About a couple of years ago, a UFC fighter named Themba Gorimbo had $7 to his name and lived out of a gym. His story went viral when Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson met up with him and bought him a house. As it turns out, that gesture wasn’t all for the cameras. The Hollywood A-lister even went out of his way to help the African fighter’s family move in with him in the United States as he pursues his dreams of becoming a UFC champion.
In an interview with Parry Punch on YouTube, he spoke about how Johnson helped his family and him live their dreams.
“It’s a blessing bro DJ is the man…My family is in America now, my kids play Tennis….It’s been my dream for my daughter’s to play Tennis”
Gorimbo’s story is similar to that of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Much like the former UFC champion, Gorimbo had a rough upbringing and had to drop out of school at 16. But while Ngannou went to work in sand mines, Gorimbo had to make a living working in diamond mines.
I was very lucky in the Marange diamond fields because you are chased by dogs and horses, by the police and the army. I’ve seen people die in front of me at a very young age. I almost got killed by the German shepherds and I’ve got scars all over my body.
To add to his agony, he had also lost both his parents very early in life. In an interview with The Guardian, he says,
“My father was working at the hospital as the breadwinner for the entire family. But my mother died when I was nine and my father died when I was 13. Life went south from there and we had to move to the rural areas.”
He then fled from the civil unrest in Zimbabwe and found a new home in South Africa where he discovered Mixed Martial Arts and fell in love with the sport. Gorimbo was 17 at the time. He soon moved to the US and joined the UFC.
During a post-match presser, he told reporters the story of his actual bank balance before he made his UFC debut.
Zimbabwean MMA Fighter, Themba Gorimbo only had $7.49 before he made his UFC debut.
Dwayne Johnson has promised to help him. pic.twitter.com/KmERYOCaDU
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) June 14, 2023
This is when Gorimbo was approached by The Rock and as mentioned before, it changed his life completely.
Gorimbo’s promise to The Rock
Gorimbo and Johnson first became acquaintances over Twitter. But ‘The Rock’ then decided to surprise him under the guise of a ‘Project Rock’ video shoot. Gorimbo was so overwhelmed to see Johnson standing in front of him that he actually broke down.
As Johnson embraced him, Gorimbo made him a promise.
“You inspired me to work hard man thank you. No, I will become a champion, trust me, believe me…I work so hard.”
Dwayne Johnson then went on to talk about how he could relate to Gorimbo because he was also at a point in life where he had $7 to his name living in Miami trying to make a name for himself.
Of course, now Gorimbo is in a position where he can prepare himself to be the champion someday. But first, he must get into the top 15 rankings. With 4 wins in his last 5 fights, he is definitely on his way there.
