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The controversial Harvard dropout followed up his BJJ discussion on the Joe Rogan Experience by posting some MMA sparring footage.

A billionaire needs to keep busy. In addition to surfing, allegedly poisoning political discourse and smoking meats, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg has turned to the mats to occupy his mind.

“How did I not know about it till right now?” Zuckerberg said on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. Sitting with the podcaster for nearly three hours discussing topics from VR to the government, the tech mogul described finding his way into martial arts during the pandemic.

“Since COVID, I got super into surfing and foiling, and then really into MMA. I know a lot of people who do it. There’s actually this really interesting connection between people who surf and do jiu-jitsu,” he said. Collecting references from friends and colleagues, Zuckerberg found his way to BJJ/Judo black belt Dave Camarillo’s gym, Guerilla Jiu Jitsu. A former student under Ralph Gracie, Camarillo has coached grappling in California for the better part of 20 years.

A lifelong athlete, Zuckerberg went on to bemoan his failure to start grappling years ago.

“My mom made me do three varsity sports and my life took a wrong turn when I chose to do fencing competitively instead of wrestling in high school or something,” he said. “There’s something so primal about it, I don’t know.” Typical of grappling converts, Zuckerberg has since pushed many of his friends into the sport as well. “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.”

Before taking it up himself, Facebook joined fellow internet giant in offering free grappling classes to employees. Tapping BJJ brand Hyperfly, Facebook threw in some customized gis to sweeten the deal. “There’s a lot of good parallels for philosophy of life and, like foiling and surfing, jiu-jitsu, MMA, I think it sort of teaches you about the flow and momentum of things,” he said.

Since the interview, many have wondered if Zuckerberg would dip his toes into the other half of MMA and mix in some striking. We got our answer when he posted a short video to Instagram earlier today, featuring Zuckerberg and MMA Prospect Khai Wu getting rounds in. Wearing gloves and shin guards, Zuckerberg displayed a basic grasp of submissions off his back, takedown defense and what I’m told are punches and kicks.

Look out Ashton Kutcher, I guess.

Wu makes his UFC Fight Pass debut on Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat tonight at 7 pm PST.

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Join us here at Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, and play-by-play (main card) as UFC Paris: Gane vs. Tuivasa goes down from the Accor Arena in Paris, France.

The main event for this fight night is a key heavyweight contender fight, with former interim champion Cyril Gane fighting in his home country for the first time when he battles the streaking Tai Tuivasa. The co-main is just as good, with former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker taking on former challenger Marvin Vettori.

This will be an ESPN+ show but will be kicking off earlier than usual due to the show taking place in Europe. The six-fight preliminary card is scheduled to start at Noon ET/9am PT on ESPN+. The six-fight main card is also on ESPN+, and that is supposed to start at 3pm ET/Noon PT. For areas outside of the United States, you can catch all the scheduled contests on UFC Fight Pass.

William Gomis vs. Jarno Errens

Round 1 – Lots of feinting to start. Body shot from Errens. Low kick from Gomis, high kick from Errens. Capoeira kick from Errens misses. Jumping switch kick from Gomis misses. Spinning back kick from Gomis lands to the body. They trade body kicks. They flurry in the center. Gomis drags Errens to the ground. Errens closes his guard and stalls things. Gomis eventually moves him over to the cage and lands a few shots. Errens powers his way up. 10-9 Gomis.

Round 2 – Combo from Gomis. Right hook on the break from Errens. Switch kick from Gomis. Nice knee from Errens. Errens landed a hard right that wobbled Gomis. Errens with a knee, but he gets taken down. Closed guard for Errens with his head against the cage. Gomis opens up with some punches. Errens with a brief body triangle. Errens up but eats a combo on the way. Errens presses and they exchange. Errens misses with a head kick. Inside low kick from Gomis. Gomis attacks but Gomis changes levels and gets a takedown. Errens rolls through it and ends up on top, but Gomis gets up right away and looks for a body lock. Errens almost hits a head-and-arm throw but Gomis ends up on top. 10-9 Gomis.

Round 3 –

Charles Jourdain vs. Nathaniel Wood

Round 1 – Jourdain with some kicks. Night right from Wood. They battle in the clinch, with Jourdain landing knees. Wood takes him down. Jourdain is trying to squirm away but Wood is just holding on to him. Jourdain eventually works his way up and lands two head kicks. Body kick from Wood. Huge shot over the top from Wood and Jourdain is wobbled! He circles away to clear the cobwebs. Jourdain with a jab. Two short uppercuts from Jourdain. Another right from Wood. Wood with a big combo inside. 10-9 Wood.

