I’m a UFC star who only had $7 in the bank when I won the fight – I refused to spend the winnings on myself and bought well instead
UFC newcomer Themba Gorimbo is a vicious man in the octagon and one of the nicest outside.
The 32-year-old Zimbabwe-born mixed martial artist clinched his first UFC victory in May and donated the winnings to his country’s clean water fund.
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Gorimbo earned his first win in the organization after defeating Takashi Sato via UD in Las Vegas.
After this fight, Gorimbo revealed that he only had $7 in his bank account before his fight with Sato.
He also shared that he sleeps on the couch at the gym where he works out.
However, with the win he was able to sell his trucks and gloves from the fight and made $7,000 – but he had no interest in keeping them.
Instead, he sent the money back to his home village in Zimbabwe and built a bush pump to bring clean water to everyone.
WWE Legend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson found out about the story and reached out to him on social media.
The Rock shared a video on Thursday in which he surprised Gorimbo and expressed that the moment was special.
He captioned the post, which shared Gorimbo’s story: “We’ve never met but I had to fly to Miami to look this man in the eye and hug him and shake his hand. His story moved and motivated me.”
The Rock continued, stressing, “He never asked me for anything but I just wanted to help the guy. 7 dollars, you know.”
“And I felt the MANA and the emotion in every hug. Very beautiful and very special day.”
Gorimbo shared a message on Twitter in response to his meeting with The Rock on Friday.
“My brother, words cannot describe how I feel. You changed our lives forever.”
“I will use this motivation at every step.”
Gorimbo’s career record in MMA is 11-4 – prior to the UFC he fought in multiple organizations including Fury FC.
He’s tied 1-1 in the UFC with one decision win and one loss by assist.
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