It was a secret all fight week in late September: why had the UFC closed its doors to fans and media? Why were they hosting a card not just without an audience, but with seemingly no one in attendance beyond necessary staff? Rumors ran wild, but the truth couldn’t be contained for long. The world’s largest MMA promotion became a private function for one of the world’s richest men, Mark Zuckerberg, so that he and his wife could enjoy the event without rubbing elbows with the hoi polloi.
The move sparked some serious blowback from fans, and even a few former fighters, who saw the decision to close the Apex to the public as something of a slap in the face from both from the promotion and from billionaire Facebook CEO.