From Facebooking to face-punching
Instagram / Zuck © Instagram
One of the world’s wealthiest men Mark Zuckerberg showed that he certainly isn’t one to be trifled with after the Facebook founder released a clip online showing the progress he has made in the MMA training room.
Zuckerberg, whose list of business assets includes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, all of which fall under the umbrella of his ‘Meta’ technology conglomerate, began training in mixed martial arts during the Covid-19 pandemic – and unlike some other business magnates who might take up the sport to pad their egos, it actually appears that Zuckerberg possesses some decent skills, at least judging by the brief video he released to social media.
Zuckerberg, 38, has previously stated that he finds the ‘primal’ nature of the sport very appealing, and that he has recruited several of his friends to join him in his voyage into the sport.
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“From the very first session that I did, like five minutes in, I was like, ‘Where has this been my whole life?‘” he said on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast last month.
“Alright, my mom made me do three varsity sports and my life took a wrong turn when I chose to do fencing competitively instead of wrestling in high school or something.”
And it certainly seems like Zuckerberg is intent to make up for lost time as he released the video of him training alongside pro fighter Khai Wu.
“One of my training partners, [Khai Wu], is making his [UFC Fight Pass] debut tonight,” Zuckerberg wrote on Friday.
“Go get it Khai and looking forward to a great fight!”
Is this real? For someone as wealthy as him and a total nerd this is solid https://t.co/eS7JvABbYP
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) September 3, 2022
holy shit it’s actually happening pic.twitter.com/YCbZv8D4mr
— Stanky (@stankymma) September 3, 2022
Zuckerberg’s form was lauded by several pro fighters, not least of which was UFC superstar Conor McGregor who wrote: “Yo!!! F***ing awesome Mark!”
UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling added: “This is really amazing to see! Idk, UFC debut might be coming soon for you too!”
While UFC welterweight buzzsaw Matt Brown, the owner of the most dangerous elbow in the sport, also couldn’t hide quite how impressed he was.
“Is this real?” wrote ‘The Immortal’. “For someone as wealthy as him and a total nerd this is solid.”
However, if Zuckerberg is looking for someone to test his skills on, he might need not look any further than English star Paddy Pimblett who has previously hit at out the Facebook CEO for disabling his social media accounts.
“But who I’d want to fight? Mark Zuckerberg,” Pimblett said after his UFC London win earlier this year. “Mark Zuckerberg, lad I’m going to punch your head in. I’m sick of you, lad.”
And unfortunately for Zuckerberg’s training partner Khai Wu, his Friday night didn’t quite go as intended as he was defeated by unanimous decision by Joshua Dillon on the main card of Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 5, which was broadcast live on the UFC’s streaming service, Fight Pass.
