Mark Zuckerberg is a farse…all he cares about is his $$$$. I would not trust him as far as I could throw him. He's a liar and trying to save his face and his $$$$. Fuck fb
These fucking tech bros believe some CRAZY shit and some of them believe they are going to become immortal via tech and Zuck seems to believe he'll be a 21st Century Augustus Caesar.. Wish I was kidding!
Perfect timing of announcement to boost UFC profile before this weekends return ton fights after a month away. Free PR for UFC 311 next week and huge boost for TKO with all they have going on.
HOWEVER!
Dana states the people covering the sport of MMA do not know anything about MMA and rankings, so now they are going to something not real to do them? Makes no sense. 🥺
I'm extremely bearish on this whole iteration of AI or Large Language Models.
Zuckerberg knows Meta customers do NOT want AI slop all over their feeds but the whole tech world is convinced AI is the last great hope for a massive new world-changing innovation.
Other than the Bitcoin casino, blockchain hasn't amounted to anything, certainly not "Web 3.0"
And how many billion$ did Zuckerberg flush down "the metaverse" hole? Guy is clearly capable of some dumbass decisions.
They are desperate for AI to be as revolutionary as the iPhone but according to critics like tech journalist Ed Zitron and AI expert Gary Marcus they're throwing billions of dollars down a rat hole.
How I miss the days of media and fan discourse shaping rankings. We never did have a "The Ring" of MMA, and I think its absence (and a generation of fans who didn't realize what they were missing without one) was another reason the UFC could so easily take rankings in-house and pretend like no one outside of their roster mattered.
I'm glad you brought up Marcus; he's often maligned by the AI boosters and their investors despite having called the shortcomings of deep learning over a decade ago. Prior to the LLM boom we currently find ourselves in, his book with Ernest Davis made a compelling point that AI needs to move beyond statistical inference back to reincorporating (the frankly harder and, as a result abandoned, approach of) symbolic reasoning. Basically, AI still lacks common sense which...I dunno', would maybe be integral to the exercise of building sensible rankings?
There's no denying Zuckerberg likes MMA and grappling, but I think it's just a strange bit of serendipity and convergence that his newfound hobby aligns so well with the incoming administration, his spiky relationship with government and its history of (warranted, if clumsy) scrutiny, and his desperate tinkering in things like VR, and now AI in order to find a new platform that he alone can corner the market on. When FB became the domain exclusively of boomers and elder millennials, coupled with Apple giving users the option to lock FB and IG out of app data collection, growth hit a surprise wall; Zuck needed a new racket to justify that stock price. That's why he's been so willing to burn so much money on the Metaverse since it's a platform he'll control, rather than Apple or Google. The same with AI now since they've got a much better foundation to build from there than they ever did with VR. (FWIW, Meta has a long history of releasing pretty decent open source ML/AI models and tools.)
Come to think, these developments all sound like variations of stuff you and Zach have been writing about. AI rankings are just an unfortunate side effect to the billionaires looking for ways to gain more money and power.
of course those relied on 1) multiple independent voices doing rankings we could aggregate and 2) some competition for the UFC that allowed fighters to sometimes cross over from promotion to promotion.
Ah yes, I remember those days. I kind of miss them and the discussions they fostered in the community. Talking ( and often complaining) about rankings on forums and in comment sections was a way of life for fight fans then.
I think there's still an argument for having independent rankings today, even if for minor reasons. I recently returned to the MMA fold after years away with UFC 310 because a friend invited me over and it was headlined by a Japanese fighter in Asakura he'd never heard of. Sure, Pantoja cleaned out his division, but with the UFC basically pretending no one else but them exists and this unknown-to-the-UFC crowd Japanese dude getting a title shot in his UFC debut (the machinations of Dana and Sakakibara not withstanding), having a ranking system that considers non-UFC talent might have gone some ways to mitigate my friend's bewilderment here. I could imagine there were other fight fans who experienced the same, even if they've never considered independent rankings to be the answer.
