MIXED Martial Arts (MMA) athlete Lewis Mataya is eyeing nothing short of a gold medal when he competes at the 2023 International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) World Championships in Serbia next month.
Mataya made history last year when he won the IMMAF Africa Championship in his lightweight category which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The victory gave the 25-year-old Zimbabwean fighter passage to participate at the highest stage of the mixed martial arts developmental competition which will run from February 11 – 18, at the Stark Arena, in Belgrade.
Mataya feels that participating at the global events will be a big step towards achieving his goals of becoming the greatest athlete in the sport.
“It means the world to me because some of the biggest (MMA) organisations in the world will have their eyes on the championships and they pick the best players from there to compete for them as professional athletes,” Mataya told The Sports Hub.
“You get better contracts, you get better deals if you manage to impress and that is good for me. I am a hard worker and I like to see things done properly so when I compete against someone I make sure I win. I want the whole nation to see the potential that we have and how many opportunities the sporting world has,” he said.
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But for Mataya to bring home a world title he has to have adequate preparations and also have resources to travel to the event.
The athlete appealed to corporates and the general public for assistance to help him realise his dream of winning at the World championships.
“I need funding because for me to go to the World Championships it’s expensive. The registration was done and I need to lose muscle weight in excess of 10 kgs. There are a lot of expenses including diet, training equipment and gym membership.
“I also need funding for my camping and I need training partners as well. I need a lot of things but what I am asking from the nation for now is funding to buy air tickets and accommodation for myself, my coach and at least one official from the Zimbabwe Mixed Martial Arts Association. Once that is covered I promise to bring home the gold medal,” he said.
Mataya revealed his ultimate dream in mixed martial arts as well his plan to train at iconic Irish professional mixed martial artist Conor McGregor’s gym.
MacGregor is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight double-champion and was the first fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
“The big dream for me is to be the best in the world. As it is I don’t think there has ever been an athlete from Zimbabwe who can compare. MMA is a combination of all combat styles and I managed to become the best in Africa.
“I want my name to go down as the greatest in MMA not only in Zimbabwe but around the world. Not just for me but to inspire other Zimbabweans that it’s possible we can do it and inspire people all over the world that you can have a dream, pursue it and you can do it.
“After the World championships I plan to go to Ireland or America for training to further enhance my training and prepare for the big professional league. In Ireland I will train at SBG which is Connor McGregor’s gym for a few weeks,” he said.
Formerly based in South Africa, Mataya has been in the country for the past few months and has since opened his own gym where he wants to teach mixed martial arts and create future world champions.
Mataya, who lost both parents as a child, is also the PFC (Professional Fighting Championship) lightweight champion in South Africa and the Jiujitsu champion in Africa.