Even nicer than being on the other side of those dark days is that he’s a couple days away from stepping into the Octagon again, ready to face off with another tough veteran from Texas.
“I grew up watching UFC, WEC, so I was definitely familiar with the name, and I think it’s a great matchup,” he said of the fight with Pineda, the 37-year-old Texas native who has also been on the sidelines since the spring of 2021. “He’s tough and I think that’s probably his best attribute.
“I think the chin is starting to go a little bit — your chin does not get better with age in this sport — and I love the matchup. I think I’m the cleaner striker, he’s got better wrestling and jiu jitsu than I thought, but after the fight with Sabatini — I started off as a grappler and then enjoyed the striking a little more the more mature I got as a fighter, but I’ve been getting back to my roots, and those have been the biggest gains for this camp and the camp with Choi.”
While he’s made peace with the outcome of his fight with Sabatini — to a certain degree, at least — the fact that poor decision-making resulted in his lengthy winning streak being halted still sticks in his craw, and that loss is still the last result on his resume.
“I’m still coming off a loss, but dwelling on the negatives is not entirely useful,” said Lutz, who has every intention of changing that on Saturday night in San Antonio.
“I’m expecting a finish,” he said. “It’s been way too long since I got a finish and I think it’s a great stylistic matchup to do that.”
And after a long, trying year deal with injuries, burnout, and depression, Lutz is just looking forward to feeling the canvas under his feet again this weekend.
“It’s gonna feel like home, baby,” he said of stepping back into the Octagon. “It’s gonna feel like home.”
Welcome home, Tuck.
