Does Mark Zuckerberg want to fight in the UFC?

Mark Zuckerberg and the UFC do not seem like a natural pairing. The Meta CEO and founder, a gangly and scrappy-looking fellow, is not immediately one to strike you as physically apt, but Zuckerberg’s fascination with mixed martial arts has been well-documented over the years.

As it turns out, though, Zuckerberg is more physically capable than meets the eye, and his fascination with the Ultimate Fighting Championship is not just a whim. At one point, he was even willing to accept a fighting challenge from rival billionaire Elon Musk to a cage fight, after Musk teased Zuckerberg about his fighting skills.

Zuckerberg had just revealed on social media that he had been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with a host of prominent fighters, and Tesla’s boss immediately decided to up the stakes by issuing his own challenge, adding that he would fight Meta’s boss "any time, any place, any rules." The fight, though, never took place.

What to Know about Zuckerberg and the UFC

• Mark Zuckerberg developed a deep interest in mixed martial arts around 2022, training seriously with professional coaches.
• He has been attending UFC events as a front-row guest since at least 2022, even supposedly booking out an entire UFC Apex event that year, drawing fan and media attention.
• In May 2023, Zuckerberg won his first jiu-jitsu tournament, earning gold and silver medals in the no-gi and gi divisions, respectively.
• Elon Musk proposed a "cage fight" with Zuckerberg in June 2023, posting the challenge on X (formerly Twitter).
• Zuckerberg accepted and began preparations, but publicly withdrew from the idea in August 2023, stating that Musk was not serious and kept dodging firm plans.
• In late 2023, Zuckerberg tore his anterior cruciate ligament during MMA sparring while training for a potential debut fight.
• In early 2024, he responded to a fan on Threads, saying he was still interested in fighting in the UFC but needed to wait for his knee to fully recover.
• In February 2024, Zuckerberg appeared at UFC 298 as part of Alexander Volkanovski’s inner circle, shortly after undergoing knee surgery.
• On April 13, 2024, Zuckerberg attended UFC 300, where Max Holloway KO’d Justin Gaethje in the final seconds of the bout, prompting a viral reaction from the Meta boss

Is Mark Zuckerberg going to fight in the UFC?

Yes, it’s likely. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg was close to making it happen if not for an unfortunate knee injury that delayed his plans. Mark Zuckerberg is more athletic than his looks immediately suggest. This has to do with two things: he is passionate about combat sports, and he has been methodical in his training routine.

An amateur jiu-jitsu practitioner who has participated in several tournaments already, Zuckerberg has been slowly building the mental fortitude and physical prowess to actually last in a confrontation.

Zuckerberg burnished his fighter credentials at a local BJJ tournament in Redwood City, California, where he competed under the Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu team, coached by Dave Camarillo, and won a gold and a silver medal in the gi and no-gi categories.

All of this puts him in a strong position should he decide to transition to a full-blown UFC fight. The rules of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, however, are very different than an almost gentlemanly jiu-jitsu by comparison. Nevertheless, Zuckerberg is keeping good company. He has been photographed in the company of UFC legends Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski.

The UFC is a modern-day gladiator sport with very few limitations on how far your opponent can go to physically subjugate you, and this is not a position someone wants to be in, unless they have spent a very long time preparing for it, and even then, the motivation that Zuckerberg would need to last in an octagon fight (this is the traditional shape of the ring used in the UFC) is hard to achieve in an average person.

In 2024, Zuckerberg replied to a Threads user by the handle of @probity, that he was waiting for his knee to fully recover, but wanted to do it. The injury that Zuckerberg was referring to was not suffered during a UFC brawl, but it came close.

During a sparring session in 2023, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and had to undergo surgery. He was actually supposed to have an early professional MMA fight in 2024, but had postponed the event since. As of 2025, Zuckerberg is still in recovery and has not confirmed any fight dates yet.

Mark Zuckerberg at the UFC Already

Just because Zuckerberg cannot square up, though, hasn’t stopped him from showing up at UFC events - sometimes incognito, and sometimes rooting for one of the fighters and bang in the middle of the octagon, milling about with the rest of the support crew.

His passion for UFC became apparent in 2022 when he attended UFC Vegas 61 – or as it is known, UFC Fight: Dern vs Yan- when he attended the exclusive event, which was closed to the public and members of the media.

Speculation quickly built up that Zuckerberg had asked for the entire venue for himself, and paid Dana White, the UFC’s boss. White, for his part, denied this and said that Zuckerberg was his guest. This was the very first time the world became aware that Zuckerberg had an interest in mixed martial arts. He has been attending events alongside his wife, Priscilla Chan.

