• UFC CEO Dana White wants to change the sport’s ranking system.
• White said he spoke with Mark Zuckerberg about how artificial intelligence could help.
• Zuckerberg shared his passion for MMA online.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could help improve the UFC’s ranking system, which has become a point of contention for UFC CEO Dana White.

White spoke to TNT Sports last week about the UFC’s ranking system UFC 308which on Saturday saw undefeated Ilia Topuria defend his featherweight title against Max Holloway in Abu Dhabi.

During the interview, the UFC president said the current ranking system “drives me crazy.”

The ranking system is generated by a voting group of media members from selected channels. Members vote on who they think are the best fighters based on weight class and pound-for-pound ranking. This system has been in use since 2013.

“I could go on and on and on, but I won’t,” White said. “We literally had meetings this week to work on it. In fact, I also talked to Mark Zuckerberg about AI.”

The Meta co-founder has spoken several times about his passion for mixed martial arts. During a 2022 interview with podcast host Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg said he got into mixed martial arts because it requires your full attention.

“What’s one thing that’s so physically and intellectually super-engaging that you can’t afford to focus on anything else?” Zuckerberg said. “I think to some extent it’s like MMA is a perfect thing because if you stop paying attention for a second, you’re going to end up on the floor.”

Zuckerberg chronicled his martial arts journey on his Instagram account. He shared a video of himself training with Khai Wu in 2022 and pictures of himself after winning a blue belt in jiu-jitsu in 2023.

Zuckerberg has also attended UFC events. White almost helped organize a fight between Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

White has criticized the UFC’s ranking system in the past, including during a press conference earlier this month.

“I can’t stand the incompetence,” White said, adding that he would rather the UFC not handle the rankings.

White then talked about artificial intelligence, telling reporters that “there has to be a third party or AI or something that does the rankings.”

“I think there’s bias in the media as well. It’s impossible not to be biased,” White said.

Representatives for the UFC and Meta did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.