Heather Chikonan’ombe
GWERU – From the dusty streets of Mkoba into the prestigious but fiery, Extreme Fighting Championships (EFC) coliseums, in South Africa is all that sums living a dream for Zimbabwean flyweight mixed martial artist Sylvester ‘Gladiator’ Chipfumbu who is plying his trade across the Limpopo.
While the late Legendary Langton ‘School Boy’ Tinago, dazzled the world after winning what was once the most prestigious boxing award, the Common Wealth welter weight title that left lasting memories in Gweru and the country at large, Chipfumbu is not ready to give up either.
A lot of other gems have been produced after Schoolboy; some of which include footballers Maxwell ‘MaRhino’ Dube, Moses Jackson and karatekas Victor Bhunu, Sensei Muzenda amongst others.
What has remained synonymous, is that most of the stars Gweru has ever had came from its oldest surburbs, Mutapa and Ascot while its largest surbub Mkoba has had a little bite of the cherry in terms of giving birth to sporting stars.
Chipfumbu’s debut in the EFC three years ago has however changed the narrative as his rise to stardom seems unstoppable as the 28-year-old athlete is one of the top contenders in the EFC competition.
In his dream to break the record and become the first Zimbabwean to win the EFC title, Chipfumbu continues with an acute rise to fame, recording fewer than ten defeats since his debut.
Also having realised how lucrative a business mixed martial arts can be, Chipfumbu dreams about pioneering and pushing the sport back home where martial arts has been confined shotokan, taekwondo amongst others.
Speaking to CommuTalk from his South African base, Chipfumbu says he looks to partner veteran karatekas like Victor Bhunu and Samson Muripo towards nurturing his dream.
“I want to introduce the sport to the people back home (Zimbabwe). I have been in martial arts and I believe there is so much potential.
“We can introduce a few guys who can do this sport for a start but with my experience in Zimbabwe, there’s no doubt we’ll have world champions in future,” he said.
To attain his goals, Chipfumbu has challenged himself to first win bigger accolades in mixed martial arts such as winning the EFC title as well as fighting on the highest stage, which is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
“The most important part for me, something I must do before establishing anything Zimbabwe is to work my way up to the biggest MMA organisation in the world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and become a force to reckon with there,” Chipfumbu further challenged himself.
