UFC welterweight Themba Gorimbo sent an ominous warning to online trolls after earning a dominant, but uneventful decision win at the Apex last night.
UFC welterweight contender Themba ‘The Answer’ Gorimbo put on a clinic last night against Ramiz Brahimaj en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory on the main card of UFC Vegas 92.
Despite the performance not being his best in the octagon, Gorimbo certainly made good on his chance to tell the world what was on his mind, firing back at online trolls with one of the most poignant post-fight interviews in recent UFC memory.
Themba Gorimbo sends ominous threat to online trolls after harassment
Earlier in the week, Themba Gorimbo broke down in tears during the pre-fight press conference as he revealed that his wrestling coach’s mother had sadly passed away and that he was unable to spend time with her due to training Gorimbo for the UFC Vegas 92 fight.
Tragically, Gorimbo had personally asked his coach to stay with him in training camp for Brahimaj as they thought they’d have enough time to make it home, only to hear news of her passing in the hours before the press conference.
Whilst the vast majority of MMA fans understood the incredibly difficult situation that both Gorimbo and his team found themselves in, a small subsection of the community opted instead to troll and harass the welterweight for such a display of emotion.
Yet Gorimbo had ‘The Answer’ to the trolls, and put a poignant end to the online harassment with one of the most impactful post-fight speeches in recent UFC memory:
“When you see me cry, with all your judgy-judgy in the comments section and all that. Look at yourself in the mirror, death is going to visit you one day [and] sometimes unexpectedly.”
“Guess what, you’re going to have a problem because people like you that are online trolling me that I am crying? I robbed that man of his mother’s last moments – do you understand that?”
Gorimbo then stated that when he was just a young man, “someone robbed me of my father’s last moments and to this day, I have not forgiven that person,” before reiterating the fact that he’d experienced such an emotional fight week because of feelings of guilt:
“I robbed him of the last moments of his mother, that’s why I feel so guilty and that’s why I cried the way I cried.”
“I robbed him of his mother by changing his flight ticket to go back – he was supposed to go back on April 22, I said to him please can you stay for four more weeks, and we’ll go together.”
One of the most memorable post-fight interviews in recent UFC history will hopefully, see the online trolling of Gorimbo diminish over the next several weeks and months; and he’ll certainly have the full support of the wider fanbase whenever he next steps into the octagon.
With the victory at UFC Vegas 92, Gorimbo extends his winning streak to three and his professional record to 13-4.
MMA fans react to the emotional post-fight interview
It was hard not to feel yourself swell with emotions as Gorimbo laid down the law to online trolls and thankfully, the global MMA community has now rallied in support of the rising contender.
“Much respect to this man. Always has something profound to say. Glad he got all that out his chest and sorry for his/his teammate’s loss,” the top comment on the UFC YouTube channel’s video reads.
“Themba is a man of honor,” “very powerful speech,” “Tremendous human being,” and “one of the coldest post fight interviews I’ve ever seen [this] man gave death threats to all the keyboard heroes.”
“I enjoy how he speaks so eloquently. I can see why Lucas glazes, he’s a good character. I am looking forward to Gorimbo in the future.”
Despite the dominant victory, its lackluster nature meant Gorimbo didn’t win a post-fight bonus; instead, the extra $50,000 went to Khaos Williams and Angela Hill (POTN), with the main event of Lerone Murphy vs Edson Barboza earning FOTN.