The problem is that it's almost impossible to rank fighters when there is little to no cross-over competition.
Also the UFC would exile anyone who did independent rankings and since they've cultivated a sycophantic fanbase and media that would be death for a lot of creators.
I've followed the story. I tend to agree with those who say he's getting played by ops. They're trying desperately to drum up another war before Trump gets in there.
I can't believe "the Resistance" is more belligerent than "the Donald" but here we are.
Max Blumenthal has a good tweet on Sara Adams: "Former "CIA targeter" @TPASarah of the Shawn Ryan Show (which first obtained the cybertruck bomber manifesto) has to be one of the biggest fraudsters in a counter-terror industry filled with them. She's selling low IQ MAGA types on the inevitability of "a large 9-11 style attack – but it's more like the Hamas attack" inside America in the near future. Adams' sources are unnamed, referred to simply as "we," because they don't exist. If she had any classified info, revealing it on a podcast would violate the top secret security clearance she supposedly possesses. Naturally, she prescribes more mass surveillance and invasive airport security as the only logical response to the imminent 9-11/Hamas October 7 suicide bomber mega-attack on the Homeland."
yes, very very crazy. dealing with the rot of the exiting administration and their (still ongoing) crazy bullshit and the crazy bullshit of the incoming administration.
Mark Zuckerberg is a farse…all he cares about is his $$$$. I would not trust him as far as I could throw him. He's a liar and trying to save his face and his $$$$. Fuck fb
oh it's not just $$$, he is also after power.
These fucking tech bros believe some CRAZY shit and some of them believe they are going to become immortal via tech and Zuck seems to believe he'll be a 21st Century Augustus Caesar.. Wish I was kidding!
I can't stand Zuckerberg. He will continue to deceive. He's a brilliant idiot. Again, f ck fb.
Curious to see John Elkann's name in this story. I wonder what the heir and responsible person for the Agnelli fortune has to do with this?
my guess is Zuck likes the cars
Perfect timing of announcement to boost UFC profile before this weekends return ton fights after a month away. Free PR for UFC 311 next week and huge boost for TKO with all they have going on.
HOWEVER!
Dana states the people covering the sport of MMA do not know anything about MMA and rankings, so now they are going to something not real to do them? Makes no sense. 🥺
I'm extremely bearish on this whole iteration of AI or Large Language Models.
Zuckerberg knows Meta customers do NOT want AI slop all over their feeds but the whole tech world is convinced AI is the last great hope for a massive new world-changing innovation.
Other than the Bitcoin casino, blockchain hasn't amounted to anything, certainly not "Web 3.0"
And how many billion$ did Zuckerberg flush down "the metaverse" hole? Guy is clearly capable of some dumbass decisions.
They are desperate for AI to be as revolutionary as the iPhone but according to critics like tech journalist Ed Zitron and AI expert Gary Marcus they're throwing billions of dollars down a rat hole.
Check out their stuff:
https://garymarcus.substack.com/
https://www.wheresyoured.at/
How I miss the days of media and fan discourse shaping rankings. We never did have a "The Ring" of MMA, and I think its absence (and a generation of fans who didn't realize what they were missing without one) was another reason the UFC could so easily take rankings in-house and pretend like no one outside of their roster mattered.
I'm glad you brought up Marcus; he's often maligned by the AI boosters and their investors despite having called the shortcomings of deep learning over a decade ago. Prior to the LLM boom we currently find ourselves in, his book with Ernest Davis made a compelling point that AI needs to move beyond statistical inference back to reincorporating (the frankly harder and, as a result abandoned, approach of) symbolic reasoning. Basically, AI still lacks common sense which...I dunno', would maybe be integral to the exercise of building sensible rankings?
