Mark Zuckerberg has brought back a familiar pastime: fighting UFC stars on a barge floating in the middle of a lake.
In a Sunday Instagram post, he shared a video of himself sparring with Merab Dvalishvili, a Georgian fighter who won the 2024 UFC Bantamweight title.
An array of camera angles, including drone shots, show the pair punching, kicking, and practicing takedowns — set to the instrumental of “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
At one point, Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan, rides past on a canoe. “Merab made me take my shirt off because it looks more ‘fighter,'” he tells her.
The Meta CEO last shared a video fighting on the floating barge almost three years ago, when he sparred with two other UFC champions: Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya.
Zuckerberg began training in jiu-jitsu during the COVID-19 pandemic and said in 2023 he practices three to four times a week. Over the years, he’s struck up friendships with a number of professional fighters.
Zuckerberg was pictured in Volkanovski’s corner during a UFC bout in 2024, but it became a meme as he awkwardly nodded, offering a hand while other cornermen passed items.
Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Jon Jones, the former UFC light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion, commented on Sunday’s post: “Wow, you look great Zucky. Can definitely tell you’ve been grinding.”
The top comment, with over 33,000 likes, joked: “Elon been real quiet lately,” referring to Zuckerberg’s feud with Musk. In 2023, Zuckerberg agreed to Musk’s challenge for a fight, and Rome’s Colosseum was touted as a venue, but the fight never came to fruition.
However, combat sports can be a dangerous hobby, especially for the boss of a $1.5 trillion company.
Zuckerberg tore his ACL while sparring in 2023, and Meta’s financial filings warn as a risk factor that, “Mr. Zuckerberg and certain other members of management participate in various high-risk activities, such as combat sports, extreme sports, and recreational aviation, which carry the risk of serious injury and death.”
