The Ultimate Fighting Championship run for Themba
Gorimbo has been an emotional rollercoaster.
Gorimbo (12-4) is scheduled to fight Ramiz
Brahimaj (10-4) at UFC Fight Night 241 this weekend at the
promotion’s Apex in Las Vegas. The Zimbabwean welterweight revealed
that his wrestling coach from South Africa has been helping him
with his training camp in the U.S. for the past eight weeks,
despite the latter’s mother suffering from cancer. Shortly before
UFC Fight Night 241 media day on Wednesday, his coach’s mother
died.
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Vowing to win for his coach, the 33-year-old said,
“All I know is I’m going to win in spectacular fashion for my coach
whose mother just died like two hours ago. He’s been here with me
for eight weeks. He tells me his mother is sick with cancer. He
never told me it was that bad. I just say to him, ‘Okay, after the
fight, we go back to South Africa together.’ I didn’t have a plan
to go out there, but I was gonna go with him to see his mother. And
his mother just died three hours…two hours ago, man, and I’m going
to win for him.”
Gorimbo’s journey to becoming a UFC fighter had its fair share of
obstacles. Orphaned at the age of 13, Gorimbo smuggled blood
diamonds in rural Zimbabwe before fleeing to South Africa, where he
discovered mixed martial arts. While Gorimbo made it to the UFC
after a decade-long pro career, “The Answer” was still struggling.
After earning his first UFC win over Takashi
Sato in May 2023, Gorimbo revealed that he had $7 left in his
bank account leading up to the fight. The story resonated with WWE
and Hollywood superstar Dwayne Johnson, who once had the exact same
amount of money left after being released from the Canadian
Football League.
“The Rock” bought a house in Miami for Gorimbo, who used to sleep
on a couch at the
MMA Masters gym until then. Gorimbo’s connection with Johnson
also helped skyrocket the Zimbabwean to fame. However, Gorimbo
believes that his story has somewhat overshadowed his achievements
as a fighter. “The Answer” reminded fans that he earned his spot
with the promotion from years of hard work and sacrifice.
“I didn’t get here in the UFC with hype,” he stated. “I got to the
UFC through my sacrifice and hard work and dedication, prayers to
God. And I sacrificed to be here, not hype. Yes of course, what
happened in my life, the blessing with Dwayne Johnson happened, but
it seems like people overlook me because of that story. They
overlook me and they focus on the Dwayne Johnson thing. Even Ramiz,
I saw his first post when first heard [of] had this fight [booked],
he said, ‘I never liked ‘The Rock’ anyway.’ And that just tells me
something I need to know. Guys forget they’re fighting me, not ‘The
Rock.’ And when it comes to me, I’m hungry, I’m here to succeed.
And no matter how good my life is, I know my purpose, it’s greater
than I am.”