What you need to know:
June 11, at Fast Fusion, at 5th Street Industrial Area, at Fight Club Gym, Mubiru will face Musa Saidi, nicknamed Tanzanian Dragon.
Ben Olupot and Shakey Mubiru met in 2012 upon joining Kampala University, Ggaba on a sports scholarship.
Mubiru had just dropped out of Kyambogo University, where he was studying Social Sciences, for lack of fees. Olupot was a fresher and sport instantly bonded them, to date.
Both were recruited by Titus Tugume, who was head of martial arts at the university.
“I was practicing taekwondo and karate and Shakey was mostly into kickboxing,” Olupot shared via WhatsApp.
“I could teach him karate and taekwondo and he taught me kickboxing. He inspired me to do kickboxing and we liked challenging each other through sparring in most cases. I pushed him to be a better fighter and he did the same for me.”
By the time they graduated in 2015, Olupot had won all his three amateur kickboxing fights. And since 2017 he coaches kickboxing, boxing and fitness at UFC gym in Abu Dhabi. “I attribute this to Shakey and Titus Tugume who pushed me hard to learn kickboxing.”
Making himself and others better is what defines Mubiru.
The making
Born to Uthman Mubiru, a Warrant Officer I, and Saada Kitimbo, Mubiru grew up with his grandmother in Jinja and first met his father when he was 10.
At Bombo Army Primary School, he admired taekwondo and boxing to learn to defend himself against bullish pupils.
“As a kid I watched lots of combat stuff like Power Rangers and Bruce Lee, Jet Li. Then watching the UPDF Taekwondo team was so special, and I got an instant connection,” he told us.
In 2008, Coach Shaban Andama, recruited him to UPDF Kickboxing Club. Soon, he defeated Festo Kabugo of Power Flex Gym, and Latif Dheyongera in Iganga and won the national welterweight title in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
As a semi-professional in 2012, he conceded his first loss to Painento Mwesigwa. But two years later he got his revenge, beating Mwesigwa on the night American Richard Abraham thumped Moses Golola at Speke Resort, Munyonyo.
Fondest moment
The First Asian Martial Arts Festival in 2014 in Kathmandu, Nepal, Mubiru defeated a fighter from Bhutan, an Island in South Asia and another from Afghanistan. But in the final he faced Nepalese, counting on home advantage.
Mubiru had a dream of emulating his father, an ex-child soldier in the NRA bush war. Here was the chance. But the stage was frightening.
His teammate Dan Okiror had won his final, assured of gold. Mubiru, the captain, could not avoid the pressure.
He calls the Nepalese fighter awkward. “He attacked anyhow, punching and kicking, from all angles to overwhelm me. But I used straight kicks and hard punches, and I stopped him in the second round,” Mubiru said.
“I had always dreamt of doing something great for my country, like my father. And when the national anthem played, I got emotional. I felt I had done it. It’s a golden moment I will cherish forever,” he said, with a glowing smile.
He had been denied the visa several times. A friend persuaded the Indian Association of Uganda to pay for his air ticket. And the December winter in Kathmandu was biting. But the two Ugandans braved it.
At KU’s 2015 graduation, Mubiru was voted sportsman of the year. “My status changed forever.”
Coach-fighter
“The love and support the kids in Kathmandu gave me yet I was fighting their homeboy inspired me to do something for the kids back home,” Mubiru said.
“Some ghetto kids had talent but lacked the opportunities. I wanted to help them.”
Hassan Ssekirime, the then Uganda Kickboxing Federation (UKF) blessed the idea and in 2015 Kampala University Kickboxing Club with about 40 fighters from Ggaba, Kampala and the university’s Luweero branch.
Though some did not become students, Prof. Badru
Kateregga, the KU proprietor, and some deans embraced the idea but some did not and sometimes the trainees were denied meals.
Eventually, change became inevitable. “We could travel in the school bus for tournaments, our training was funded and the trainees could have meals.”
Soon, Mubiru and Samuel Bazibu, who coached the Luweero battalion, tested their troops in the 2015 National League, finishing second to traditional clubs like Power Flex and Hard Body.
Same year, Mubiru won the National Welterweight title as a professional, against Policeman Ronald Odoch.
The discipline among the trainees improved. And gigs came. At all Nyege-Nyege Festival since 2015, the boys have worked as friendly security guards, who use just fitness and mental awareness to control crowds.
