Facebook founder and multi-billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has stunned the martial arts world after scoring two phenomenal results in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament. In what was his first-ever grappling competition, the 38-year-old Facebook head honcho won two medals – one gold and one silver.
Not only did he have the nerve to step on the mats, but Mark actually showed a decent amount of skills by winning in both the No-Gi and Gi disciplines. The CEO of the famous tech giant competed in the white belt Master 2 lightweight division, representing Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu in the tournament.
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The California resident then proudly took to Instagram to share photos from the tournament. However, he did not divulge the name of the competition. He said, “Competed in my first jiu jitsu tournament and won some medals 🥇🥈 for the Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu team. Thanks to @davecamarillo @khaiwu @intense0ne for training me!”
The post has since garnered heavy praise from some of the biggest names in the MMA world. The likes of Jon Jones, Israel Adesanya, and many others have liked the post. Alexander Volkanovski, who Mark has previously sparred with, commented, “Legend! Love the shorts mate.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Mark will continue competing in BJJ tournaments. He certainly seems to have enjoyed his first-ever competition so far. Fans wonder if this was a one-off or if he has perhaps started to embark on a journey similar to Hollywood star Tomy Hardy who has now become renowned for frequenting BJJ tournaments across the UK.
Either way, it is worth giving Mark some credit for stepping into the aforementioned tournament. He has now officially topped the list of famous people who have stepped on the mats.
When did Mark Zuckerberg start training in MMA?
With the level of notoriety that he carries, it was surprising for many to see Mark Zuckerberg with this latest move. However, it has been a hot minute since the 38-year-old stepped foot inside the martial arts realm. In an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Mark shared that he fell in love with MMA during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I really like watching UFC for example, but I also like doing the sport,” Mark said. “There’s something so primal about it, I don’t know. Since then I’ve just introduced a bunch of my friends to it. We train together, and we like, wrestle together, and there’s a certain intensity to it that I like.”
Fans also caught The Meta CEO sitting ringside at a UFC Apex event last year. Mark continued, “It’s because I have a connection to it. Since COVID, I got super into surfing and foiling, and then really into MMA.”
Collecting references from friends and colleagues, Mark found his way to veteran and BJJ/Judo Black belt Dave Camarillo’s gym, Guerilla Jiu Jitsu. A former pupil of Ralph Gracie, Dave has coached grappling for the better part of 2 decades, with Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier being two of his many students.
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At present, it seems like Mark has at least three people to thank for his grappling skills, which he did in his recent IG post – Dave Camarillo, Khai Wu, and James Terry, a Strikeforce and Bellator veteran.
Aside from BJJ, Zuckerberg has been training in other aspects of combat sports as well. In 2022, Mark posted a clip of himself trading shots with his “main training partner,” Khai Wu, ahead of the latter’s UFC debut.
Mark’s passion for the sport has only grown over time. He was also seen rolling with the BJJ world champion and ONE FC champion, Mikey Musumeci. As per Mikey, he spent three days rolling with Mark at the tech mogul’s residence about three weeks ago. No doubt it was in preparation for the Meta boss’ recent tournament.