Fight Path: Former sprinter Walter Gahadza wasting no time in undefeated career

Growing up, Walter Gahadza practiced getting his athletic body off to fast starts. Just not in the same way he once would.

Raised in Zimbabwe and then in England, Gahadza was a skilled sprinter, especially competing in the 100 meters. That especially included practice in explosion off the starting block. After a look at his fighting record, that makes sense, considering the 11-0 MMA fighter’s performances.

In building his impressive start, the welterweight has finished his opponent in the first round 10 times, including five in less than two minutes. It’s an eye-opening stretch that warrants comparison to his previous athletic exploits.

“Everything came around working to finish at that line first,” Gahadza told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “That meant getting off to good starts, so that’s what I do. I fight to finish fights.”

Gahadza gets his next chance to electrify the crowd on Saturday when he faces off against Alan Johnson in the main event of Made4TheCage 11 for the vacant European welterweight title. Gahadza was originally scheduled to face undefeated Ryan Scope at the English event, but a replacement has also brought a little more motivation.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe until he was about 13 years old, Gahadza has remained in his adopted city of Essex, in England. In four years since he began training when a friend invited him to a gym, he has become a feared finisher who is known for his attacking style.

Now he, like many fighters in England, is working on his wrestling to improve and match the skills of U.S. fighters. That finesse would add to a power game that has already helped him end all but one of his fights in the opening round.

“I take every fight seriously, and I mean business,” he said. “Outside the gym I’m a fun guy, but inside it’s business, and I train as hard as I can. And this fight, for me, is probably the most important of my career so far.”

Major move

When asked to describe the area in which he grew up, because many who would be reading this column likely would not have been there or visited there, Gahadza provided a quick glimpse into his feelings about Zimbabwe, his home country.

“They don’t want to,” he said with a laugh.

He grew up with two brothers and a sister, and was interested in athletics from the start. He was a soccer player, but he also quickly became involved in track and field, and specifically sprinting.

When he was 13, Gahadza’s parents wanted to leave their home country, so they moved the family to be close to relatives in England. It was a significant adjustment for the teen.

“They used to teach us English (in Zimbabwe), but we didn’t use it as much,” he said. “Then I had to use it every day. And where I had been there weren’t a lot of white people or white kids, so it was a bit different.”

His time in track, especially, gave him a competitive edge he would later use in his fighting career. Sprinting is a guts sport. In its purest form, there are no judges or rulings, just a line and a race to reach that line first.

Maybe that’s why Gahadza is so fond of finishing fights in the first round. He had never relied on a judge before, so why rely on one now?

“It’s fast-twitch muscle training, and you have to be able to explode,” he said. “It has definitely benefitted me mentally and physically.”

Fast finisher

When Gahadza started his MMA training, it wasn’t a full commitment at first.

He was 21, and a friend who knew about his athletic ability asked him to come to his gym and check it out. He had wanted to become more involved in something physical, but it took time for him to get serious.

One of the coaches spurred him on.

“I asked him one day, I said, ‘Do you think I could be a fighter?’ And he said, ‘If you’re serious,’” he said. “He would see me and stay on me. ‘You’re late, get in the gym, you’re late, and do more training.’”

Within several months, Gahadza had been encouraged to take his first amateur fight, which started his path to a professional career. He made his pro debut in April 2011 with a victory that foreshadowed what his career would be like – a victory by submission at the 2:54 mark of the first round.

He would go on to win his first eight fights by first-round stoppages.

“I just want to finish the fight as soon as I can,” he said. “I don’t sit back on the fence to hang in there. Everyone who knows me knows I’m a finisher.”

His ninth fight, which came this past September, was a motivator for him. He took on Paul Cook in an Ultimate Warrior Challenge bout, and he said it was a fight many thought he couldn’t win. In his only performance to last past the first round, he beat Cook by decision.

Not only did he beat a quality opponent, but he proved he can win multiple ways, he said.

“I always told people I trained for three rounds, not just the first round,” he said. “That proved it.”

Moving forward, Gahadza is hoping to improve on his wrestling. That goes for fighters throughout his country, he said, who are trying to catch up with where American fighters are in their wrestling skills.

His next chance to show his improvement comes on Saturday, against an opponent he feels has done a little too much talking leading up to it.

“I hope he pays me the respect I’m due,” Gahadza said. “If not, I’ll take the respect.”

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel pens “Fight Path” each week. The column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.