“I got my degree through kickboxing. What was a hobby is now a career that feeds me and changed my whole life,” said Olupot, the combat sport trainer in Abu Dhabi with a degree in Procurement and Logistics Management. “Very grateful to Shakey for pushing me to be a better kickboxer. We still have to meet for our sparring challenge.”
Like Olupot, Muhammad Muzeeyi, who got a diploma in Computer Science and Information Technology, is a combat trainer in Abu Dhabi.
“Shakey was a friend and brother. He has been there for many of us, for which I am very grateful. Before that I was just a ghetto kid,” said the former Police trainee, who joined KU’s scholarship scheme alongside Joseph Bonane, Ivan Obwar and James Onyango.
Henry Katamba won the East African title 2018; Bonane, the 2018 national lightweight champion, won his first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bout at Serena Hotel in October 2022. Kennedy Sseruyange featured in the 2023 National Open Championship, among others.
But Mubiru, who graduated with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, says that progress bred bias, chaos and later disintegration of the club.
“Referees and judges made several biased decisions to undermine our club. He cited an incident in Kumi in 2017. “We watched the bouts at gunpoint. We weren’t allowed to cheer our fighters, or question any judging or refereeing decision.”
"It ceased to be sport," he said. “I feared the worst. The kids became frustrated. And in 2018 I discontinued the programme.”
We deserve better
When Mark Bugembe was diagnosed with a brain tumour, in 2020. After injuries suffered in the ring, Mubiru and colleagues launched a fundraiser to save his life. A GoFundMe drive seeking US$8,211 (nearly Shs30m) only yielded $1,631 (over Shs5m). Other contributions in Uganda, fetched nearly as much, which was spent on health and other family needs.
But Mubiru says the World Kickboxing Federation (WKF) did not care.
“WKF did not post the fundraiser anywhere on its websites, which would have greatly boosted it. And Patrick (Luyooza) being their ambassador here, we felt betrayed. We wanted him out,” Mubiru said with sorrow.
Bugembe died August 12, 2020, 10 days to his 26th birthday. That fuelled Mubiru’s revolution. Already, he was a rebel for questioning WKF’s unfairness to Ugandan fighters.
For instance, Mubiru said, for his 2016 fight in Hungary, he funded his trip to Nairobi to get a visa plus paying about 100 Euros for the visa. “But I was twice denied that visa yet the money is nonrefundable.”
He also had to fund his training. And the reward?
“I got just 600 Euros yet they only paid for my travel expenses, food and accommodation.”
He was even lucky. Others, he added, even pay for their air tickets yet get peanuts.
“But when a fighter from Europe comes here the promoter pays a purse of at least 1000 Euros plus all the expenses.”
Many fighters say the former UKF president, Ssekirime, who died in March 2018, always demanded for fight contracts before a Ugandan fighter traveled to fight abroad. But many say his successor Luyooza did not care about fighters’ welfare.
“Kids shared groin protectors,” Mubiru said. “I once contracted a skin disease out of that but we were not allowed to talk about it. I was chased out of meetings for raising these very basic issues.”
Most of his money came from fans like Prof. Kateregga, Salim Uhuru, and sports enthusiast Reuben Robert.
But he knew promoters abroad could pay better.
When Mubiru went to France in 2017, his opponent did not show up. But his fellow fighter Umar Semata gave him 10,000 Euros (over Shs40m) for assisting him in training. Promoter Bob Sapp added him 800 Euros (over Shs3m).
“I wanted something better for myself, my club and my country. We had to do something so that WKF treats us better,” said the soft-spoken fighter.
Fellow fighters Alex Matsiko, Ssemata, Okiror, Malik Kaliisa joined the struggle. And recently, Mubiru hosted the meeting that elected an interim committee to revive the disbanded federation.
Kickboxing is not yet a lucrative sport but Mubiru, who was the Number One welterweight in WKF rankings in 2016, could fight under Kunlun Fight in Beijing soon. He also wants youngsters to join such franchises like Glory in Netherlands, etc.
The World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (Wako), was in 2021 granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the first steps towards becoming an Olympic sport.
“We want the kids to go to the Olympics. But the WKF does not promise that.”
He believes a lot can change if Uganda ends its seemingly abusive marriage with WKF.
Meeting Sean Douglas
James Opio, an MMA fighter and trainer at Fight Club, calls Mubiru a “principled guy,” who wants his things done in a particular way.
“Technically, he has great knowledge of what he does because he researches a lot. Unlike many coaches, he quickly figures out your strengths and weaknesses and designs a programme that suits you.”
