Silicon Valley titan Mark Zuckerberg evidently got into it with a referee at his first-ever Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament after being pinned by a competitor and, shockingly, the match was rescored as a draw just before the Facebook king went on to win gold and silver medals.

(Video Credit: New York Post)

The match took place well within Zuckerberg’s domain in Redwood City, California. The 38-year-old billionaire attempted to pin his competitor to the ground but ended up pinned to the mat himself. And somehow, that was still ruled a tie.

Approximately two minutes into the match, the referee called it for Zuckerberg’s opponent, believing that the Facebook founder had had enough because he had spent most of the match on his back, according to Yahoo! News.

Zuckerberg was angered by the ruling. He got up off the mat with his robe open and his chest bare and proceeded to get into an argument with the referee. He contended the call was an error. Bowing to one of the state’s biggest employers who is a billionaire and incredibly powerful, the match was re-cast as a 0-0 draw. Happy with not losing, Zuckerberg hugged his opponent as if that made it all okay.

He went on to win gold and silver medals at his first-ever competition and bragged about it on Instagram Sunday to his 11.3 million followers. Zuckerberg showed a number of images of him competing in Gi where fighters wear traditional, heavy-fabric garb and a belt that shows their ranking, and No-Gi disciplines of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Mark Zuckerberg competed in his first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament pic.twitter.com/TaPAOY5wSJ

— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) May 7, 2023

“Competed in my first jiu jitsu tournament and won some medals for the Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu team,” Zuckerberg crowed.

 

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A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)

He then went on to thank his coaches Dave Camarillo, Khai “The Shadow” Wu, and James Terry. Each of Zuckerberg’s trainers shared congratulatory posts on their respective Instagram pages as well.

“It’s inspiring to see someone so known challenge themselves in a new arena,” Camarillo wrote. “This goes to show how amazing the art of Jiu-Jitsu really is. It changes you, it enhances the power of will – it is magic. It also attracts some very driven people.”

 

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A post shared by Dave Camarillo (@davecamarillo)

Zuckerberg has reportedly spent a great deal of time in MMA gyms, according to the New York Post.

Mark Zuckerberg won a Gold medal at a Jiu Jitsu tournament. 🏅 / 🥋 pic.twitter.com/oIJ32u1NgH

— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) May 8, 2023

The Information reported that in April, Wu, who’s a black belt himself and has been sparring with Zuckerberg at his gym, Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu Academy, in San Jose, Ca., allegedly called Zuckerberg a “jiujitsu nerd.”

“You’d never expect these guys to be able to take you down,” he told the media outlet concerning the tech giants, including PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and Palantir CEO Alex Karp. They also attend 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 he was referring to.

But, “You don’t know this nerd is a silent killer,” Wu remarked, contending that Zuckerberg often asks for “a little more resistance, a little more force.”

When Zuckerberg appeared as a guest on “The Joe Rogan Experience” in 2022, he talked about his interest in the sport, which began during the pandemic.

(Video Credit: Joe Rogan Experience)

“I really like watching UFC for example, but I also like doing the sport,” Zuckerberg said on Rogan’s podcast. “There’s something so primal about it, I don’t know … Since then I’ve just introduced a bunch of my friends to it—we train together, and we like, wrestle together, and there’s a certain intensity to it that I like.”

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