SYLVESTER “Gladiator” Chipfumbu’s remarkable rise in the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) continued on Thursday after securing a shot at the coveted EFC flyweight belt in what he has described as the biggest fight of his career.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The 23-year-old Zimbabwean, who is nicknamed “Gladiator”, will challenge South African star Nkazimulo “Zulu Boy” Zulu for EFC flyweight title at Carnival City, Johannesburg on August 19.
In an interview with Standardsport Chipfumbu said he has what it takes to become EFC’s first Zimbabwean champion.
“Well, this is certainly the biggest fight of my career so far and I am happy as a win, which I’m very confident I will get, will be a turning point for me,” Chipfumbu told Standardsport in an interview.
“Since day one, I’ve been training for all my fights like they were title fights so the fight against Zulu is just another day in the office. The most important thing is I stay calm and not get carried away by the hype. I’ll just work hard and the results will speak for themselves.”
Chipfumbu, a former Zimbabwe national team karateka has made a storming start to his professional career in South Africa with his biggest win coming in April when he knocked out Abdul “Hollywood” Hassan.
The win against Hassan took the Gweru-born cage fighter’s record to four wins in four matches.
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Another victory, this time against the highly rated Zulu will certainly take him closer towards realising his goal of becoming the first Zimbabwean to fight in the highly-lucrative Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the US.
EFC president Cairo Howarth said Chipfumbu — who is aiming to succeed where his countrymen Themba Gorimbo and Elvis Moyo have come close — had earned his right to challenge for the title.
“Sylvester has been setting the flyweight division alight,” said Howarth. “Ever since his first fight with us, it’s been obvious that he would one day be a title challenger.”
The Zimbabwean will have to be at his best against Zulu, who last year made EFC history by becoming the organisation’s first bantamweight champion, and hit the history books again by also taking the flyweight belt.
Last year Zulu was invited to compete on the US based reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, where he had the opportunity to hone his skills with Olympic gold medalist wrestler and UFC title challenger Henry Cejudo’s training partners.
