What just happened? The Ultimate Fighting Championship has signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar partnership that’ll leverage Meta’s various technologies to help the mixed martial arts organization better connect with fans. The wide-ranging deal will involve Meta platforms and services including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads. The UFC will also have access to Meta Quest, Meta Glasses, and Meta AI, potentially paving the way for groundbreaking fan experiences.

Speaking of Threads, Meta’s answer to X will now be the official social media partner of the UFC – so don’t expect to see X messages featured on broadcasts any longer.

Meta, meanwhile, will receive favorable brand placement during PPV and Fight Night events in the octagon and be featured during broadcasts. Fans attending live events will also be able to take part in “creative” experiences, we’re told.

The companies said additional elements of the partnership will be announced as the two sides work together on future innovations.

The partnership isn’t entirely surprising considering the relationship between UFC President Dana White and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg. In 2022, Zuckerberg started training in mixed martial arts and it wasn’t long before we started seeing him sitting cageside at UFC events. He even appeared in the corner of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 last year.

The Boss & The Zuck 📸 #UFCVegas61 pic.twitter.com/WOEnGdaowi

– UFC (@ufc) October 2, 2022

In mid-2023, a potential MMA bout between Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was floated but nothing ever came of it. Given the current climate surrounding Musk, perhaps White should revisit the matchup? They’d sell a ton of pay per views. White joined Meta’s board of directors in January.

The UFC was founded in 1993, with the original idea being for a tournament featuring various martial arts disciplines to see which was truly supreme. The promotion struggled mightily for years as critics deemed it too violent. US Senator John McCain famously described it as “human cockfighting.”

White was brought on in the early 2000s and eventually righted the ship. In 2016, WME-IMG purchased UFC parent company Zuffa for $4.025 billion.

Image credit: Andrius Petrucenia