JAYSON KARAN
The Zimbabwean cage fighter, Themba Gorimbo says he will pick himself up and come back stronger after he lost his debut fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Las Vegas in United States of America.
Gorimbo who lost to America’s Ashton Fletcher, lost in second round of the fight leaving his record with seven wins and 4 losses.
Gorimbo wet down in the second round of the fight despite giving the fans a good show in the fight round, as he threw a lot of good shots on his opponent.
Gorimbo was able to use his gigantic 10-inch reach advantage in the early, landing some good shots, but Fletcher quickly closed the gap. After a reversal off his back Fletcher was able to gain top control and land some hard elbows on Gorimbo. The UFC newcomer survived to see the second round, but when he shot in for a take-down early in the frame Fletcher locked up the guillotine choke and spoiled his UFC debut.
Losing to Fletcher is a setback for Gorimbo who signed for UFC in August last year after his unanimous decision win against Brazilian Julio Rodrigues in a Fury Fighting Championship in the USA. The former EFC welterweight champion will get two chances to redeem himself and should he lose three consecutive UFC matches, he will be kicked out.
With this sad defeat in front of more than a million viewers on his debut match, Gorimbo promised everyone to come back stronger than before and not to disappoint them again.
“It is true that I have failed on this attempt and it really does hurt. I am really disappointed in myself. I know I can do better and will do better. Not sure why but I believe God knows why and I will find out,” wrote Gorimbo on his Instagram.
“With this defeat I am going to fix myself and each and every mistake I have done during the fight so that I will not repeat them. I promise you my fans that I’m going to come back stronger and better version of myself,” added the cage fighter.
“I want to thank everyone for supporting me and @ufc for giving me the opportunity to work with them, but I want to be a champion and I must do myself justice and make things right,” wrote Gorimbo on his Instagram.
Themba Gorimbo is now the second UFC Zimbabwean Fighter after Mike Mathetha who is now based in New Zealand.