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New footage of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s now-infamous BJJ match shows the moment he allegedly went unconscious. The controversial billionaire made waves with his gold and silver medal finishes at a bay area BJJ tournament under grappling coach Dave Camarillo earlier last month. Though successful in other divisions, Zuckerberg lost via verbal tap in the final round of a gi bracket.
He’s since denied the claims that he went unconscious during the match, and was later called out by match referee Jose Lucas Costa da Silva in an interview on Bloody Elbow.
Mark Zuckerberg Match Breakdown
Reviewing the footage, taken by the wife of his opponent, the Facebook mogul ends the early grip exchange by pulling guard and shooting for an arm bar. His opponent, Jeff Ibrahim, slips out and manages to pass to mount.
Zuckerberg fights his way back to closed guard, and Ibrahim looks to have an Ezekiel choke locked in form the top. Though a low-percentage finish from his position, the inexperience on both sides gives Ibrahim time to sink it in deeper as his opponent fails to defend. Keeping a clear line of sight on both men, Costa allowed the choke to persist for almost a minute before stepping in to end the match. When questioned by Zuckerberg, Costa explained that he heard him snoring three times during the choke which constitutes a verbal tap under IBJJF rules.
“I wasn’t going to let go of it until one, he tapped out, or two, the referees stopped me,” Ibrahim said in an interview with Futurism.com. “And I felt that he never tapped out. I couldn’t tell if he was making any noises or anything… I was just in the zone.”
Ibrahim later claimed that the tech giant wasn’t a diva in defeat. After having the situation explained to him, he congratulated Ibrahim on his performance.
Facebook’s response
Along with Zuckerberg’s and Camarillo’s statements to the New York Times, Meta itself has joined in defense of the boss’ wakefulness during the match. A Meta spokesperson told Insider last Saturday that, “At no point during the competition was Mark knocked unconsious. That never happened.”
Neither the company and Zuckerberg’s BJJ entorauge have commented on the issue further. Zuckerberg’s most recent athletic outing appears to be a CrossFit Murph challenge he completed last week, posting pictures to his Instagram page.
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