The UFC returned to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, for the first time since UFC 270 in January 2022. This time around, Alexander Volkanovski headlined the card as he put his featherweight title on the line. There were a number of celebrities in attendance at the event. However, none bigger than Meta founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. The billionaire founder was in attendance to support Alexander Volkanovski. Khabib Nurmagomedov’s former coach, Javier Mendez, recently sat down with ‘The Schmo’ to share his thoughts on UFC 298.
Mendez was asked to highlight his favourite moment from the event and he was asked if it had anything to do with Zuckerberg. Mendez said,
“Yeah Mark Zuckerberg no, he has zero to do with anything that I liked. Even though I like the fact that he likes MMA. But I mean yeah, he is just a fan. It is appreciative that someone that powerful likes the sport legitly. As far as his expertise, there is none. My favourite part, I would say, was Robert Whittaker vs Costa.”
Over the past few years, Mark Zuckerberg has been extremely involved in the sport of mixed martial arts. What started as a way to stay fit has developed into an obsession for the 39-year-old. He is often spotted training with the likes of Mikey Musumeci and, more recently, Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski.
Zuckerberg was in Volkanovski’s corner and walked him out to the octagon before taking his seat ringside. This is something that did not sit well with UFC fans.
Aftermath of UFC 298
UFC 298 ended with a few surprising results as well as a few expected wins. The biggest takeaway from the event is that the UFC now has a new star on its hands. Given that McGregor is extremely sporadic in his activity, Ilia Topuria is just the man the UFC needed to grow the market and ignite an interest in MMA in Europe.
Additionally, the likes of Robert Whittaker and Merab Dvalishvili scored big wins and cemented their place in their respective division.
Dvalishvili has earned himself a title shot with that performance as confirmed by Dana White. Whittaker, on the other hand, will most likely face Dricus Du Plessis if he secures a win against Israel Adesanya.
However, if Adesanya regains his belt, it is highly unlikely that the UFC will give Whittaker yet another title shot against Adesanya.
