A bitter setback for his MMA career: Mark Zuckerberg tears his cruciate ligament

Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook parent company Meta, tore his cruciate ligament during training. He announced this in a post on the Instagram platform.

The images in the post show Zuckerberg in a hospital bed with his left leg in a splint. In some snaps, his wife Priscilla Chan can also be seen wiping his forehead or straightening his slippers.

Zuckerberg writes about the series of photos: “I tore my ACL while sparring and just had surgery to replace it.” He is grateful for the doctors and team who cared for him. Sparring refers to a specific form of training in martial arts in which fighting is similar to a competition, but with modified rules intended to reduce the chance of injury.

“I wanted to train for an MMA competition early next year, but that has been delayed,” Zuckerberg continued. Now he must be patient until after his recovery.

Zuckerberg does not write down exactly what kind of fight is meant. In any case, there is another announced fight between him and Twitter boss Elon Musk. Background: When Zuckerberg’s Meta Group announced a competitor to the social media service Twitter (now X) in May, Elon Musk wrote: This can be fought out in the ring, Zuckerberg agreed. In a series of tweets, the two agreed to compete against each other in mixed martial arts (MMA) style. But he has now given up again.

At the time, even Dana White, president of MMA’s premier organization Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), announced his willingness to take the fight. But today another date awaits. Zuckerberg’s injury means that the fight – if it actually takes place – cannot take place until next year.