to fight at my weight,” Lutterbach said.

As a nearly 50-fight MMA vet, Lutterbach has skipped across a number of notable leagues including Shooto Brazil, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, Professional Fighters League and KSW. The latter of those four is where he encountered future UFC middleweight king Dricus Du Plessis, and ever since he came up short against the South African, Lutterbach has been watching his career. The Brazilian proffered some thoughts on the unresolved title picture at his current weight class.

“Dricus has above-average strength for the division. But honestly, I think [out of Israel Adesanya, Khamzat Chimaev, Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland], Chimaev is the worst matchup for him,” “Peregrino” concluded.