Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson could have his eyes on UFC 316, as the man who ran through one of his favorite fighters returns to action.
MMA’s top promotion has its next pay-per-view on Saturday night, with UFC 316 taking place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The UFC’s last visit to the venue ended in memorable fashion when Islam Makhachev submitted Dustin Poirier in round five. Tasked with living up to that is the bantamweight title rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.
‘The Machine’ and ‘Sugar’ will, of course, have some help in making the June 7 event a blockbuster one, including from a main card fighter whose last outing ended in rapid fashion.
The Rock-backed Themba Gorimbo lasted 52 seconds against UFC 316’s Vicente Luque
The UFC 316 PPV card will open with a welterweight showdown between Vicente Luque and Kevin Holland that is expected to produce entertainment.
That was certainly the case in Luque’s last outing, which came at the year-ending UFC 310 event in December 2024.
After a knockout loss to Joaquin Buckley, ‘The Silent Assassin’ was made to defend his ranking against the rising Themba Gorimbo. The Zimbabwean had gained mainstream attention due to his connection with ‘The Rock’.
But his plan to climb the ladder at 170 pounds was brutally ended, as Luque choked Gorimbo out in just 52 seconds with an anaconda choke.
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‘The Rock’ surprised Themba Gorimbo with a house after hearing his story
Before running into the elite jiu-jitsu game of Luque, Gorimbo had been on an impressive winning streak in the UFC, winning four fights consecutively.
The first victory on that run came over Takashi Sato, and the Zimbabwean fighter’s interview in the aftermath caught the attention of ‘The Rock’.
Gorimbo revealed he had just $7 in his bank account before his first UFC win after traveling to live in America several weeks earlier. Without a home, ‘The Answer’ had slept in the corner of his gym.
Once Johnson became aware of Gorimbo’s story and situation, he surprised the UFC welterweight fighter with a fully paid for house in Miami.
Johnson was inspired by Gorimbo’s story, having once had only $7 in his bank account too. That eventually led to his company being named Seven Bucks Productions.
During a video posted to Johnson’s YouTube channel, a tearful Gorimbo thanked the Hollywood star and outlined his plan to use the gift to continue helping his village back in Zimbabwe.