Haters gonna hate, but it hurts a lot more when those haters are family.
UFC welterweight Themba Gorimbo has an inspiring story. The Zimbabwean fighter escaped the blood diamond mines, clawed his way up the MMA rankings in South Africa and now hopes to do the same in the UFC — with the support of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Prior to a quick one-minute loss to Vicente Luque at UFC 310 he was on a nice four fight streak.
But not everyone was happy to see Gorimbo’s success. According to Gorimbo on the Pivot Podcast, he learned that some cousins from his family were celebrating his defeat.
“When I go online, one of my cousins, he messaged me the day after I lost this last fight,” Gorimbo said. “Some of my cousins were celebrating my loss. They were all celebrating my loss. And he sent me a video of them in a place where we were 15 years ago, this small circle in Danone where it’s a slum. And these cousins of mine were celebrating my loss.”
“Do you know how much that eats you? Because all I do is try to do better for everybody. I might not directly help you, but maybe I want to build a well for the community. Then one person gets angry, ‘Why did you build the well close to this guy’s house and not this person’s house?’
“People will message me and say, ‘Can you give me $5000.’ Where will I get [that]? People think that I’m in the UFC and I’m a millionaire. I’m not! Maybe one day I will be. But it’s the reality that I’m not and I cannot afford to do that. Now imagine if you have 20 people coming to you and saying the same stuff.”
This isn’t the first time Gorimbo has opened up about the lack of support from his home country. After losing his debut UFC fight, he said “When I got home, everybody [looked at me] like a guy that was smelling like s—t … some of them are called my friends, even my own brother, man.”
In another interview he talked about being broke because of a gym he runs in South Africa.
“Everybody is just taking, taking, taking,” he said. “I’m putting, putting, putting, you know?”
Maybe it’s all these comments that have his hometown feeling less love for Themba than they should? It’s hard to know what’s up from one man’s view. If they’ve been like this since day one, it’s time for Gorimbo to get a new phone number and stay off WhatsApp. No one needs this crabs in a bucket bulls—.
But when everyone feels like a taker, maybe it’s your own perspective that needs a shift.
