Mark Zuckerberg stuns UFC 298 fans after appearing in corner of defending champion

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stunned UFC fans as he appeared in the corner of Alexander Volkanovski as the Australian defended his featherweight title in Anaheim on Saturday night.

Zuckerberg, who trains in martial arts and last year challenged Elon Musk to a cage fight, stood with Volkanovski’s team and wore a Team Volkanovski tracksuit at ringside in Los Angeles.

Zuckerberg was not able to be a good luck charm, however, as Ilia Topuria knocked Volkanovski out cold in round two to claim the title in the main event of UFC 298.

The 35-year-old Volkanovski was seeking a sixth straight successful title defence as he fought Topuria in Anaheim and although the champion started well, he succumbed to Topuria’s knockout threat,

Midway through the second round, Topuria, 27, landed a picture-perfect fight hook with Volkanovski against the cage, and the Australian collapsed to the canvas at once. With that, Volkanovski’s four-year title reign came to an end, as Topuria became the first UFC champion to represent Georgia or Spain.

“I feel so happy right now,” the unbeaten Topuria said in the Octagon. “They’re gonna tell you that you can’t do it, but guess what? Trust yourself, work tirelessly, have faith, and everything is possible.

“Look at me, look at me now. I just know my skills. I worked so hard for this. I was knowing always that one day I would become a UFC champion. Guys, it doesn’t matter where you come from if you know where you’re going.

“It’s time to take the UFC to Spain.”

Volkanovski said: “Obviously he has some power in his hands. Well done to him, he caught me. I was gonna start working everything, and he got me, so credit to him. He’s a hard hitter, we knew that going in. He wasn’t meant to land like that, but he did.

“He keeps mentioning Spain, maybe we do a rematch there.”

Volkanovski’s previous outing was a short-notice title shot against lightweight king Islam Makhachev in October. Volkanovski was knocked out with a head kick in round one, eight months after losing a narrow decision against the Russian.

Between those bouts, the 35-year-old stopped Yair Rodriguez in July to retain the featherweight belt.