SINGAPORE – Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has had surgery for a knee injury sustained during mixed martial arts training.

The tech billionaire and Facebook founder said in a post on Instagram on Nov 4 that he tore an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while training for a competitive fight in early 2024.

“Tore my ACL sparring and just got out of surgery to replace it. Grateful for the doctors and team taking care of me.”

The 39-year-old added that the fight will be delayed due to the injury, but he is “still looking forward to doing it” after he recovers.

The accompanying photos show Mr Zuckerberg on a hospital bed, with his left leg bandaged and in a brace

In an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in late 2022, Mr Zuckerberg said he got into mixed martial arts during the Covid-19 pandemic. He met his trainer and sparring partner Khai Wu at Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu, a gym owned by Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo veteran Dave Camarillo.

The Straits Times reported in October that Wu was surprised by the Silicon Valley icon’s strength.

Wu, 28, said: “One thing that surprised me right off the bat was his strength. He is around my size and he had me going, ‘Gosh, he is very, very strong’. It was ridiculous. I’ve trained with a lot of fighters, but the amount of strength that he (Zuckerberg) has surprised me.”

In May, Mr Zuckerberg shared on Facebook that he had snagged gold and silver medals in his first Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament.

In June, he and Tesla CEO Elon Musk traded jabs online and challenged each other to a cage match.

But in August, Mr Musk posted on social media that he might need surgery before the fight could happen. Zuckerberg then called off the fight.