Speaking on the MMA Hour, former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen claimed that Mark Zuckerberg had phoned him before his interview with Ariel Helwani. Apparently, Zuckerberg had asked Sonnen to let the host know he planned to fight Elon Musk at UFC 300.
Regarding his thoughts on a potential fight between two of the wealthiest people in the world, Sonnen said he is interested in watching the fight as it would be interesting and fun. Helwani played devil’s advocate and questioned Dana White’s recent comments about the UFC not doing ‘gimmick’ fights in the future. Just two weeks later, he’s endorsing a bout between two giants of the social media world who have minimal fighting experience.
It’s a fair criticism; however, most people who are seemingly against this fight taking place under the UFC banner will undoubtedly watch it regardless. Moreover, most people within the MMA industry believe that a fight between Zuckerberg and Musk would be the most successful combat sports pay-per-view of all time, and by some considerable distance. The build-up to a fight will dominate our social media feeds in a way that we haven’t seen before. It will be almost impossible to escape, and such an event would garner interest from non-fight fans worldwide. Whether you’re a fan of this potential match-up or not, good luck getting away from it, should it occur!
During the interview on The MMA Hour, Sonnen said that Mark Zuckerberg allegedly told him that a year from now, his calendar wouldn’t be too packed and he wouldn’t be too busy, therefore fight Musk at UFC’s marquee event, UFC 300, which is projected for spring 2024. The Managing Director of Facebook isn’t busy? Hmmm.
Another bizarre claim followed as Sonnen said that Zuckerberg was texting him during the interview, prompting Helwani to ask Sonnen to find out if he’d be willing to call the show. He teased the audience by repeatedly saying that he could see ‘three dots’ in reference to his phone screen, indicating that Zuckerberg was currently texting him. During a couple of Sonnen’s comments during the interview, he had a wry smile on his face. If anybody is familiar with his persona, they know to take his comments with a pinch of salt as he is a master of self-promotion, much like Conor McGregor is today.
After the interview, a spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg told TMZ Sports that no such phone call occurred between Sonnen and the Facebook co-founder. We will have to wait for more news but a fight at UFC 300 between Musk and Zuckerberg seems like a good idea, given it will be a massive occasion for the company and mixed martial arts.
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