Round 2 – They’re throwing a lot but evading well. Wood ends up getting Jourdain to the mat again. He’s up quickly though. Jourdain rips a left hook. They trade in close. Wood trips Jourdain to the mat. The crowd is getting restless with the ground work, or lack thereof. The ref stands them up with 1:40 to go. Wood with an outside low kick. More clinch work. Jourdain with a nice shot. Wood with a 1-2 back. Jourdain with a short left. Wood with a right and a hard left hook. Jourdain hits a trip but can’t jump on Wood. Then Wood trips him but same deal. 10-9 Wood.

Round 3 – Jab from Jourdain. Body shots in the clinch too. Wood with another trip. Jourdain tries to roll through but Wood gets a bodylock on his back. He ends up in Jourdain’s guard, then they’re up. Wood with two short elbows. More clinch battling. Jourdain spins and misses. Wood trips him to the mat, but lets him up. Half a round two go. Long striking battle in a phone booth. Jourdain with an uppercut and he finally avoids that trip. Short left from Wood. Jourdain spins and misses again. He eats a straight left and a body kick. Wood with a big shot. They trade hard rights. Jourdain with a jump knee. They beat up the body. Wood with one final trip. 10-9 and 30-27 Wood.

Nathaniel Wood defeated Charles Jourdain via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Main Card (3 PM ET, ESPN+)

Ciryl Gane vs. Tai Tuivasa

Robert Whittaker vs. Marvin Vettori

Nassourdine Imavov vs. Joaquin Buckley

Alessio Di Chirico vs. Roman Kopylov

Preliminary Card (12 PM ET, ESPN+)

Abusupiyan Magomedov defeated Dustin Stoltzfus via KO (front kick and punches), :18 of round 1

Nasrat Haqparast defeated John Makdessi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Fares Ziam defeated Michal Figlak via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Benoit Saint Denis defeated Gabriel Miranda via TKO (punches), :16 of round 1

Cristian Quinonez defeated Khalid Taha via TKO (punches), 3:15 of round 1

Stephanie Egger defeated Ailin Perez via submission (rear naked choke), 4:54 of round 2

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The potential No. 1 contender at strawweight has a new date. 

Marina Rodriguez and Amanda Lemos have a new date for their fight.

Rodriguez spoke to Drake Riggs of MMA Mania and revealed that she and Lemos are no longer fighting at UFC 280, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Guilherme Cruz and Damon Martin of MMA Fighting have reported that Rodriguez vs. Lemos has now joined the line-up for a UFC Fight Night on Nov. 5, with a location and venue soon-to-be determined. There is also no headliner attached to it at this time, so stay tuned for that to be announced.

Rodriguez rebounded from her first loss in the UFC — a split decision to newly crowned champion Carla Esparza at UFC Fight Island 3 — with four consecutive wins. The Brazilian finished Amanda Ribas via second-round TKO and went on to earn decisions over Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan in her most recent appearances.

Lemos saw a five-fight win streak snapped at UFC Vegas 52, where she was submitted by Jessica Andrade via first-round standing arm-triangle choke in April. The Marajó Brothers Team representative returned to the win column with a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded submission of a perennial contender in Michelle Waterson-Gomez at UFC Long Island this past July.

Rodriguez and Lemos are ranked at No. 3 and No. 8 in the strawweight division, respectively.

UFC 280 is headlined by a lightweight championship fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. With the removal of Rodriguez vs. Lemos, the event has 15 confirmed fights.

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The staredown between Floyd Mayweather and Mikuru Asakura for their upcoming RIZIN bout ended with a bizarre, and seemingly unprovoked, shove from a member of the ‘Money’ entourage.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather is set to return to the ring at RIZIN 38 on September 25, 2022 for a boxing exhibition against 16-3 MMA fighter, Mikuru Asakura. At the press conference for the event, the two men engaged in a staredown, posing for the cameras to build hype for the fight. From there, however, things took a strange turn.

As the two men were facing off, A member of Mayweather’s entourage decided to insert himself in the moment and shove Asakura to the point that he almost fell off the stage.

There didn’t appear to be any animosity between the legendary boxer and the former Rings Outsider champion, but it seems that the bodyguard decided that it was his time to shine—deploying a seemingly unprovoked push to make his point.

Fortunately, Asakura kept his cool and retook his position in the face-off, with the bodyguard going right back to his shoving ways before Mayweather brushed him off. It was a thoroughly bizarre occurrence for a combat sports press event, which could have easily ended much worse—and all for no apparent reason.

