Mark Zuckerberg has been spotted training with former UFC champion Max Holloway.
Zuckerberg, a massive UFC fan, cornered Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski at his last bout at UFC 298.
The Meta CEO had previously expressed his desire to fight for Dana White’s promotion, though he would only consider it after recovering from an ACL injury.
The 40-year-old billionaire even teamed up with Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya in July, and now appears to be back to full fitness.
“Blessed kind of weekend,” Zuckerberg wrote on Instagram, sharing photos of himself training with UFC star Holloway.
Holloway’s last outing ended in defeat, as he lost his latest attempt at UFC gold to Ilia Topuria.
‘Blessed’ is one of White’s longest-serving fighters, and many fans have branded his knockout victory in the final second of his fight with Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 as the best of the year.
Holloway became one of the UFC’s most popular fighters in 2017 when he dethroned featherweight king Jose Aldo at UFC 212 to win the 145lb title.
One of the photos posted by Zuckerberg shows the 33-year-old Holloway applying a familiar guillotine choke on the canvas.
Another shows Holloway watching as the tech giant attempts what looks to be a spinning back kick, similar to the one used by Jon Jones to retain his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic in November.
Zuckerberk broke the internet when a rumoured fight between him and fellow billionaire Elon Musk gained traction.
Musk called out Zuckerberg in early 2024, and the pair agreed to fight, prompting UFC President White to start talking up the clash as a real possibility.
The Tesla CEO has previously been spotted training with UFC legend Georges St-Pierre and earned praise from BJJ Black Belt Lex Fridman after demonstrating his skills.
However, talks about their impending fight have since died down after a disagreement about how the event would be organised led to Zuckerberg withdrawing.
Despite the bout fizzling out, it seems Zuckerberg could end up playing an even bigger role for White and the UFC.
In November, White reached out to the Facebook founder for help in fixing the UFC rankings once and for all.
White had aired his frustrations on social media in the aftermath of UFC 309 — where Jones defeated Miocic — after the former wasn’t named the No.1 pound-for-pound men’s fighter.
“I have to get rid of these clowns!” White said on his Instagram story at the time.
“Mark Zuckerburg, let’s get this AI deal done ASAP!”
White controls matchmaking and negotiates business deals within the UFC, but doesn’t oversee the ranking system.
More than 20 members of the media determine the ranks every single week, but White hopes Zuckerberg can introduce an AI-powered system to keep things fresh and accurate.
