Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
SPORTSPERSON of the Year and karateka Samson Muripo has refuted claims that he has joined cage fighting under the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) stable, saying he only trained with the stable while preparing for a major tournament in 2016.
Muripo was named the country’s top sportsperson for 2017 in Harare last week and his absence at the banquet fuelled speculation that he had dumped fulltime karate as a result of underfunding.
“I trained with them in preparation for the 2016 1st So-Kyokushin World Karate tournament in Japan and International Karate tournament in Ahvaz, Iran, not that I was joining Extreme Fighting Championship,” said Muripo from his South African base yesterday.
He said training with the cage fighters had helped him immensely as he went on to do well resulting in him being named Zimbabwe’s Sportsperson of the Year for the second time in his career.
Muripo has previously urged authorities to give karate similar support given to other sport codes if the discipline is to grow.
He recently attained a fifth dan Karate Black Belt, which elevated him from a Sensei to a Master or Shihan in India.
derick.khumalo