UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall shared that he inadvertently left Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on unread for several months. Aspinall, who is set to headline UFC London on July 23rd, recounted the amusing story during a recent interview.
Aspinall explained that Zuckerberg, an avid MMA fan, had reached out to congratulate him after a recent fight. However, the message ended up in Aspinall’s “other” inbox on Facebook, where requests from non-friends are filtered. It wasn’t until Aspinall was visiting the Meta headquarters in New York that he discovered Zuckerberg’s message.
“When we actually realized that he messaged me, I was quite mortified,” Aspinall said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, how did you find out that you did?’ because we were at Meta, and the guy we were speaking to was talking about Mark Zuckerberg, and he said, ‘Oh, I think he follows you.'”
Aspinall then tried to reach out to Zuckerberg, only to discover that he had left the Facebook founder on unread for a few months. To Aspinall’s surprise, Zuckerberg was very gracious about the oversight, replying promptly and offering his congratulations.
“He was very nice about it, very great,” Aspinall said. “He just said congratulations after my fight and stuff.”
For Aspinall, the experience serves as a reminder that even the most high-profile individuals, like the founder of one of the world’s largest tech companies, can sometimes get lost in the digital shuffle. As he prepares for his upcoming interim title defense, Aspinall can take comfort in knowing that he has the support of both his fans and even the tech titans who are captivated by the sport of MMA.
