Themba Gorimbo: From diamond smuggler to UFC fighter

By Alima Williams, CNN

Las Vegas (CNN) — Professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Themba Gorimbo is showing off his intense training routine on social media and grappling with world class wrestlers to elevate his skills after a devasting defeat in November. His life story is a testament to resilience and reinvention in the wake of extreme adversity.

In 2023, at 32-years-old, He made history when he became the first Zimbabwean to win an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout in the United States. But even his sporting success cannot lay to rest the memories of his painful childhood.

“I was in the diamond fields in Zimbabwe, smuggling diamonds, selling diamonds, getting beaten by police. You see, I’ve got dog marks all over my whole body. I’ve been bitten by dogs, almost died at the diamond fields,” Gorimbo told CNN’s Larry Madowo during an interview in Las Vegas.

He vividly remembers the day the military arrived. Gorimbo was 16. In October 2008, miners working at the Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe came under fire. The country’s military launched a brutal operation, dubbed “Hakudzokwe” or “no return,” to seize control of the fields and ban local miners.

“That was hard because, bro, even the brave guys like myself, I didn’t want to be there because you’d run, soldiers would chase you, and as this soldier gets tired, a new soldier is coming. And as these people are tired, the helicopters is … you know, bro, that was scary,” he recounts.

According to Human Rights Watch, over the course of three weeks, the military attack resulted in the deaths of more than 200 people. The Zimbabwean government denied its troops carried out killings in Marange.

A life of hardship

Gorimbo’s mother died when he was 9, and his father when he was 13, and he relied on the kindness of relatives to survive. But when economic hardship, just one of many the country experienced since 1992, hit Zimbabwe, even his extended family struggled. Successive droughts in 2002-2003 which fueled persistent hunger eventually drove him to the mines.

“There was a big drought in Zimbabwe. That was probably the hardest year that I can remember where food was, you eat one meal a day. So, what was the next available thing? The diamonds. God blessed us with the diamonds. It’s 40 minutes away from my village… you can take a ride and go and smuggle these diamonds and sell them and make money, and at least you have food every day. So, I went to the diamonds for this,” he said.

His survival instinct was so strong that even the military attack didn’t discourage him “I went back 10 days later, with my scars not healed,” Gorimbo recalled in a text to CNN.

Seeking a better life in South Africa

A few months after the military attack, as his wounds healed, Gorimbo left Zimbabwe in search of a better life. “I went to South Africa, got deported straight away. The same day, I went back … I almost got killed there the second time around. First time too, because first time we went through the river,” he explained.

Asked why he returned after being deported, he said, My parents died when I was very young … “what was I going to go back to Zimbabwe to do”?

But life in South Africa brought new challenges. Gorimbo was homeless, sometimes sleeping in a church with others who had entered the country illegally. After doing odd jobs, he found work as a gardener, making 80 rand — less than $5 a day. Some of that money, he says he sent back to family in Zimbabwe.

Turning a love for fighting into a career

A movie featuring mixed martial arts ignited Gorimbo’s passion for fighting. Inspired, he decided to try the sport, but getting proper training wasn’t cheap.

“I worked as a security guard, and I used my money from there to pay for gym memberships and to try to pay coaches to train me privately as well,” he said. Gorimbo said he was working a 17-hour shift at a grocery store in South Africa, and wasn’t making enough money to pay for private lessons, but he was determined to get the training he needed.

That determination paid off. In 2010, he became an amateur MMA fighter, turning professional three years later.

“The most important thing is the mind. I think if your mind is ready for everything, you can prepare physically, but if your mind is not ready, it’s not ready. And I’m a good fighter. I believe so. I’m not the best, but I make it work with what I have,” he said.

From South Africa to the UFC

In late 2022, Gorimbo arrived in the United States with little money, sleeping on a couch at the MMA Masters gym in Miami, Florida. Just months later, he made his UFC debut in February 2023, battling A.J. Fletcher, a fight he lost. He won his second bout against Takashi Sato in May 2023.

After his victory, he posted a screenshot of his bank account, revealing he had less than $8. “When I posted the $7.49 I did not have $7.49 anymore because my money was coming on Monday, you know, I was getting paid. I was happy, but I posted it as a way of just like, ‘you know what? You can be down and out, but if you stay positive, you can become anything and you can go up.’ And I did that just as a way to inspire people,” he explained.

Wrestler turned actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was so inspired by the revelation he surprised Gorimbo by buying him a house in Miami. The post resonated with Johnson who after being cut from the Canadian Football League in the 1990s, moved back home with only $7 in his pocket which fueled his drive to succeed in wrestling and movies. The two have stayed close.

“I’m blessed enough that, you know, the Rock picked me up … helping me and all the things that he does for me…. And behind the scenes… this guy supports me a lot,” Gorimbo says.

Aiming for the UFC championship

From the deadly diamond mines of Zimbabwe to the UFC octagon in Las Vegas, Gorimbo’s journey has been extraordinary. To date he has four wins and three losses in the UFC.

“My life is a movie. I believe it is pre-written by God; I just happen to be the main actor in it,” he told Madowo. And his role isn’t over yet. “I want to be a champion, and I believe I’m going to be a champion,” he said, adding that he hopes to get there by “praying, working hard, staying focused, staying grounded, focusing on positivity, focus(ing) on my family, … [and] be open-minded to learning new skills.”

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