Another such anecdote was Zuckerberg’s appearance at the UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria, where Zuckerberg was seen wearing Volkanovski’s team's tracksuit and was visibly in his inner circle for the night (the man walked out with Volkanovski - not too subtle of a hint). That was shortly after Zuck’s knee surgery, too. Unfortunately, Volkanovski was defeated during that fight by Topuria, who KO’d him in the second round, but the fact is, Meta’s boss was there to take in the action up close and personal.

On April 13, 2024, Mark Zuckerberg attended UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill. One specific fight on the card caught everyone’s attention: Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje. The bout was intense, with both fighters going the distance, but in the final seconds of the last round, Holloway managed to knock out Gaethje to a roar of excitement from the crowd.

Zuckerberg was caught on camera clasping his head, mouth agape, visibly incredulous at what had just happened. His spontaneous and genuine reaction was praised by UFC fans and widely covered in the media.

In March 2025, Zuckerberg also attended UFC 313: Pereira vs Ankalaev and shared an Instagram post in which he spoke about the great time he had time, and about the opportunity he had enjoyed seeing some of his favorite fighters in person.

UFC 313 was interesting for another reason, too. The event was attended by Gaethje, who had participated and won his fight.

In the backroom, Gaethje met with Zuckerberg and gave the man a friendly embrace across the shoulder and neck.

In a short exchange, Gaethje asked Zuckerberg if he had been to one of his live events, to which Zuckerberg simply replied that he had, and a moment later tested the waters by adding:

"Yeah, this one turned better than the last one," to which Gaethje laughed and said, "I agree."

Visiting UFC 313 and hosting a private poker session at Wynn Las Vegas

What else is interesting about Zuckerberg’s attendance at UFC 313 as a spectator is that he decided to have a bit of a party on the weekend. The whole business with people searching for Zuckerberg and Wynn Las Vegas has to do with the fact that following the event, he booked a room at the resort and hosted a private poker session.

So, what’s up with Zuckerberg fighting Elon Musk?

This is already in the past, but a quick recap may be worthwhile. So, the thing with Zuckerberg and Musk is that they have been rivals in their businesses. Although Musk has been far more focused on hard scientific endeavor, sending rockets into outer space and electrifying the automotive industry, the two have clashed over social media assets.

Notably, Zuckerberg launched his response to X (previously Twitter) called Threads on June 5, 2023. By June 21, 2023, Musk, in his characteristic Internet-spiked vernacular, had responded that he would be down for a cage fight if Zuckerberg was willing.

Zuckerberg drew on UFC lore, citing Khabib Nurmagomedov, a living UFC legend, and simply said: "Send me location." Speculation was, of course, ripe, and in August, a new exchange between the two tech moguls was shared by Musk, as well as covered by various media outlets.

Musk offered Zuckerberg to spar at his place, i.e., Zuckerberg’s, on short notice, but the Meta boss responded that Musk should train on his own and come forward when he was ready to host an official bout between the two, adding that it should happen soon.

It is not clear what happened after that moment. Musk responded that he would be at Palo Alto and again suggested fighting unofficially as part of a training session, but it’s not clear if Zuckerberg responded. It was on that day that Zuckerberg said that it was time to move on and that he had lost interest in fighting Musk altogether, suggesting that his rival was not serious.

Mark Zuckerberg, the UFC, and Meta’s Partnership

Besides Zuckerberg’s professed love for combat sports and his idea of entering the octagon himself, the billionaire’s flagship company, Meta, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have already thickened their ties on several occasions.

In 2022, the pair said that they would collaborate to introduce MMA events to Meta’s then freshly announced virtual reality. The relationship grew over the years, with UFC picking Meta to be the championship’s first Official Fan Technology Partner, designated to enhance the fan experience and elicit stronger engagement and retention.

The Meta-slash-UFC partnership also features on-site activations, and the former’s branding at live UFC events as well as digital channels. Before that, on January 6, 2025, Dana White was confirmed as a Non-executive Director at the Board of Directors at Meta. This was largely seen by critics as a way for Zuckerberg to signal rapprochement with the Trump administration through a common friend.

Zuckerberg in the UFC: A Fight Waiting to Happen

Mark Zuckerberg has proven himself to be a huge MMA aficionado, and his frequent appearances at the UFC, along with his formal training towards a debut fight, all suggest that he is willing to give the idea a go. However, Zuckerberg is 40 years old as of the time of writing, and despite his youthful disposition, there are clear risks to participating in combat sports at that age.

On the flipside, Zuckerberg is hardly looking to go the distance or have a full-blown fight with someone who makes a living as a fighter. Rather, he would probably not mind the validation that comes with entering the octagon, and the thrill and excitement of competing.

In a word, Zuckerberg will probably fight in the UFC at one point, and if not, he has plenty of other combat-related plans to advance. He is already competing in jiu-jitsu, and he has hinted at MMA events already. Even if we don’t see Zuckerberg in the octagon, there is nothing to suggest that he will be slowing down his combat roll any time soon.