Mark Zuckerberg has undergone surgery after injuring his knee while training in mixed martial arts.

The billionaire Facebook founder said in a social media post that he tore his ACL while sparring, part of his training for a competitive MMA fight early next year.

“Now that’s delayed a bit,” the 39-year-old wrote. “Still looking forward to doing it after I recover.”

Mr Zuckerberg has been practicing martial arts since 2020, after taking an interest in the sport early in the pandemic. He won gold and silver medals at his first Brazilian jiu jitsu competition in Redwood City, California in May.

He posted a picture of his left leg bandaged and suspended, with a fist raised.

Mr Zuckerberg also shared a picture of his wife, Priscilla Chan, wiping his forehead and putting a flip-flop on the foot of his injured leg.

In June, Elon Musk, aged 51, challenged his fellow tech giant to a “cage fight” after Instagram, owned by Mr Zuckerberg’s company Meta, reported plans to build a text-based social media platform called “Threads” to rival Twitter.

Mr Zuckerberg responded with the words “send me the location”.

The fight was reportedly meant to take place at the Colosseum in Rome, but this was later ruled out by the Italian government.

After nearly two months of insults and hesitation, Mr Zuckerberg told Mr Musk over text that he did not “want to keep hyping something that will never happen”, according to Forbes.

An ACL tear is a common injury among athletes and happens when the anterior cruciate ligament, which connects the thigh bone to the shinbone at the knee, is ripped. The post-surgery recovery time is usually between six and nine months.

Prominent sports figures like former NFL cornerback Darrelle Revis, and Ultimate Fighting Championship stars, sent messages of support to the ailing Mr Zuckerberg.

“Speedy recovery Mark!” said ex-UFC flyweight champion and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo. “We got this,” wrote current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Mr Zuckerberg is one of several famous people to have taken up martial arts in recent years. Ashton Kutcher started jiu jitsu more than a decade ago, while Tom Hardy also competes in the UK.