Mark Zuckerberg’s Summer Transformation: From Sunscreen Meme to MMA Fighter

Gone are the days when Mark Zuckerberg became the internet’s laughingstock for his excessive sunscreen usage while surfing. The new summer version of Zuck now engages in combat training with MMA fighters on a floating barge.

In a collaborative video posted on Instagram with Nigerian and New Zealand MMA fighter Adesanya, Zuckerberg joins Adesanya and Australian MMA fighter Alexander Volkanovski in water-based training sessions. They can be seen practicing kicks, grappling, and flips, all set to the soundtrack of “Mission: Impossible.”

While the much-anticipated cage fight between Zuckerberg and Elon Musk has yet to materialize, the possibility of such a showdown was first discussed in June. Musk had tweeted his willingness to participate in a cage match with Zuckerberg, to which the Meta CEO agreed. However, Zuckerberg later suggested that Musk may not be serious about an official fight and proposed a “noble” debate instead. Despite the uncertainty around the cage match, Zuckerberg has not shied away from displaying his newly toned physique.

This recent display of athleticism is just another example of the billionaire Meta CEO’s physical prowess. Earlier this year, he celebrated receiving a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and participated in his first jiu-jitsu tournament. He even shared a photo of himself shirtless, flanked by Adesanya and Volkanovski.

Zuckerberg’s journey into martial arts began during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. He now dedicates three to four days a week to training in jiu-jitsu and MMA, noting that he got “beaten up a lot” during his early days in martial arts.

Amid all the jiu-jitsu content, Zuckerberg also showcased his skills on a hydrofoil surfboard, a far cry from the infamous paparazzi snapshot of him with an overabundance of sunscreen from over two years ago. In fact, he has embraced the sunscreen image, incorporating it into a surfboard design that features an artist’s rendition of the sunscreen-covered face, accompanied by the caption “the sun never stood a chance.”

In 2021, he playfully acknowledged the sunscreen meme by adopting a virtual avatar look for Meta’s metaverse game, complete with sunscreen, humorously named “SPF 5000.”