UFC CEO Dana White Elected to Meta Board of Directors

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White is joining forces with Mark Zuckerberg.

It was announced on Monday that White — along with Exor CEO John Elkann and technology investor Charlie Songhurst — have been elected to Meta’s board of directors. One of the largest information technology companies in the U.S., Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, among other things.

“Dana, John, and Charlie will add a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us tackle the massive opportunities ahead with AI, wearables and the future of human connection,” said Zuckerberg, who is the founder and CEO of Meta.

White has long been the frontman of the UFC, both when it was previously owned by Zuffa and now under the TKO Group Holdings umbrella. He expressed enthusiasm about his new venture in a release.

“I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board. I am a huge believer that social media and AI are the future,” White said. “I am very excited to join this incredible team and to learn more about this business from the inside. There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level.

Zuckerberg is an avid MMA fan, and not long ago, there were briefly talks of White trying to put together an MMA fight between the Meta CEO and Tesla founder Elon Musk. That notion was short lived, but it’s been well documented that Zuckerberg is a consistent jiu-jitsu practitioner — and he has also been present at several UFC events.

Perhaps not coincidentally, White recently mentioned the possibility of using AI for UFC rankings after voicing his displeasure with the decision making of the promotion’s current, media-based panel.