FORMER mixed martial arts African champion Lewis Mataya has embarked on an ambitious project to expose 10 individuals to three-month long intensive training with the hope of turning them into international champions next year.
The training camp is expected to begin on November 1 at his Straight Blast Gym (SBG) and is targeting young, unemployed potential stars from the ghetto age between 16 and 27, both men and women.
Mataya, who made history last year when he won the IMMAF Africa Championship in the lightweight category which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, has managed to set up his own gym named SBG.
It is inspired by the iconic Ireland-based SBG which has produced several Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters, the most notable being Conor McGregor.
"The Zimbabwe SBG Community Development Project is an idea by Lewis Mataya to intensively train 10 individuals in mixed martial arts for a duration of three months. This idea was tested successfully on Kudakwashe Mutanga who is now a coach and prospect for the African championships in 2024," Mataya said.
"The 10 candidates will be young, unemployed people from the age of 16 years to 27 years, males and females.
The single most important factor for selection is passion and commitment to the sport of MMA. Athletes must be unemployed and not enrolled in any educational institution.
"The first day of the community development project will be 1 November 2023 and end date is 31 January 2024. Athletes will be training three hours a day outside of scheduled gym class hours. The last month of the project, they will be training five hours per day and four days a week," he said.
"The Athletes will be trained in mixed martial arts competitions and coaching. Each three hour session will have one hour Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, one hour wrestling and one hour striking ( taekwondo, boxing and Muay Thai)."
The Zimbabwe mixed martial arts national team coach who is turning 26 next month also shared the broader vision for the project in the country which includes producing 10 continental champions as early as next year, among others.
"The Zimbabwe SBG Community Development Project is the first of many to come. It is a stepping stone for the future of martial arts in Zimbabwe and Africa.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
"The goals of this project are to win 10 gold medals at the African Championships in 2024, to have the more MMA gyms in Harare in 2024 to have at least one gym in all the major cities in Zimbabwe by 2025.
"It is to create a local professional MMA and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu league in the near future, to grow the MMA tribe and have more training partners. There won’t be any need to leave the country for training. Ultimately we want to create employment for the youth and get them out of trouble and drugs," Mataya said.
The total cost for the project is estimated at about US$1 000 per month for the 10 athletes and Mataya is appealing to potential sponsors to come on board to partner in the project.
Mataya will sponsor the US$60 SBG fees for the athletes while they will need assistance in transport, training gear and refreshments, among other needs.