Tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg proved he’s not simply speak on the subject of preventing – at the least within the health club. The Meta CEO just lately stepped onto the mats with UFC mild heavyweight champion Alex Pereira on the Cruz Combined Martial Arts Academy in Nutley, New Jersey, and the footage shortly unfold throughout social media.
Video: Mark Zuckerberg Spars UFC Champ Alex Pereira
The coaching session, which happened on the facility operated by Pereira’s longtime coach Plinio Cruz, occurred shortly after Pereira’s redemption story at UFC 320 on October 4. Simply weeks after shedding his title to Magomed Ankalaev by unanimous determination at UFC 313 in March, Pereira reclaimed the sunshine heavyweight crown with a devastating first-round technical knockout. He wasted no time getting again to work, and in some way that work included welcoming the 41-year-old tech mogul into the octagon.
What makes this encounter particularly interesting isn’t just that Zuckerberg showed up to train with one of the most dangerous strikers in professional fighting today. It’s that he apparently held his own. The video shows Pereira and Zuckerberg exchanging technique, with the Meta founder even managing to achieve a takedown against the reigning champion – no small feat given the size differential between the two. For a man whose public persona screams Silicon Valley boardroom, Zuckerberg displayed genuine technical awareness and the willingness to get uncomfortable on the mats.
Zuckerberg‘s journey into fight sports activities started through the pandemic, and in contrast to tech competitor Elon Musk’s sporadic combat speak, the Fb co-founder has dedicated critically to the craft. He began coaching Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the summertime of 2022 underneath legendary coach Dave Camarillo at Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu in San Jose, California. Inside 5 minutes of his top notch, Zuckerberg was hooked. “The place has this been my entire life?” grew to become his inside monologue, and apparently, it caught.
By May 2023, just one year into training, the social media mogul Zuckerberg had already competed in BJJ tournaments underneath the alias “Mark Elliott” in an try at anonymity, a disguise that fell aside instantly when officers known as his identify. He walked away from his first competitors with gold and silver medal finishes within the Grasp’s 3 white belt division. His coach wasn’t shy about providing reward both. Dave Camarillo known as him “probably the greatest college students I’ve ever had,” which coming from somebody who skilled Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck, carries reputable weight.
The billionaire earned his blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2023 and has since skilled with a number of elite fighters comparable to Kai Wu. He’s rolled with multiple-time IBJJF and ADCC champion Mikey Musumeci, grappled with UFC featherweight Alexander Volkanovski, and apparently even sparred in digital actuality with the fighter. Dana White, the UFC president, even issued an open invitation for Zuckerberg to doubtlessly compete in a devoted BJJ group underneath the UFC banner, calling it “superior.”
Pereira, in the meantime, comes into this coaching session driving excessive momentum. The 38-year-old Brazilian grew to become the primary fighter ever to carry championship titles concurrently in each middleweight and lightweight heavyweight divisions within the UFC. Earlier than his MMA profession took off, he was a two-time kickboxing champion in each middleweight and lightweight heavyweight classes, making him the one fighter to realize dual-division championship standing in each sports activities. His left hook has develop into the stuff of legend – it’s the weapon accountable for knocking out fighters like Jiri Prochazka, Sean Strickland, and Jamahal Hill throughout his UFC profession.
