Mark Zuckerberg’s first official MMA fight is put on hold for the foreseeable future. The 39-year-old CEO of Meta Platforms tore his ACL while sparring this week.
He will begin the lengthy recovery process after undergoing a successful surgery on Friday.
Fortunately, Mark Zuckerberg is in fantastic shape and is determined to mount a comeback as soon as possible. Unfortunately, although some exceptional athletes can return to sports in six months, a timeline of eight to nine months is more realistic. Especially when it comes to combat sports.
That doesn’t mean that Zuckerberg isn’t determined to get back faster than everyone expects with his cyborg strength! He can’t wait to get back in the octagon.
Zuckerberg was initially trying to fight Elon Musk, but those negotiations broke down in September— in large part because of the latter’s attitude toward the event. At that point, the former pivoted to an unnamed opponent for his first competitive MMA fight at the beginning of next year.
Zuckerberg only wants to compete with people “who take the sport seriously,” which Musk was not. And as a good friend of Dana White, he has expressed legitimate interest in getting involved with the UFC.
Even though the initial plans for his first fight were made public, he was keeping the details mostly under wraps. Zuckerberg has been working toward a competitive Mixed Martial Arts over the last few years and it was all coming to fruition.
He looked good and felt good. Israel Adesanya was left impressed by Zuckerberg’s skills when they sparred with each other at the beginning of last month.
All signs pointed toward a butt whooping on account of Zuckerberg.
Those plans are not going to go by the wayside! Zuckerberg still plans to fight, and send his opponent into the shadow realm, after he recovers.
Tore my ACL sparring and just got out of surgery to replace it. Grateful for the doctors and team taking care of me. I was training for a competitive MMA fight early next year, but now that’s delayed a bit. Still looking forward to doing it after I recover. Thanks to everyone for the love and support.
— Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram
Best case scenario, Zuckerberg is back to full strength by about June. At that point, the training cycle can resume. If all goes according to plan, there is a chance that Zuckerberg could finally partake in his first competitive MMA fight by the end of the year. Fingers crossed!