Mubiru has gathered this knowledge from men whose murals decorate his gym’s walls: Adam Eric Boumadi, Abubaker Kabunga, Bruce Lee and Sean Douglas, the American who gave Mubiru the “first real professional training.”
He met the trainer through his artiste Ragga Dee, who was friends with Douglas’ friends. “The coach saw my passion for martial arts and yeah, everything went on well.”
For six weeks before his first Muay Thai fight in August 2019, Mubiru trained with Douglas, one of the best Muay Thai trainers in the world, at his Fight House, in Koh Samui, Thailand.
Five days to the fight, he posted on Facebook: “I just love the animal I’m becoming.” And despite a deep cut above his right eye, he overcame his Thai opponent on points.
In the event hyped as Thailand Team vs American Team, Mubiru represented the USA. But the following day, he posted: “Never before have I felt loved like yesterday, thanks motherland Uganda and all my fans around the world. I’m so humbled. Can’t wait to meet all of you in person.”
Since then, the coach-trainee bond grew stronger. No wonder, Mubiru, a son of a Muslim father who was once a Catholic and a Pentecostal mother who was once a Muslim, chose to follow his trainer’s spiritual beliefs in Muay Thai, which promotes self-defense, respect for opponents and self.
“Coach Sean Douglas is extremely special, as a coach and as a human being. He continues to be a father figure in my life and a guiding light in my life as a coach.”
During the November 2020 riots in Kampala, which killed over 50 people, Douglas posted on Facebook: “My brave brother Mubiru Shakey I pray for you all in Uganda for peace.”
Douglas is guiding Mubiru for his coming fight. And the former U.S. marine could travel to Kampala to watch it.
Work for it
Before Douglas, Mubiru had two idols. He was a teenager when Kabunga, the first Ugandan to win a World Kickboxing title, returned home. Mubiru admired the Germany-based world champion, having watched him with multiple titles.
“Then my father told me he was my cousin. And when I met him, I loved his humour and humbleness. He encouraged me to pursue my fighting dream and offered plenty of advice and equipment to start my career. Every fight I had, he was always advising what to do.”
Andama was his first coach, until 2013. Then there was Adam Boumadi, aka Coach Adam, the Swede who inspired the Fight Club gym motto: “Don’t wish for it, work for it.”
“I have many memories with Coach Adam,” Mubiru said. “When I told him I want to win a title. He told me: "work for it, don’t wish for it.”
One of Mubiru’s sweetest victories was in Budapest, Hungary, in 2016. But the fight could have been cancelled. He was so overweight. “But Coach Adam made me eat one scoop of yoghurt for a night.” Afterwards, “He made me sleep with my belt after winning it. He said I deserved it.”
What’s more, Coach Adam backed Mubiru’s campaign for a fair pay to Ugandan fighters.
Hope after Covid
Mubiru is a strong character but his spirit was almost broken by the Covid-19 inspired lockdown.
He dropped his guards. Submitted to the opponent he had defeated years ago.
“I reverted to doing the things I had long quit,” he said, struggling to say it plain. He paused. Felt a bit shy, sighed. “Let me be clear. I went back into drinking and stuff. Things I always preached against. It was terrible. I was almost losing it. I don’t know.”
The future looked bleak. The youngsters, whose lives he had tried to improve, always called him: ‘coach, we don’t have food, coach shall we train again? Yet even their silence scared him. “What are they up to?” he wondered, “If I have relapsed after years, what about them, who are just learning to be clean?” He was right. Some fell back into drugs and delinquency.
But Mubiru is back training. Swinging knees, shins, fists and elbows, to restore hope.
“I want to show the kids who lost hope that if Shakey can bounce back, so we can.”
June 11, at Fast Fusion, at 5th Street Industrial Area, at Fight Club Gym, Mubiru will face Musa Saidi, nicknamed Tanzanian Dragon.
The proceeds will help in rehabilitating and counselling the dejected fighters across the country.
“We need to tell them: this is the time to rise again.”
The future
Inspired by the many foreigners who train at Fight Club, Mubiru started Shakey Sports Adventure World to use sport as a tool of promoting tourism. “We can take the tourists to training camps as they go on adventures,” he said.
“Happy birthday to the love of my life. You’re the worst dancer and best singer in Kampala. I’ll make sure life with me will be beautiful,” Emma Arenshøj, a Danish journalism student and former karate champion, wrote on Facebook April 10, 2021.
“Thanks so much my love Emma, you are so kind and beautiful. I am so happy to have you around and to share this special day with you. Let's traverse this planet together,” Mubiru responded.
Need I say more?