Referee in viral Mark Zuckerberg jiu-jitsu 'argument' video confirms what happened

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg surprised people recently after turning up at a jiu-jitsu tournament, with footage appearing to show him looking a little unhappy with the result of his bout.

The Meta CEO was spotted taking on a fellow competitor in Redwood City in California on Saturday (May 6), and he was eventually pinned after a tussle in the ring.

The referee stopped the fight and awarded it to his opponent after believing that Zuckerberg had 'tapped out'.

However, the footage suggested Zuckerberg was unhappy with the result and it was changed to a 0-0 draw.

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He did well during the result of the tournament, with the 38-year-old winning gold and silver medals at his first public competition.

Now, the referee from the event has spoken and clarified that there was no such “argument”.

Referee Lucas Costa, who is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, spoke to bloodyelbow.com and explained what went down.

“There was no argument,” said Costa. “It was in Gi and he got choked out. That was the video you saw. I stopped it and he wanted to check with me about why I stopped it. He didn’t know what was happening, which was one of the reasons I stopped it. But he had started to snore and the rule set says that snoring is a version of a verbal tap.”

“I was paying a lot of attention,” Costa added. “I was paying even more attention because it was Mark. He got caught in an Ezekiel and I waited, but he didn’t fight back. And I was waiting, but on the third snore I had to stop the fight. He was very polite but he wanted to know how the rules work.”

Speaking about the experience of meeting him, Costa said: “Mark’s fight was a surprise… I was impressed though.

“He seemed like a normal guy. Looked me in the eye, gave me a firm handshake and an even bigger surprise was that he fights well.”

Discussing his fighting style, Costa added: “He goes forward a lot. He attacks more. With very little defence.”

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