Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg surprised his followers on Instagram back in 2023 by sharing a personal piece of news. The businessman revealed that he underwent surgery to replace the anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg, which would force him to go through a recovery period that will delay his planned return to combat sports. Now, he shared a piece of news with Joe Rogan that has been met with a brutal verdict delivered by the JRE host.

The injury occurred while Mark Zuckerberg was preparing for an MMA tournament early next year. Despite the injury, on his Instagram post, he expressed his determination to compete once he recovers. Now, on JRE #2255, the Meta CEO has revealed that he is done with rehab and is looking back to make his return after some time of training. “I can’t wait to get back to competing. It’s been a slow journey with the rehab—it’s like learning everything twice—but we’re getting there.” He adds, “I’m done with the rehab now, just ramping back up.”

However, Joe Rogan, who is not new to such injuries due to his background in MMA, asked Zuckerberg if his injury was a patellar tendon graft. When the Facebook co-founder confirmed that it was indeed a patellar tendon graft, Joe Rogan broke the unfortunate news to the new BJJ practitioner that it will take more time for him to heal than he thought. “That’s a rough one to come back from. I had the patellar tendon graft on my left knee, and it took me about a year. For my right knee, I had an ACL repair using an Achilles tendon from a cadaver. I was back to Jiu-Jitsu in six months, with full confidence—kicking the bag, everything.”

It is worth noting that the Facebook founder and Elon Musk grabbed headlines in 2023 after the two billionaires agreed to a one-on-one fight. However, that did not come to fruition after he tore his ACL. So, will Mark Zuckerberg actually return to combat sports? If yes, what would be his motivation now that the Elon Musk fight is no longer a thing?

Mark Zuckerberg’s real motivation for a return to combat sports

Speaking to Joe Rogan on the same podcast, the Meta CEO revealed that he was probably overdoing physical tasks by balancing weight training, BJJ, and daily day-to-day tasks. When he tore his ACL, he felt the need to quit combat sports as he felt he was too old to start a new passion that could take a toll on his body while also being bothersome to his employees due to them being asked to deliver more emails and do more work.

However, it was his wife who motivated him to not stop himself from practicing BJJ, as it made him a much better man. Zuckerberg revealed, “And then I sat down with Priscilla, and I expected her to be like, ‘You’re an idiot! Like, what do you expect?’ You’re like, ‘I was in my late 30s at the time.’ But she was like, ‘No. You heal your ACL. You better go back to fighting.’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ She’s like, ‘You’re so much better to be around now that you’re doing this. You have to fight.”

This made Rogan chuckle since it was something unusual to say. The Meta CEO added that he understood the benefits of training in the mornings, as it helped him get rid of the stress of life and the workplace. “It definitely takes the edge off things. It’s after, like, a couple of hours doing that in the morning; it’s just like nothing else that day is going to stress you out that much. You can just deal with it.” Well, it looks like Zuckerberg will be a practitioner of combat sports for a long time now. But what do you think? Will he accept a fight against Elon Musk or any other billionaire? Let us know in the comments.