ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci thinks Mark Zuckerberg could be victorious in an MMA bout.
The pair have bonded over a mutual love of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Musumeci told TMZ Sports that he plans to share the mats with the Meta CEO again as he prepares to face Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling bout at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video on October 6.
“We talk frequently. We’re always texting each other, and he texted me a picture of this cage in his backyard. The type of person that Mark is is that everything he does, he does a hundred percent, right? He doesn’t half ass anything. So, if he’s into MMA, he’s going to put a cage in his f-cking backyard,” he said.
“I’m training with him next week, so I’ll see the progress that he’s made. It’s scary, though. The guy is so smart. It’s interesting to see him keep improving and his progress. I’m fascinated by it. It’s like this crazy science experiment.”
The American submission ace and Zuckerberg – a BJJ blue belt in his own right – first trained together in June, resulting in a viral clip that showed them sparring MMA as well as grappling.
And while it would be easy to assume that a tech billionaire would be training at a leisurely pace, Musumeci claims the reality is very different.
“The first time I trained with Mark, honestly, I expected him to be super intelligent. But when I saw him train, I saw this animal on the mat. He’s tough as f-ck,” he said.
“First, he trained with me, then he trained with this other guy, and the guy fell on him. He fell really hard, and someone was like, ‘Are you OK,’ and he was like, ‘I’m fine.’ He just wanted to keep pushing. So, he goes hard in training, you know what I mean? He’s not, like, a pretty boy or anything like that at all. He goes hard.”
Zuckerberg has set the social media world ablaze lately by teasing a potential MMA showdown with X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk.
The talk of the fight appears to have cooled as Musk is recovering from a shoulder injury. But if another opponent was to be drafted in, Musumeci is backing his friend to perform well under the rigors of mixed martial arts competition.
“A hundred percent (he could win an MMA fight). Like I said, he’s around my size, and I think he’s very strong for my size. He’s above average strength, if not on the higher end of strength for my size,” he said.
“So, he’s going to be super technical because he’s super smart, and he can learn so fast. You show him a movement one time, and he instantly knows it, you know what I mean? He’s that type of guy. The guy has so much potential, and he’s tough. He’s not like a wimpy guy. He’s tough as f-ck, so I think he could do really well.”
