Online Reporter
Tinashe Mukono
Zimpapers SportsHub
LONG before Lewis “The Porcupine” Mataya ever stepped inside a cage, he was herding cattle, doing hard chores and wrestling friends in the open pastures of Chipinge.
Today, he believes Zimbabwe’s next mixed martial arts champions are growing up the same way.
“Those youngsters doing hard labour and chores in rural areas already possess incredible strength and toughness,” he says.
“What they do every day can be transformed into an art form and a profession. It’s time Zimbabwe had proper home-grown heroes in MMA, and I want to help build that future.”
It’s a belief rooted in his own journey.
Every great fighter has an origin story, and Mataya’s began in those open fields where spirited bouts of “chikudo (horse play) ”, inspired by martial arts movies and WWF wrestling, became part of everyday life.
“Everyone knew Lewis was a fighter and you wouldn’t mess with me,” he said. “We’d have our wrestling matches for fun, and I always came out on top. Looking back now, you could say it was written in the stars, even though it made no sense at the time. I was a born fighter.”
That carefree childhood was interrupted by tragedy.
Orphaned at a young age, Mataya was forced to mature much earlier than most would do.
He speaks about those years matter-of-factly. They became another part of the resilience that defines him today.
His nickname also carries a story.
“The Porcupine” is inspired by his Nungu totem, a tribute to the roots he has never forgotten despite building his career far from home.
“This is actually an honour for me to use Porcupine as my fighting name because it is a tribute to my roots,” he says.
“I encourage people to promote and find pride in their roots and heritage.”
The turning point came almost by accident in 2014.
While studying at the library at Manyame Air Base, he would watch soldiers training in Taekwondo through the window.
Curiosity soon turned into commitment.
“I excelled so much that I even began to dream of Olympic gold, but after four years I started gravitating towards MMA, especially around its boom in 2018,” said Mataya.
“The more I learnt about grappling, striking, wrestling and jiu-jitsu, the more I realised this was where I belonged.”
His family had different plans.
They hoped he would pursue a career in the armed forces, where honour and job security awaited.
But the pull of combat sport proved stronger.
“The fight running in my veins was calling me towards sport. That is how I chose to represent my country. Even in school, despite being a straight-A student, I always knew what I wanted to do for a living was sport,” he said.
Determined to test himself against stronger competition, Mataya moved to Cape Town, immersing himself in every aspect of mixed martial arts. Taekwondo sharpened his striking, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu strengthened his grappling, Muay Thai refined his stand-up game and wrestling completed the foundation.
He became the first Zimbabwean to win the IMMAF African Championship gold, a feat he achieved twice.
He also claimed the PFC amateur lightweight title before announcing himself on bigger stages with organisations such as Africa Knockout Organisation and UAE Warriors.
At African Knockout 08 in Nigeria, Mataya became the first fighter in the promotion’s history to win by Kimura submission when he defeated Oluwa Damilare.
He backed it up with a second-round stoppage of Prince Mensan at AKO 10 before carrying that momentum into UAE Warriors.
Yet medals and victories no longer define his ambitions.
The fighter, who once travelled across Africa chasing opportunities, now spends just as much time creating them for others.
“MMA might be an individual sport inside the cage, but there is always a team behind every champion,” said Mataya.
“When I came back from South Africa, I had no one, so we built our own team because iron sharpens iron. Now I am training others because I want them to have opportunities that simply didn’t exist when I started.”
He understands that modern combat sports extend beyond fight night.
Inspired by global stars Conor “The Notorious” McGregor and Israel Adesanya, Mataya has invested in building his digital profile, believing visibility is as important as victories if the sport is to grow in Zimbabwe.
“I’ve been working on my numbers game and digital reach because that’s another way of growing the sport,” he said. “The minute people know there is MMA here in Zimbabwe and see what is possible, they also begin believing they can reach those heights, and we can grow the sport even further.”
His dream stretches well beyond his own career.
He wants to establish training centres across Zimbabwe because he believes the country’s next generation of fighters may already be developing the qualities that cannot be taught inside a gym.
The herd boy who once wrestled friends in the open fields of Chipinge has become one of Zimbabwe’s leading mixed martial artists.
Now he hopes another youngster carrying firewood, herding cattle or wrestling friends after school will realise those same beginnings can lead all the way to the world stage.
