Mark Zuckerberg was in Alexander Volkanovski’s corner for a featherweight main event fight against Ilia Topuria on Sunday at the Honda Center in Anaheim for UFC 298. Volkanovksi was trying to take out Topuria, but got stopped by a right-hand KO from the Georgian fighter three-and-a-half minutes into the second round.
While Volkanovski didn’t pull it off, Zuckerberg, who wore Volkanovski’s training gear along with the fighter’s team, was a hit when an awkward clip of him bobbing his head along to some arena music and trying to pass equipment around went viral.
In the clip, Zuckerberg is standing slightly behind a couple of members of Volkanovski’s team and reaches out haltingly each time to pass a piece of equipment between each other—first a pair of shoes, then a shirt. Each time, he gets skipped.
“me going to someone’s house and asking if i can help with anything before dinner,” quipped @aubreystrobel on X, lampooning Zuckerberg’s unsuccessful attempts to help.
“When u didn’t pay for the table and buddy is handing out vodka sodas,” joked @MooreGrams in another post.
“Me when I go camping and asking if I can help setup the tent,” added another.
Zuckerberg has trained in mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu for several years and posted pictures of himself in the gym with fighters like Volkanowski and New Zealand middleweight Israel Adesanya.
His training, however, took a hit in November 2023 when he tore his ACL.
Meta’s annual report this year warned investors that Zuckerberg’s “high-risk” hobbies like combat sports could have an adverse impact on the company if he accidentally severely harmed or killed himself.
Zuckerberg’s obsession with MMA also appeared to spark a pang of jealousy in the tech world. Last summer, X CEO Elon Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cage fight. After Musk delayed planning the event, including by claiming he needed surgery before he could do it, Zuckerberg declared that Musk wasn’t serious about it and that it was “time to move on.”
And while many posters online saw the moment as an example of Musk backing away from combat with a well-trained, physically fit Zuckerberg, for some, Zuck looked like anything but a champion the other night at the Volkanovski fight.
“Mark Zuckerberg at UFC event,” laughed @Emmonspired above a GIF of Peter Dinklage doing a stiff robot “space pants” dance on Saturday Night Live.
“Mark Zuckerberg trying his hardest to look like a normal functioning human at the UFC last night,” posted @StokeyyG2.
Not everybody mocked him though.
“I like that his interest in MMA has made him slightly less awkward and more like able kinda humbles him a lot,” wrote @6thumbs.
But others weren’t so quick to endorse that theory.
“Where are all these examples? Because this isn’t it.” posted @TheDragon_1776.
