Mark Zuckerberg is back on the water and back in the cage — sort of.
The Meta CEO posted an Instagram video showing himself sparring with UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili on a barge floating in the middle of a lake. "Back on the barge with @merab.dvalishvili. Round 2," Zuckerberg captioned the clip.
The session was a full-contact affair. The video captures the two exchanging punches and kicks, with Dvalishvili at one point hoisting Zuckerberg off his feet and carrying him across the barge.
The Meta founder got an unexpected audience mid-session: his wife, Priscilla Chan, paddled by on a kayak. Zuckerberg told her Dvalishvili had insisted he take his shirt off to look more like a fighter.
Dvalishvili, nicknamed "The Machine," is ranked No. 1 in the UFC bantamweight division as of May 2026. The Georgian-born fighter won the bantamweight championship at UFC 306 in September 2024, defeating Sean O'Malley via unanimous decision, then defended the title three times in 2025 before losing it to Petr Yan at UFC 323 in December. He holds the UFC record for most takedowns in history, at 119.
The barge session is only the latest chapter in a running series of Zuckerberg-meets-UFC moments. The two first sparred together in a gym setting on Dec. 17, 2025, in an 11-minute session that included grappling and striking, with former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling serving as referee. Zuckerberg has also trained with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, in a session filmed in October 2025.
