EXCLUSIVE: Themba Gorimbo set to make his UFC debut in December

Themba Gorimbo wants to become the first African-based UFC champion. Photo: EFCWorldwide.

Themba Gorimbo wants to become the first African-based UFC champion. Photo: EFCWorldwide.

Published Sep 22, 2022

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Zimbabwe’s Themba Gorimbo is set to make his first Ultimate Fighting Championship walk this coming December.

After recently signing with the UFC, the South African-based star confirmed to IOL Sport that his Octagon debut falls on one of three December dates, either the 3rd, the 10th or the 17th, however, cannot confirm the exact event just yet.

The scheduled UFC events for December 2022 include UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Hermansson (Amway Center, Orlando Florida, USA) on December 3rd, UFC 282: Prochazka vs Teixeira 2 (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) on December 10th and UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Strickland at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It is likely that Gorimbo’s fight will take place at his current weight class, Welterweight, however, Independent Media cannot confirm who his opponent is just yet.

The former Extreme Fighting Championship Welterweight king, Gorimbo (10-3) is only the second Zimbabwean to ever sign with the UFC following Mike Mathetha (3-2), however, Mathetha plies his trade via New Zealand, training with the likes of UFC Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya (23-1-0). With that said, Gorimbo aims to become the first Zimbabwean and African UFC champion fighting out of Africa with the goal of inspiring millions of Africans who are not of the belief that they can chase their dreams.

“The people I do it for are those people who come from where I come from, or at least a similar background,” says Gorimbo who last fought in the USA-based Fury Fighting Championship where he earned a unanimous decision win over Brazil’s Julio Rodrigues (13-7) in June.

“If you are black (I am not being racist), poor, orphaned and someone with no hope, well then I want my success to speak to and encourage you,” says Gorimbo who grew up without his biological parents in Masvingo, Zimbabwe before coming to South Africa in search of a better life.

“If you are white, great, but you know … but there’s levels to poverty and struggle. I do hope I can inspire all races, that is the truth. But at the end of the day, I need to inspire those who can relate to me. It’s easy to be inspired by someone you can relate to. My success will motivate other black athletes more as I will be more relatable to them, because we come from the same situation and background. They will see this guy, a black athlete who was an orphan, who was poor and who had no hope, and they will say to themselves, ‘hey, if this guy can do it, then I can too!’”

“A black athlete who comes from nothing won’t easily be inspired by someone who has it all, or by someone whose father has a company that sells trucks, for example, so they can’t really relate. Most of these athletes from Africa will be able to relate to my story!” added Gorimbo.

Gorimbo forms part of a UFC-signed contingent of Southern-African athletes that include Dricus du Plessis, Cameron Saaiman and JP Buys, however, only Gorimbo, Du Plessis and Saaiman are fighting out of South Africa.

IOL Sport and MzansiMMA sat down with Gorimbo in a long and intense discussion about how grew up and the challenges he faced, check out the video embedded in this article.

@JulianKiewietz

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