{"id":104267,"date":"2026-06-04T07:02:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T07:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grizzliz.com\/media\/fighter\/themba-gorimbo\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T06:30:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T06:30:37","slug":"themba-gorimbo","status":"publish","type":"fighter_profile","link":"https:\/\/www.grizzliz.com\/media\/fighter\/themba-gorimbo\/","title":{"rendered":"Themba Gorimbo"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Themba Gorimbo : le premier Zimbabw\u00e9en \u00e0 gagner \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC, et le pote de The Rock<\/h2>\n<p>Quand Themba Gorimbo l\u00e2che apr\u00e8s une victoire qu&rsquo;il lui reste 7 dollars sur son compte, il ne joue pas le storytelling : c&rsquo;est sa vraie vie de combattant venu de Bikita, un coin rural du Masvingo au Zimbabwe. Cette phrase a fait le tour du monde, jusqu&rsquo;\u00e0 Dwayne \u00ab\u00a0The Rock\u00a0\u00bb Johnson, et a chang\u00e9 sa trajectoire. Mais avant le conte de f\u00e9es m\u00e9diatique, il y a un welterweight dur au mal qui a port\u00e9 son drapeau jusque dans l&rsquo;octogone.<\/p>\n<h3>Du Zimbabwe \u00e0 l&rsquo;octogone<\/h3>\n<p>N\u00e9 le 23 janvier 1991, Themba Takura Lawrence Gorimbo se forge en Afrique australe, \u00e0 la MMA Masters. Avant l&rsquo;UFC, il taille sa r\u00e9putation \u00e0 l&rsquo;EFC (Extreme Fighting Championship), la grande promotion africaine, o\u00f9 il d\u00e9croche puis d\u00e9fend le titre welterweight entre 2019 et 2020. C&rsquo;est ce parcours continental qui lui ouvre la porte de la plus grande organisation de la plan\u00e8te, qu&rsquo;il franchit le 18 f\u00e9vrier 2023.<\/p>\n<h3>Un passage UFC en dents de scie<\/h3>\n<p>Ses d\u00e9buts sont rudes : il chute d&rsquo;entr\u00e9e face \u00e0 A.J. Fletcher, soumis \u00e0 la guillotine au 2e round. Mais Gorimbo n&rsquo;a pas vol\u00e9 son surnom de \u00ab\u00a0The Answer\u00a0\u00bb \u2014 il a une r\u00e9ponse pour ses d\u00e9tracteurs. Il rebondit en battant Takashi Sato aux points le 20 mai 2023, puis encha\u00eene : Pete Rodriguez exp\u00e9di\u00e9 par TKO en 32 secondes le 3 f\u00e9vrier 2024, Ramiz Brahimaj et Niko Price battus aux points (18 mai et 12 octobre 2024). Quatre victoires qui font de lui le premier Zimbabw\u00e9en \u00e0 gagner un combat \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC.<\/p>\n<p>La marche d&rsquo;apr\u00e8s a \u00e9t\u00e9 trop haute. Le 7 d\u00e9cembre 2024 \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC 310, Vicente Luque le soumet en moins d&rsquo;une minute, \u00e9tranglement serr\u00e9 d\u00e8s le premier round. Puis deux d\u00e9faites aux points suivent : Jeremiah Wells le 2 novembre 2025, et Jonathan Micallef en d\u00e9cision partag\u00e9e le 2 mai 2026 \u00e0 Perth. Trois revers de suite qui le poussent \u00e0 annoncer sa retraite le 22 mai 2026, sur un bilan total de 14 victoires pour 7 d\u00e9faites.<\/p>\n<h3>Plus grand que le sport<\/h3>\n<p>L&rsquo;histoire avec The Rock n&rsquo;est pas qu&rsquo;une anecdote : Johnson, lui-m\u00eame fauch\u00e9 \u00e0 7 dollars apr\u00e8s avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 coup\u00e9 du football am\u00e9ricain, a \u00e9t\u00e9 touch\u00e9 et a aid\u00e9 Gorimbo, jusqu&rsquo;\u00e0 lui offrir une maison. Mais le Zimbabw\u00e9en a surtout rendu \u00e0 son village : il a lanc\u00e9 un projet de forage de puits \u00e0 Bikita pour donner acc\u00e8s \u00e0 l&rsquo;eau, avec le soutien d&rsquo;autres acteurs du MMA. En 2023, ce sont les World MMA Awards qui l&rsquo;ont r\u00e9compens\u00e9 du titre de \u00ab\u00a0Fighting Spirit of the Year\u00a0\u00bb. Un combattant dont on retient autant le cardio que le c\u0153ur.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sources-article\"><strong>Sources :<\/strong> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Themba_Gorimbo\">Wikipedia<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufc.com\/athlete\/themba-gorimbo\">UFC.com<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/fighter\/Themba-Gorimbo-117729\">Sherdog<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Themba Gorimbo, welterweight zimbabw\u00e9en et premier de son pays \u00e0 gagner \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC : record 14-7, ex-champion EFC, et l&rsquo;histoire vraie derri\u00e8re The Rock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":101698,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"fighter_category":[],"fighter_tag":[],"class_list":["post-104267","fighter_profile","type-fighter_profile","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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