Although tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been teasing a supposed mixed martial arts fight for weeks, the event seemed to be on the cusp of becoming reality in recent days.
After earlier indicating that he would need to wait until an MRI determined whether he would need surgery, Musk subsequently indicated on his social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — that the cage match would take place after all.
The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC).
Livestream will be on this platform and Meta. Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all.
I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture. They have agreed on an epic location.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2023
He indicated that the event would be livestreamed on the two fighters’ respective platforms and the proceeds would benefit veterans.
Although Musk signaled that the fight would take place in an “epic location” in Italy. Although some believed it to be a reference to the Roman Colosseum, Italy’s minister of culture indicated that the fight would not be held in Rome.
In any case, Musk’s tweet did not confirm a date. Since then, Zuckerberg has pushed back against the notion that a fight is in the works, claiming that Musk is not treating the event seriously.
“I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me,” the Meta CEO posted on Saturday. “If he ever agrees on an actual date, you’ll hear it from me.
The next day, he wrote: “I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on. I offered a real date. [UFC President] Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead.”
Zuckerberg concluded that if Musk “ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me,” adding: “Otherwise, time to move on. I’m going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously.”
For his part, however, Musk shared screenshots of his conversation with Zuckerberg, which seemed to indicate that he is prepared to fight at any time.
In direct response to the allegation that he was not serious about the fight, Musk insinuated that Zuckerberg was afraid to take him on, writing: “He can’t eat at chic fil a [sic] because that would be cannibalism.”
