{"id":88904,"date":"2023-12-26T21:21:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-26T19:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward"},"modified":"2023-12-27T01:12:42","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T23:12:42","slug":"after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward","title":{"rendered":"After The Rock changed his life, UFC fighter Themba Gorimbo determined to pay \u2018head start\u2019 forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Many of Themba Gorimbo\u2019s dreams have been achieved and replaced with new aspirations of helping others live out theirs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long road for Gorimbo. Despite life\u2019s difficulties, he wouldn\u2019t change a thing. His path led him to success, UFC notoriety, and a friendship with Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson. Rather than bask in the comfort, Gorimbo has made it his mission to pay the kindness forward, helping Africans build clean drinking wells.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople would think that I\u2019m not grateful for the path that I walked,\u201d Gorimbo recently told MMA Junkie on the red carpet before the 15th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful for the path that I\u2019ve walked and everything that\u2019s led to be here right now. Whatever happened that led me to be broke on that day, it was a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gorimbo was in attendance at the awards show at Sahara Theater, where he won the Fighting Spirit Award for his charitable efforts. He later received a $10,000 donation from UFC star Dustin Poirier, an athlete known for giving back to the community himself.Life is good for Gorimbo, but he keeps with him the memories of when times were tough. Gorimbo once told reporters before a fight that he only had seven dollars to his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won the fight and I shared my story because it was still a win for me,\u201d Gorimbo said. \u201cI wanted to inspire people. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about at the end of the day, inspiring people, for me, especially the kids from Africa that come from the same background that I come from, that were orphaned at a very young age, that didn\u2019t have rich parents, that didn\u2019t have parents, that didn\u2019t have the degree, that didn\u2019t have anything to go (do) what\u2019s called the norm in Africa. You have to get a degree. You have a degree and get a job. That\u2019s called the norm there. That\u2019s what\u2019s called success there. I want to give hope to those kind of kids because you cannot be good at everything. Maybe some are good at fighting, which is in part because of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story attracted the eyeballs of Johnson, who later surprised Gorimbo with an in-person visit and a new house. The emotional sequence was recorded and produced for a video that shortly thereafter went viral.<\/p>\n

Gorimbo and \u201cThe Rock\u201d still communicate, inspiring each other through their chats. The experience has resulted in new goals for Gorimbo who is determined to improve the lives of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI speak to DJ often,\u201d Gorimbo said. \u201cEvery time I speak to him, sometimes, he\u2019s a late night guy. He\u2019ll message me in the middle of the night sometimes. It\u2019s tricky because I want to go and train straight away because of the energy he gives me every time he messages me or calls me or whatever. I feel very energized because I know I have to make him proud. He\u2019s already proud of what I\u2019ve done or what I do. That\u2019s just that extra energy that he gives me every time he messages me. and the support he has given me.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has given me a head start in the United States of America, which is a great country. My dream is to give somebody a head start in America from Africa. Until I achieve that, I\u2019m not done.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Many of Themba Gorimbo\u2019s dreams have been achieved and replaced with new aspirations of helping others live out theirs. It\u2019s been a long road for Gorimbo. Despite life\u2019s difficulties, he wouldn\u2019t change a thing. His path led him to success, UFC notoriety, and a friendship with Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson. Rather than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":88903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":["post-88904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter The Rock changed his life, UFC fighter Themba Gorimbo determined to pay \u2018head start\u2019 forward - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many of Themba Gorimbo\u2019s dreams have been achieved and replaced with new aspirations of helping others live out theirs. ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After The Rock changed his life, UFC fighter Themba Gorimbo determined to pay \u2018head start\u2019 forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of Themba Gorimbo\u2019s dreams have been achieved and replaced with new aspirations of helping others live out theirs. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-26T19:21:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-26T23:12:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/sm_1703615841.347575.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"After The Rock changed his life, UFC fighter Themba Gorimbo determined to pay \u2018head start\u2019 forward\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-26T19:21:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-26T23:12:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward\"},\"wordCount\":612,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/12\/sm_1703615841.347575.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zimbabwe\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/after-the-rock-changed-his-life-ufc-fighter-themba-gorimbo-determined-to-pay-head-start-forward\",\"name\":\"After The Rock changed his life, UFC fighter Themba Gorimbo determined to pay \u2018head start\u2019 forward - 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