There's no denying Zuckerberg likes MMA and grappling, but I think it's just a strange bit of serendipity and convergence that his newfound hobby aligns so well with the incoming administration, his spiky relationship with government and its history of (warranted, if clumsy) scrutiny, and his desperate tinkering in things like VR, and now AI in order to find a new platform that he alone can corner the market on. When FB became the domain exclusively of boomers and elder millennials, coupled with Apple giving users the option to lock FB and IG out of app data collection, growth hit a surprise wall; Zuck needed a new racket to justify that stock price. That's why he's been so willing to burn so much money on the Metaverse since it's a platform he'll control, rather than Apple or Google. The same with AI now since they've got a much better foundation to build from there than they ever did with VR. (FWIW, Meta has a long history of releasing pretty decent open source ML/AI models and tools.)
Come to think, these developments all sound like variations of stuff you and Zach have been writing about. AI rankings are just an unfortunate side effect to the billionaires looking for ways to gain more money and power.
One thing no one remembers is the Bloody Elbow Meta-Rankings which became the USA Today/SB Nation rankings.
That died when Vox bought MMA Fighting and USA Today bought MMA Junkie.
Then the UFC "official rankings" was the coup de grace.
But there for a couple years we had it going on.
of course those relied on 1) multiple independent voices doing rankings we could aggregate and 2) some competition for the UFC that allowed fighters to sometimes cross over from promotion to promotion.
Ah yes, I remember those days. I kind of miss them and the discussions they fostered in the community. Talking ( and often complaining) about rankings on forums and in comment sections was a way of life for fight fans then.
I think there's still an argument for having independent rankings today, even if for minor reasons. I recently returned to the MMA fold after years away with UFC 310 because a friend invited me over and it was headlined by a Japanese fighter in Asakura he'd never heard of. Sure, Pantoja cleaned out his division, but with the UFC basically pretending no one else but them exists and this unknown-to-the-UFC crowd Japanese dude getting a title shot in his UFC debut (the machinations of Dana and Sakakibara not withstanding), having a ranking system that considers non-UFC talent might have gone some ways to mitigate my friend's bewilderment here. I could imagine there were other fight fans who experienced the same, even if they've never considered independent rankings to be the answer.
The problem is that it's almost impossible to rank fighters when there is little to no cross-over competition.
Also the UFC would exile anyone who did independent rankings and since they've cultivated a sycophantic fanbase and media that would be death for a lot of creators.
Zuck doesn't have enough money... He's trying to hold onto this rank. In the end, we will all die, so if he thinks he is something... He's nothing.
My man! Love it. Appreciate links. Side note you listen to Shawn Ryan stuff?
I've followed the story. I tend to agree with those who say he's getting played by ops. They're trying desperately to drum up another war before Trump gets in there.
I can't believe "the Resistance" is more belligerent than "the Donald" but here we are.
Even the Sara Adams stuff is crazy. Crazy world we live in
Whitney Webb is a must follow https://x.com/_whitneywebb/status/1876765038096060754
I Love Love Love Whitney ❤️❤️. She tells it like it is. Pray to the Lord for her protection. ❤️🙏✝️
Max Blumenthal has a good tweet on Sara Adams: "Former "CIA targeter" @TPASarah of the Shawn Ryan Show (which first obtained the cybertruck bomber manifesto) has to be one of the biggest fraudsters in a counter-terror industry filled with them. She's selling low IQ MAGA types on the inevitability of "a large 9-11 style attack – but it's more like the Hamas attack" inside America in the near future. Adams' sources are unnamed, referred to simply as "we," because they don't exist. If she had any classified info, revealing it on a podcast would violate the top secret security clearance she supposedly possesses. Naturally, she prescribes more mass surveillance and invasive airport security as the only logical response to the imminent 9-11/Hamas October 7 suicide bomber mega-attack on the Homeland."
https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1878293563550646336
This is very interesting and sucks we dont know who to believe🤦♂️
yes, very very crazy. dealing with the rot of the exiting administration and their (still ongoing) crazy bullshit and the crazy bullshit of the incoming administration.
Fantastic read.
Also very much looking forward to the coming pieces from Zack as mentioned in the story.
2025 is gonna be a great one!!!
thanks! We think so, too!