It all began with a challenge. Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla, went onto social media to invite Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, to a cage match. The very next day, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White, received a text confirming if the match was serious.
Mr. White then reached out to Musk to confirm, and the answer was true. After informing Zuckerberg, he went onto Instagram to request a location.
Mark Zuckberg, CEO of Meta, and Dana White, President of the UFC, in Las Vegas (2022).
Since this time, Mr. White has claimed to have been working every night to arrange the competition between the two tech billionaires. White has said with absolute certainty “…they both want to do it.”
What Has Been Confirmed So Far
Despite the interest and attempt at organizing the showdown, there is still no set date for the match to take place. However, some things have indeed been confirmed.
- The cage match would be an exhibition outside of rights deals and the official jurisdiction of the UFC.
- Musk and Zuckerberg have expressed interest in having the match be tied to some sort of charity.
- The preferred location is in Las Vegas, but this requires the Nevada Athletic Commission’s approval.
- In spite of rumors afloat that the match is canceled, Zuckerberg has still expressed interest on Threads, saying he’ll do it any time.
Elon Musk has teased audiences into believing that the fight could take place directly in the Roman Colosseum.
Zuckerberg, 39, and Musk, 52, have a significant age disparity. While Zuckerberg’s advisors and friends have shown a general degree of support for the match, others believe the fight would be a waste of time. Conversely, one individual close to Musk has stated that he mostly hates sports and would not have the discipline needed to train and get in shape.
We have two guys that have never professionally fought, and they’re in two completely different weight classes…[still], it will be the biggest fight in the history of combat sports.
Dana White, UFC President
Still, assuming this cage match happens, it will be one of the most memorable and discussed spectacles in the history of the information technology industry.
The two tech billionaires have walked a rickety bridge for years in terms of business practices and general philosophies. From criticisms between Meta’s data privacy scandals, and the usefulness of SpaceX’s rockets, to the more recent Twitter competitor from Instagram, there is deep-rooted animosity.
Although Musk claims to never work out, once suffering a back injury that demanded surgery, he has trained in full contact Kyokushin, judo, and no-rules streetfighting.
Popular podcaster Lex Fridman posted pictures of himself training with Musk in Judo. Fridman has also trained with Zuckerberg in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The same day, Georges St-Pierre, a UFC legend, 42, offered to step in and also help Musk.
Zuckerberg is no stranger to mixed martial arts, especially jiujitsu, having been on a strict diet and workout regimen. Furthermore, he recently posted his completion of the Murph challenge which requires a series of running miles, hundreds of squats, pull-ups, and push-ups while wearing body armor of military grade.