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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Guardian sport and agencies

Dana White asked Mark Zuckerberg about fixing ‘incompetent’ UFC rankings

Mark Zuckerberg, center, founder and CEO of Meta, and wife Priscilla Chan, left, are seen in attendance with UFC president Dana White during a UFC Fight Night event in 2022.
Mark Zuckerberg, center, founder and CEO of Meta, and wife Priscilla Chan, left, are seen in attendance with UFC president Dana White during a UFC Fight Night event in 2022. Photograph: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Dana White recently reached out to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for help with improving the UFC rankings system, possibly using artificial intelligence.

The UFC boss confirmed his conversations with the Meta CEO during an interview Thursday with TNT Sports.

“I could go on and on and on but I won’t,” White said. “We literally had meetings this week to work on it. I actually talked to Mark Zuckerberg, too, about AI, so yeah. I’m totally going to fix the rankings. We’re going to make a lot of strong moves here coming into 2025.“

White previously expressed his frustration with the current rankings that are voted on by a UFC-selected group of media outlets, a system that has been in place since 2013.

“I just can’t handle incompetence,” White said earlier this month. “I just can’t take it anymore. It’s driving me crazy. I can’t let people that I don’t believe know what the fuck that they’re talking about deal with the rankings anymore. I just can’t do it. I have to figure out a solution.“

According to MMA Junkie, recent complaints have included Max Holloway being ranked below Justin Gaethje, and Renato Moicano’s ranking remaining unchanged after his win against Benoit Saint Denis in September.

The UFC has become the sports arm of Donald Trump’s Maga movement under White, a longtime ally of the former US president who has spoken at the past three Republican National Conventions.

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