Dana White Confirms Mark Zuckerberg's UFC Interest

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UFC Fight Night: Dern v Yan
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 01: Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook/Meta, poses with UFC president Dana White during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 01, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Zuckerberg is serious about stepping into a pro octagon.

The fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg may be dead, but that doesn't mean we're done with the billionaire MMA. Dana White has confirmed that Mark Zuckerberg is indeed serious considering making his debut under the UFC promotion. "He and I talk multiple times a week," White said of Zuckerberg. "And we had dinner last Monday. He's very serious about competing. And when he mentioned it, he said -- listen -- what he was saying in response to Elon was there are tons of professional organizations out there and this is the way this should be done, not in some backyard or whatever Elon was saying." White, who was speaking with TMZ, explained that Zuckerberg was put off after it became clear that Elon was trying to avoid a formal fight and was looking for something more amateur.

But now, Zuck's eyeing the UFC. "I would say he is absolutely interested," White said of Zuck fighting under his promotion. He didn't give many more details but it's a major update to the whole billionaire MMA situation. Side note - there has been so many inadvertent pop culture references in this entire debacle. Elon saying that X would stream the fight is straight out of Silicon Valley. Then there's that plot line in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. when Monica's dating the super-rich guy who really wants to be an MMA fighter but also sucks at MMA.

Read More: Mark Zuckerberg says he's eating 4000 calories a day during MMA training

When Could We See Zuck In The UFC?

White didn't give many details. He was primarily on TMZ to hype O'Malley-Sterling, the headline fight for UFC 292 in Boston this weekend. However, he appears very onboard with the idea of the Meta founder fighting under the UFC banner. As previously reported, Zuckerberg is very serious about his combat sports. It's a big reason why he pulled out of the fight with Elon - he (Zuck) actually cares about this.

Earlier this week, Vicente Luque also weighed in on the idea of Zuck fighting in the promotion. "I definitely think [a Zuckerberg fight is] something that can happen. It does seem like he's really disciplined," Luque told TMZ. "He not trying just to hype all this stuff. He's trying to work the right way, build himself little by little from the ground up. And I respect that a lot. I think it has to be a fight that makes sense. I think it has to be a guy that has kind of like the same level of experience, you know, because competing in combat sports is something that is not only about the technique and the skills you have, it's also very mental. So I feel like that would be an important thing."

Read More: Mark Zuckerberg recruits MMA legends to train with

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About The Author
Benjamin Mock (they/them) is a sports and culture writer working out of Philadelphia. Previously writing for the likes of Fixture, Dexerto, Fragster, and Jaxon, Ben has dedicated themselves to engaging and accessible articles about sports, esports, and internet culture. With a love for the weirder stories, you never quite know what to expect from their work.