Mark Zuckerberg offered a spot in new UFC tournament
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already conquered the tech world. Now, he's been invited to compete in an Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament.
The billionaire, who is a trained martial artist, has been invited by UFC President and CEO Dana White to put his skills to the test and fight in the newly launched UFC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu division. The two influential figures have previously partnered to integrate Meta's virtual reality and artificial intelligence products to stream fights and reach a wider audience. White also joined Meta's Board of Directors earlier this year.
'We talk a lot about fighting, obviously,' White told TMZ Sports of his relationship with Zuckerberg on Monday, June 23, just ahead of the first-ever UFC BJJ event on Wednesday, June 25. 'If Mark keeps training and competing, he could literally come here and fight in UFC BJJ. 100%.'
Not only is Zuckerberg a known UFC fan, having been spotted at several recent events, he has also trained with renowned fighters such as former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former champion Max Holloway. He competed in his first BJJ tournament at Woodside High School in Silicon Valley two years ago, winning gold and silver medals.
The UFC's BJJ promotion follows a 10-point scoring system, composed of three five-minute rounds. White also hinted at several other public figures potentially competing in UFC BJJ events in the future.
'Tom Hardy, Mario Lopez, and many, many other actors that are really good jiu-jitsu guys that nobody knows about,' he said, adding that by involving celebrities in the mix, he hopes to elevate BJJ the way he has with Mixed Martial Arts.
'If you know anything about jiu-jitsu, there's tons of tournaments that go on all over the world. There's big ones, there's real money involved,' he said. 'You can come fight the best at the UFC and win a world title. You'll be a world champion, everybody will be ranked, and put some structure to it.'
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