It’s been a rather rough week for UFC CEO, Dana White — and he’s not extinguishing the fires around him with his latest claim about Meta leader, Mark Zuckerberg.
White, who has developed a notable relationship with the controversial Zuckerberg in recent years, even rented out the UFC Apex facility to the Meta leader and his friends to take in a Fight Night event without the presence of fans.
And joining the Meta board earlier this year, White is set to begin a business relationship between the UFC and the tech leader in the months to come. Long complaining about the status of the Octagon rankings, White revealed Meta will partner with the UFC in a bid to bring in an AI (artificial intelligence) on board, in a reshuffling of how fighters are ranked going forward.
Likely losing his biggest headache when it comes to rankings this week, too, White saw former heavyweight champion Jon Jones ditched from the rankings officially, following his retirement announcement over the weekend. But hitting the headlines once more, White praised the grappling ability of Zuckerberg.
An avid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player, Zuckerberg was backed by White to likely hang with British actor Tom Hardy, as well as fellow grappler Mario Lopez.
Fans, as a result, have once more lashed out at the UFC boss after he even suggested Zuckerberg could compete in the newly launched UFC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu format.
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“How about just focus on making good UFC fights,” A user told White, who is set to make his splash into the boxing world in September. More bluntly, a second user wrote, “Shut the hell up, Dana” amid his latest claims about Zuckerberg.
Finally, a third user even went as far as to claim that White’s tenure as UFC CEO has left the promotion in its worst state of affairs in a long time.
“The UFC is in the worst spot I’ve seen in a very long time,” they commented. “It’s becoming a gimmick at this point with the side leagues and celebrities. Dana needs to stop with the BJJ, boxing, slap, and celebrity casino streams. And needs to get back to making good matchups in the actual UFC.”
Notably, UFC commentator Joe Rogan has also been rather vocal about Zuckerberg having found his macho side with Jiu-Jitsu.
Rogan lauds Zuckerberg as ‘different person’ since BJJ move
Often seen in the wings of the UFC during recent months, Zuckerberg even walked out on Alexander Volkanovski for his return fight at the beginning of last year.
To boot, ahead of UFC 313, Zuckerberg also embraced former two-weight champion Alex Pereira backstage en route to his loss against Magomed Ankalaev.
Often perceived as a rather socially awkward and bizarre figure, Zuckerberg has come out of his shell since donning his gi and grappling, according to the UFC commentator.
“Mark Zuckerberg is a completely different person now,” Rogan said on his podcast, highlighting grappling as the main reason for his switch.
“It’s (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) a really good thing for people who have too much power. Because you just get strangled all the time. And then you just get your arms bent sideways. And after a while, you’re like, ‘Okay, this is reality. This social hierarchy thing I’ve created is just nonsense,” Rogan added.
Interestingly, there was a time in the last couple of years when Zuckerberg had floated the idea of being involved in an MMA fight with billionaire Elon Musk and even gotten the UFC boss involved. Ultimately, the plan was scrapped after Musk seemingly backed out after an initial show of over-enthusiasm.