Aside from Floyd Mayweather vs. Mikuru Asakura, the rest of the RIZIN 38 lineup includes:

Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Yuto Hokamura : Bantamweight
Kyohei Hagiwara vs. Chihiro Suzuki: Featherweight
Juri Ohara vs. Luiz Gustavo: Lightweight
Shoma Shibisai vs. Cally Gibrainn de Oliveira: Heavyweight
Hiromasa Ogikubo vs. Kim Soo-chul
Yoshinari Nadaka vs. So Trakunpet Bandasak: 117 pounds (kickboxing bout)

You can catch the entirety of the RIZIN 38 presser below:

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The former UFC champion is sharing an updated version of his MMA Mount Rushmore.

Georges St-Pierre is designing his MMA Mount Rushmore with seven fighters.

The former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion shared his updated version during a fan Q&A before ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC Paris on Friday. The original monument is four-headed, but St-Pierre redesigned it to include all of the fighters he sees as the most impactful in mixed martial arts.

“I would put Royce Gracie because he did stuff in the beginning that nobody had ever done,” said St-Pierre. “I will cheat because I have to put more than four. I would put Amanda Nunes already, even though she has not retired yet, because she is the best female fighter that has ever lived, I believe. I would put Khabib [Nurmagomedov] because he had the perfect career, undefeated. An incredible career.

“I would put Conor McGregor, also, because he brought the sport to a different level,” continued St-Pierre. “I would put Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Demetrious Johnson because of their performances.”

Though he did not include himself on his MMA Mount Rushmore, St-Pierre is considered one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. ‘Rush’ went 26-2 throughout his professional career, with the majority of it spent in the UFC.

A three-time UFC welterweight champion, St-Pierre shattered records by having the most successful and consecutive defenses with nine in the four-year reign that saw him defeat the likes of Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz. He spent some time away from the sport before returning against then-champion Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 217, where St-Pierre submitted Bisping via third-round rear-naked choke to become the fourth multi-division champion in UFC history.

St-Pierre would announce his retirement from the sport in 2019 and was inducted into the Modern-Era Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2020.

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‘Big Ben’ is set for his bare-knuckle boxing debut on October 1st in Monroe, LA at BKFC 30.

‘Big’ Ben Rothwell is set to ‘Toe the Line’ for the first time since signing with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).

Steven Marrocco of MMA Fighting reports Rothwell debuts against Bobo O’Bannon at BKFC 30, the upcoming event scheduled for Oct. 1 at Fant Ewing Coliseum in Louisiana.

The former UFC heavyweight requested his release from the promotion to pursue other opportunities in combat sports, which led him to bare-knuckle boxing. Rothwell went 9-8 throughout his UFC tenure. He suffered a first-round TKO loss to Marcos Rogério de Lima at UFC Vegas 42 this past November in his final appearance in the Octagon.

Though he received offers from several promotions, Rothwell told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that BKFC had the best one.

“BKFC came with the best offer, made me very excited,” said Rothwell. “I believe that it’s a place for me because I was doing BKFC long before MMA. So it’s something I’m a part of in my life, something my great grandfather was doing, probably not legally, but had a history of it. It’s just kinda something in my blood and I’m really excited to be with them.”

BKFC president David Feldman also expressed his excitement in signing Rothwell, who he said is ‘exactly what BKFC is all about’.

O’Bannon is a BKFC veteran, going 3-3 in the promotion. The ‘Bible Belt Brawler’ was previously on a two-fight win streak before being finished by Alan Belcher at BKFC Jackson in January.

BKFC 30 is set to be headlined by a cruiserweight championship fight between Lorenzo Hunt and Quentin Henry.

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Flyweights Jennifer Maia and Maryna Moroz are headed to Las Vegas.

A women’s flyweight bout is reportedly set for November in the Octagon. Per Combate’s report, Maryna Moroz is now expected to face former title challenger Jennifer Maia at UFC Fight Night 215.

Moroz previously had a fight scheduled against Sijara Eubanks for July, which was then moved to September for undisclosed reasons. Now Moroz’s return has been pushed back again for November, and with this completely new opponent in Maia. The report didn’t disclose the reason for the second change, or if ‘SarJ’ will be getting a new opponent.

Currently on a two-fight skid, Maia (19-9-1) dropped unanimous decisions to both Manon Fiorot and Katlyn Chookagian in her most recent outings, respectively in March and January of this year. The 33-year-old’s latest win dates back to July 2021, when she bested Jessica Eye via unanimous decision.

In the opposite situation, Moroz (11-3) will look for her fourth straight win, having already defeated Maryia Agapova, Mayra Bueno Silva and Sabina Mazo in her most recent outings. In fact, the 30-year-old’s last loss happened back in February 2018, when she dropped a unanimous decision to Angela Hill.

