Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg got into a heated exchange with a referee at his first-ever Brazilian jiujitsu tournament — then went on to surprise martial-arts fans by winning gold and silver medals.
Video footage of the weekend match in Redwood City, Calif. shows the 38-year-old Facebook billionaire attempting to pin his competitor to the ground — but ending up pinned to the mat himself.
About two minutes into the bout, the referee calls the match, believing Zuckerberg — who had spent most of the match on his back — had finally “tapped out” and handed it to his competitor, according to Yahoo News.
An obviously frustrated Zuckerberg — who rose from the mat with his robe open and chest exposed — then claimed to the ref that the call was an error, Yahoo reported.
The match was eventually re-cast as a 0-0 draw, which appears to please Zuckerberg in the video as he then hugs his opponent.
Zuckerberg went on to take home gold and silver medals, which he touted via an Instagram post that he shared on Sunday with his 11.3 million Instagram followers.
The slideshow of images Zuckerberg posted shows him competing in the Gi — where fighters wear traditional, heavy-fabric garb and a belt that shows their ranking — and No-Gi disciplines of Brazilian jiujitsu.
“Competed in my first jiu jitsu tournament and won some medals for the Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu team,” Zuckerberg wrote in the caption.
He also thanked his coaches Dave Carillo, Khai “The Shadow” Wu and James Terry. Each of Zuckerberg’s trainers shared congratulatory posts on their respective Instagram pages.
“It’s inspiring to see someone so known challenge themselves in a new arena,” Camarillo wrote on his post. “This goes to show how amazing the art of Jiu-Jitsu really it. It changes you, it enhances the power of will – it is magic. It also attracts some very driven people,” he added.
The win could be attributed to the time Zuckerberg has spent in MMA gyms. Back in early September, Zuckerberg called attention to his hobby when he shared a sizzle reel of his training sessions with Wu on his Instagram account.
Later that month, Wu — who’s a black belt himself and has been sparring with Zuckerberg at his gym, Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu Academy, in San Jose., Calif. — called the billionaire business magnate a “jiujitsu nerd,” according to The Information.
“You’d never expect these guys to be able to take you down,” he told the online newspaper of the tech giants, including PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and Palantir CEO Alex Karp, that also go to the gym to learn martial arts. Standing 5 foot 7 inches tall and weighing in at 154 pounds, it’s likely Zuckerberg was one of those guys.
But, “you don’t know this nerd is a silent killer,” Wu said, noting that Zuckerberg often asks for “a little more resistance, a little more force.”
And when he appeared as a guest on “The Joe Rogan Experience” in 2022, hosted by UFC commentator Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg talked about his interest for the sport, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
