Marc Andreessen Calls Elon Musk And Mark Zuckerberg 'Role Models' for Children, Defending Controversial Support For MMA

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen not only believes that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg's potential upcoming cage fight is a "good idea", but he goes a step further and calls them role models to children given their embrace of fighting. It's a provocative take, but Andreessen has his reasons.

What Happened: Instead of placing a bet on either Musk or Zuckerberg in their cage fight idea, Andreessen has underlined why they are role models to children and the advantages of mixed martial arts (MMA), in a column on The Free Press.

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Andreessen's fund, a16z, is an investor in Twitter – the Silicon Valley venture capital firm invested $400 million in the company when Musk took over. Interestingly, Andreessen is also on Meta Platforms Inc.'s META board.

"I further recommended to the audience that they have their children trained in MMA, as my wife and I are," Andreessen said, adding that he ‘enthusiastically' considers Musk and Zuckerberg to be role models to children.

Physical fights can lead to injuries and sometimes worse, which makes Andreessen's statement even more provocative. Kids trained in MMA could deliver lethal blows more than those not trained in it, so why would Andreessen recommend it?

Explaining his point, Andreessen says, "MMA teaches not just combat skills—and it does teach those—but also discipline, emotional control, respect, and a deep sense of responsibility."

To drive his opinion further, Andreessen said that these combat skills should be used in service of others, to defend and protect family, friends, and the community, not to start a fight. He stressed the importance of self-defense skills by stating that street-level violence is on the rise in some of the major US cities.

MMA Is ‘Primal' In The Story Of Human Civilization, Says Andreessen

MMA is a full-contact combat sport. It involves striking and grappling the opponent, incorporating fighting techniques from multiple other sports.

"MMA isn't just a sport. It's the sport. And today, like then, it has not just sporting elements but real-world utility," Andreessen added, adding that it is primal in "the story of our civilization".

Studies state that martial arts programs lead to a considerable improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, speed, agility, strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance among children.

It's not clear if the Musk vs Zuckerberg fight will happen, but both billionaires have begun training for it.

Image Credits – Shutterstock

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