Travis Galbraith is hoping to catch a break. Tonight the Edmonton, Alberta native and King of the Cage Canadian light heavyweight champion faces more than an opponent in Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante at EliteXC: Lawler vs. Smith II, he faces a crossroads in his MMA career. The seven-year MMA veteran has teetered on the brink of being a star of the sport but never quite got there, having never tasted success outside of the Canadian border or against a name like Cavalcante that would elevate him to the next level.

After a missed opportunity against Kazuhiro Nakamura at PRIDE 32 in 2006 in which poor cardio conditioning preparations for the short notice fight led to his first loss at light heavyweight, Galbraith watched his dream of fighting for a top organization slip through his fingers.

At times he considered walking away from the sport when it seemed like he would never be able to carve out a living using his fists. Taking a ten-month hiatus from competition last year to work construction to support his newborn daughter and girlfriend, the call of the cage became too much for "The Gladiator" to ignore.

Returning to defend his KOTC title against up and coming Canadian light heavyweight Nick Hinchliffe in November, Galbraith was given a rude welcome back in the form of a first round TKO loss. It was a fight he should have won.

In the rematch this past April, Galbraith exacted efficient revenge, choking Hinchliffe into submission in 32 seconds with a standing guillotine, dubbed the "Ghetto Choke" by his teammates. Taking back the title and repositioning himself as one of Canada's top two 205 lb fighters alongside Halifax native Roger Hollett, Galbraith awaited his next challenge.

In his next test, Galbraith submitted highly-touted French Canadian knockout artist Martin Desilets with a slick triangle choke transitioned after he pulled guard attempting his patented "Ghetto Choke" at Raw Combat: Resurrection in June.

The 27 year-old had run out of light heavyweight competition in Canada and had begun cutting weight to fight for the King of the Cage welterweight title when he got the call to face "Feijao" a week ago. Although he had been training, Galbraith says he would have liked to have more time to prepare for the fight. He admits he couldn't refuse the opportunity and that he will make the best of this shot at making himself known to fans and EliteXC brass.

"I think me harassing Terry [Trebilcock] at EliteXC had a lot to do with me getting this fight. Offers like this don't come along very often so you take them when they come," Galbraith explains. I wanted a big fight to help me get noticed outside of Canada. I just wish I could have more time to prepare for these big fights so I can have a chance to showcase my talents and really show these people what I've got to give. I'm still going to swing for the fences and put on a wicked show."

Since his weight was already down from the cut he had begun for his return to middleweight, Galbraith felt confident about not having to put his body through additional stress caused by the rigors of cutting weight a week out from the fight. The advantage, he says was short lived as he contracted food poisoning Thursday, dropping to under 200 pounds.

"I didn't have to cut weight for the fight which would have been a bonus except I had food poisoning for the past couple days so that put me way under weight," Galbraith says. "I was getting ready for a 185-pound fight and had started the cut when I got the call for this fight so I've been hovering at around 200 pounds for a while. I'm feeling great now so I'll be ready to go"

A Brazilian jiu jitsu purple belt, 11 of Galbraith's 15 wins have come by submission, earning him the reputation of a submission specialist - a misnomer he says he is hoping Cavalcante, who addressed him as such in interviews this week is convinced is accurate.

"I really don't want to get into a grappling battle with a jiu jitsu black belt. For Brazilian guys like that, jiu jitsu is their bread and butter. I'm going keep my head moving and try to swing a bit and hopefully I'll catch him," Galbraith explains. "I was able to get tape of two of his fights and I've been watching them non-stop and I've noticed a few consistencies in his offense that I'm going to watch out for. He utilizes a lot of outside looping punches so I'm going to try to avoid and counter them which hopefully will work to my advantage."

Beyond the fight with Cavalcante, Galbraith, whose only losses besides the one to Hinchliffe have come at the hands of UFC veterans Nakamura, Georges St-Pierre, Joe Doerksen and Jonathan Goulet, says he wants to fight for a marquee organization against top tier opponents.

"I'm looking at going where the money is. Frankly, I'm at the end of my rope fighting for nothing. I've done it for long enough so my goal is to try to finally make some money at it now. I want to be able to train full time and I've never been able to do that yet. My goal has always been to fight in Japan. I started fighting to one-day fight in PRIDE and I did that. Unfortunately it didn't turn out like I expected," says Galbraith. "My cardio wasn't great at the time and I gassed out. Since then I've hired two conditioning coaches and a dietician so that won't happen again. I've always said that if I could train full time I don't think anyone can beat me. I've just never had that opportunity."