Rumored UFC Signee Eyes “Fake African” Kamaru Usman

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Themba Gorimbo sees UFC gold in his future.

Written by Dillon Louw (@TheMMA_Arsenal) —June 11th 2020


Themba “The Answer” Gorimbo is a 28-year-old submission specialist, now (9–2–0) in his MMA career. He is currently the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) welterweight champion.

Gorimbo’s long limbs give him an edge over most of his opponents when attacking for submissions. He is a very aggressive guard player, so although you might take him down, it does not mean you are safe once you get him there. He holds submission wins via armbar, guillotine, D’Arce choke, and triangle choke. In all, Gorimbo has 6 professional wins by submission and 2 by way of T/KO.

Despite being known for his submissions, Gorimbo is a technical striker, with most of his success attributed to his excellent control of range. Additionally, he has an unorthodox style of movement making it difficult for opponents to read him.

The Zimbabwean co-owns and trains out of the Ultimate MMA Fitness gym in Johannesburg, South-Africa. He has gone on record to say he would like to fight Usman for the belt in ‘the mother city’ of Cape Town. Gorimbo believes he will beat Usman and become the first UFC champion who lives and trains out of Africa.

The Zimbabwean native, notorious in South Africa for his career inside the cage, also has an inspiring story rooted in humble beginnings.

“The Answer” is an extremely hard working and highly motivated athlete, although things have not come easy. Gorimbo had to suffer extreme hardships while growing up in his native Zimbabwe, losing his mother at the age of 9 and his father by the time he was 13. These childhood tragedies lead Themba to earn a living through illegal diamond panning.

Ultimately, Themba knew there would be more opportunities for him to make a success of his life by crossing the border into South-Africa. The future champion did so at the age of 17, living on the streets before reaching his family in Cape Town.

While in Cape Town, Themba worked as a gardener, painter and security guard to make ends meet. Almost ironically, he discovered MMA through the film Never Back Down. 3 months later, he won his first fight against an opponent 15 lbs. heavier than him in 7 seconds with an overhand right. Since then, Gorimbo has been tearing through the EFC amassing a (9–2–0) MMA record and becoming the organization’s welterweight champion in the process.

Despite his challenging life story, Themba does not want pity, but rather, to show that he deserves to be where he is.

“It’s something that I don’t really enjoy talking about because I’m at a point in my life where I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. It is life, it happened and it’s something that I can’t control,” Gorimbo professed.

“The Answer” is an extremely hard working and highly motivated athlete, although things have not come easy. Gorimbo had to suffer extreme hardships while growing up in his native Zimbabwe, losing his mother at the age of 9 and his father by the time he was 13. These childhood tragedies lead Themba to earn a living through illegal diamond panning.

Ultimately, Themba knew there would be more opportunities for him to make a success of his life by crossing the border into South-Africa. The future champion did so at the age of 17, living on the streets before reaching his family in Cape Town.

While in Cape Town, Themba worked as a gardener, painter and security guard to make ends meet. Almost ironically, he discovered MMA through the film Never Back Down. 3 months later, he won his first fight against an opponent 15 lbs. heavier than him in 7 seconds with an overhand right. Since then, Gorimbo has been tearing through the EFC amassing a (9–2–0) MMA record and becoming the organization’s welterweight champion in the process.

Despite his challenging life story, Themba does not want pity, but rather, to show that he deserves to be where he is.

“It’s something that I don’t really enjoy talking about because I’m at a point in my life where I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. It is life, it happened and it’s something that I can’t control.”

(Photo by Getty/UFC)

Catching headlines, “The Answer” took a dig at current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who immigrated to the USA with his family when he was 8 years old. According to Gorimbo, this means Usman isn’t a true African, and can’t represent Africa in the UFC welterweight division.

Gorimbo explained:

“Mixed martial arts is already big here in Africa. It could be bigger. For the sport to grow here in Africa, it needs an African who lives and trains here in Africa to go all the way and become a UFC champion. There’s room for that and there’s an opportunity to make history, so why not go for it?”

(Photo by EFC Worldwide)

Having won the EFC welterweight title by TKO in the first round and consequently being named 2019 Zimbabwean Sports Person of the Year, it was reported that one more win in the EFC would lead to the long-awaited call from the UFC.

The submission specialist has since gone on to defend that belt. Gorimbo believes his work in the EFC is done and that he now has bigger fish to fry. He has also signed with First Round Management, a group which manages some of the best fighters in the world including Jon Jones, Jorge Masvidal and Yoel Romero. It is heavily rumoured that Gorimbo has signed the contract and that his next outing will be in the UFC octagon.

Inspired by the ‘mamba mentality’ of the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant, Themba Gorimbo firmly believes he will take the world by storm as soon as the opportunity presents itself. A hard working fighter with such an inspiring story excites us for what the future might hold. It will be interesting to see how the Zimbabwean prospect fares against the best in the world.


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