Photo via PFL MMA PR
Khai Wu on Bellator merger and if Mark Zuckerberg will be at PFL cageside
Khai Wu collides with Phil Caracappa in a bantamweight bout scheduled for November 24th under the Professional Fighters League banner. The excerpts from our interaction at the PFL 2023 World Championships pre-fight press conference are below.
Khai Wu
You had a recent post talking about the PFL-Bellator buyout. You stated how it was kind of surreal being that you fought for Bellator in 2018. I think you’ve got interesting localized insights. What are your thoughts on this recent promotional merger between PFL and Bellator?
Khai Wu said, “Man, I think it is still surreal. Like I was chatting with my teammates and all that. It’s like, who would have thought we’d end up here? Like a lot of people will say be realistic but you know, a lot of the things that have happened I think are very unrealistic. What timing, you know what I mean? To be a part of this historical moment in MMA where I fought for Bellator 2018. I wanted to fight for them again, and then years later, five years later, after being a pro, I’m signed with PFL.”
“On the fight week, they announce the merger. On top of that, the fact that I’m the first PFL bantamweight fight. It’s just a lot of like historical moments kind of going on. One thing I learned back when I was fighting for Bellator is I never really took in the moments. Now I’m just kind of like enjoying it, letting it soak it, you know, letting it feel. Like letting the feelings kind of just go through. As opposed to just going like man, this is awesome and then just forgetting to kind of enjoy the moment. So I’m really enjoying this moment now.”
PFL 2023 World Championships
I love hearing how present you can be for all of this. Just a quick follow-up question to that. Because Mark Zuckerberg, Wu’s training partner, was mentioned and I saw you got to see him compete. Is he going to be returning the favor? Will the Meta figurehead be getting to see you compete in the smart cage at the PFL 2023 World Championships event?
Khai Wu quipped, “I’m sure at some point, but I think it’s kind of the tough part about that is it’s this week where it’s like Thanksgiving. Like my family isn’t even coming just because you know, there’s a lot of like moving parts, not so easy. Also, I think what’s nice is this fight is broadcasted on ESPN, you know. So for everyone that wants to watch they could just tune in there and see me all around the world.”
“I know I have a lot of fans over in Asia that (are) finally getting to see me on the big screen you know. Instead of you know the smaller shows or this and that. Now it’s like official on ESPN. So I’m excited about that. So I think he (Zuckerberg) might be tuning in there. I don’t know. He’s kind of a busy guy, kind of runs a company.”
