Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg underwent surgery on Friday after he suffered a knee injury while training for an upcoming mixed martial arts competition. In the photos shared on Instagram, he is seen on a hospital bed with his left leg bandaged and in a supportive leg brace. He said that the surgery was needed after tearing his ACL while sparring.
He wrote, ''Tore my ACL sparring and just got out of surgery to replace it. Grateful for the doctors and team taking care of me. I was training for a competitive MMA fight early next year, but now that's delayed a bit. Still looking forward to doing it after I recover. Thanks to everyone for the love and support.''
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Notably, ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament, a strong band of tissue that helps connect the thigh bone to the shin bone. Such injuries usually occur during sports that involve ''sudden stops or changes in direction, jumping, and landing'', according to the Mayo Clinic. Such an injury is often accompanied by the sound or feeling of a pop in the knee.
According to Stanford Medicine, rehabilitation for ACL surgery can take several months, with most athletes returning to full activity nine to 12 months after the procedure.
His followers wished him a speedy recovery. One user wrote, ''So sorry to hear that Mark! Wishing you a speedy recovery.'' Another commented, ''Going to heal back stronger. This is the way, Wishing you the speediest of recoveries!''
Notably, Mr Zuckerberg has trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a self-defense martial art, for more than a year and won an amateur tournament. In July this year, he was awarded his blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by his coach.
Last month, he posted a selfie on Instagram, showing his face swollen and marked by multiple bruises under the eyes and on the nose. The Meta CEO explained that it happened when sparring, a common training method in combat sports, got out of hand.
Earlier this year, there was also a talk of a potential cage match between Mr Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, following a public exchange between the two tech moguls on social media. Several weeks later, Meta CEO said Mr. Musk "isn't serious" about the fight and that it was "time to move on".
''I think we can all agree Elon isn't serious and it's time to move on. I offered a real date. Dana White offered to make this a legitimate competition for charity. Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead. If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously,'' he wrote on Threads.
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