Photo: Getty Images/UFC
The white belt registered as “Mark Elliot” in the Featherweight Master 1 class stole the show last week at a Silicon Valley BJJ event. When “Mr. Elliot” climbed onto the tatami for his first game, the crowd discovered his nickname: Zuckerberg.
The Facebook creator has competed a total of three times in the event: two with gi and one without. In the no-gi competition, he won his only match, taking home the gold medal, while in gi he won his first match before losing in the final via Ezekiel choke, winning the silver medal. Zuckerberg, who headlined MMA in October by attending UFC 211 fight night closed to the public at Apex in Las Vegas, has already declared his passion for jiu-jitsu on Ep. 267 of the Lex Friedman podcast, saying, “In my first class, for the first five minutes, I thought: Where has this been, all my life? Surely jiu-jitsu is the best sport.” What could not be imagined was that he would appear in a competition.
Event promoter and BJJ coral belt Claudio Franca, who was also the first trainer of Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, revealed that Zuckerberg’s only demands were to be allowed to sign under his middle name, and that there was no publicity around him. Share it.
“He just showed up and competed. It’s such an honor to have such an important person here,” Franka told Sherdog. “When I got here in California in 1996, jiu-jitsu was just seen as the kinds of tough guys they want to be.” MMA fighters. It’s really amazing to see jiu jitsu [now] It is popular with all family members, and is practiced by all kinds of people. I really hope Mark likes the experience and will come to participate in other releases.”