Earlier in January 2025, Dana White confirmed that the battle between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk was a real thing. He opened up on the negotiation talks with the CEOs. The UFC head honcho claimed, “I was literally doing conference calls with the government in Italy to do this thing in the Colosseum in Rome. For the right number, the Colosseum was gonna let us do that fight there. Eventually, it started to fall apart, but while it lasted, it was fun.” But now, the spark is seemingly reigniting with Daniel Cormier diving in to train the Meta CEO.
White confirmed that neither Musk nor Zuckerberg needed any money. “These guys would raise hundreds of millions of dollars for charity,” he claimed. And while the normal PPVs cost around $80, White announced that he’d charge $100 for Musk vs. Zuckerberg. It’d be the perfect event that could’ve brought in more than $1B for White.
Now, things got fired up back at America 250 and the celebrations of the 4th of July. The POTUS, Donald Trump, has recently expressed his disappointment in Musk. On the other hand, Zuckerberg was asked to leave the Oval Office as he unexpectedly entered during a meeting on F-47 planes. Needless to say, both billionaires are in trouble. And that gave rise to the talk of their fight.
During a conversation with DC on the recent episode of ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’, Chael Sonnen asked about the situation with Zuckerberg vs. Musk. To this, the former heavyweight champion replied, “I was in Zuckerberg’s camp. I went to train him… He’s the nicest guy, dude.” But being a billionaire and a celebrity, Zuckerberg was subject to star treatment in the training camp. Of course, Cormier wasn’t okay with that at all.
He continued, “But I went in there to train him, and like some of the coaches, they’re hard on him to a point. But the training partners, they’re trying to protect him. I’m like, ‘You gotta throw him down to the ground!’ He said he wants to train. And Mark’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah. DC, yeah.’ I’m like, ‘I’m gonna treat him like the rest of these athletes. If he wants to train, let’s train him.’ I got to train him.”
June 18, 2022, Austin, Texas, Austin, TX, United States: AUSTIN, TX – JUNE 18: Former UFC Champion Daniel Cormier during the UFC Fight Night: Kattar v Emmett event at Moody Center on June 18, 2022 in Austin, Texas, United States. Austin, Texas United States – ZUMAp175 20220618_zsa_p175_101 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex
But this wasn’t the first time Cormier weighed in on Zuckerberg’s training. Back when the hype around the fight between the Meta CEO and the Tesla CEO was high, the former heavyweight champion offered his opinion on Zuckerberg’s inclination towards martial arts.
Daniel Cormier was glad that Mark Zuckerberg was into martial arts
During an episode of the DC and RC Show in 2022, Daniel Cormier opened up on the importance of training in mixed martial arts. He said, “I think everybody should do some sort of martial arts. I really do. I think that it’s so good for you. It really helps you with anything you’re doing. I’m glad that Zuckerberg is training, Zuckerberg is learning, and I believe there’s lot of benefits to it.”
In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports Fancast, Khai Wu, Zuckerberg’s instructor revealed a few things about the billionaire. He said, “I think you can’t get good at martial arts if you’re not training as a martial artist. You can’t get special treatment here and there. Yeah, it’s very simple. With him, it’s just like another day. You know people always expect these extraordinary descriptions of how it is worth him. But if you didn’t know who he was and you trained with him on the mats, you wouldn’t know anything.”
This could reposition Zuckerberg from billionaire curiosity to legitimate contender, hinting at a longer-term MMA strategy. Moreover, the Financial Times recently linked Zuckerberg’s MMA pursuits to a broader political recalibration, his pivot toward a firmer, more conservative image as Meta struggles in AI and public image.
Wu was visibly impressed with Zuckerberg’s athleticism. He confessed that the Meta CEO was pretty strong and really athletic. And yet, he was apparently just like another student training on the mats. But what are your thoughts on Zuckerberg’s training?
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