Now, Maia and Moroz are reportedly expected to meet at UFC Fight Night 215, in a location yet to be determined by the promotion. So far, the November 19 does not have an official main event yet.

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Shovkhal Churchayev allegedly threatened his rival with a gun during a media appearance in Moscow.

A Chechen MMA fighter is being investigated after allegedly threatening his rival with a gun during a podcast recording.

The incident reportedly took place on August 21, when Shovkhal Churchaev appeared on the set of the “Rating Brothers” podcast in Moscow, Russia, alongside his Iranian opponent Mohammad Hebati.

Though the conversation remained civil for the vast majority of the interview, Churchaev closed out the show by attacking Hebati with a flurry of punches that forced the Iranian fighter to the ground. The Chechen fighter then proceeded to pull a gun and demanded that Hebati kneel before him.

Footage from the attack was later published on the podcast’s YouTube channel.

Following the incident, Hebati revealed that the Iranian embassy in Russia had been notified of the situation and were in the process of resolving the matter.

“The Iranian ambassador contacted me and invited me to his place,” Hebati said. “We talked to him, I told him what happened. Now the Iranian ambassador wants to resolve this issue. A person is threatened with a gun, this is no longer a trash talk.”

Churchaev, who holds a 3-0 pro record, also drew the ire of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, who vowed to punish the Chechen fighter for his “inappropriate behavior.”

The Chechen fighter could also face up to two years in prison if law enforcement choose to file charges.

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Light heavyweight Thiago Santos shared a story involving Paulo Costa, weight cutting, and some possible party fouls.

UFC light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos a bone to pick with fellow Brazilian Paulo Costa.

In a conversation on podcast Nem Me Viu, ‘Marreta’ shared a story about a time when ‘Borrachinha’ disrespected him during a weight cut. It was an incident that has left Santos wanting to face Costa in the Octagon ever since.

According to Santos, Costa had little respect for his fellow fighter while Santos was in the bathtub cutting weight for an upcoming fight. Marreta says that while he was in the tub, Paulo and some friends were having a party in the tub next to his, disrupting the difficult process for the longtime ATT talent.

“There was a situation with ‘Borrachinha’ in which I was cutting weight and he and his team got in and started jumping in the cold bathtub, which was next to the hot one I was in, having a party,” Santos told Nem Me Viu (translated by Sherdog). “They didn’t respect that moment of mine there. He even said later that I’m getting beat up by everyone.

“Since that’s how it is, why doesn’t he take advantage of it and come hit me too at UFC Rio de Janeiro?”

Back in August, Santos (22-11) was on the receiving end of a knockout loss to Jamahal Hill. The defeat put Marreta on a two-fight losing skid, with a unanimous decision to Magomed Ankalaev before that. The 38-year-old’s last win came in October 2021, when he defeated Johnny Walker by unanimous decision. That victory marks Santos’ only win in his last six outings.

The UFC 283 PPV event is expected to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 21. So far no bouts have been announced for the card.

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The Brazilian heard Thompson was interested in fighting him, and he is happy to oblige. The only question now is, why isn’t the fight getting booked?

Stephen Thompson wants an exciting fight in his return to the Octagon, and he knows who would give him one.

Thompson spoke to Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com about getting a striker for his next appearance, with Li Jingliang and Kevin Holland on his short list of options. However, with Jingliang and Holland getting booked against Tony Ferguson and Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 279, ‘Wonderboy’ has set his sights on Michel Pereira, the Brazilian known for his flashy striking.

“I’m looking at Michel Pereira,” said Thompson. “I think that would be an awesome fight. He’s up-and-coming [guy], definitely down to bang it out and strike. I think he called me out, too, on social media, so that would be a good fight for sure.”

Pereira responded to Thompson and wondered why the UFC has yet to schedule the fight considering both men have expressed interest in it.

“I want to fight him, and he wants to fight me,” wrote Pereira on Twitter. “I don’t understand why this fight is not happening.”

“I found out today that he wants to fight me and I want to fight him, but for some reason, the UFC doesn’t want to close this fight and I don’t know why this is already. I’m winning 5 consecutive wins, all my fights I always have a great performance, I deserve this fight!”

Pereira was last in action at UFC Vegas 55, where he earned a split decision over Santiago Ponzinibbio in a fight that was given ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. That was his fifth consecutive win, having also defeated the likes of Khaos Williams, Niko Price and André Fialho in previous outings.

Thompson had a two-fight win streak snapped with back-to-back losses to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad at UFC 264 and UFC Vegas 45, respectively.

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