The most anticipated cage fight between Elon Musk, the owner of X/Twitter, and Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, is unlikely to happen, which doesn’t come as a surprise to many.
Zuckerberg expressed his doubts about Musk’s commitment to mixed martial arts (MMA) on Sunday via Threads. He stated that he’s grown tired of waiting for Musk to confirm a date for their billionaire showdown, and as a result, Zuckerberg is moving forward with his own plans. However, he did leave the door open for Musk to reconnect if he’s genuinely ready to proceed.
“I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” Zuckerberg wrote. “I offered a real date. Dana White [President of Ultimate Fighting Championship] offered to turn this into a legitimate charity competition. Elon won’t confirm a date, first citing surgery and now suggesting a practice round in my backyard.”
“If Elon ever becomes serious about a real date and an official event, he knows how to contact me. Otherwise, it’s time to move forward. I’ll focus on competing with those who take the sport seriously.”
Meanwhile, Musk shared screenshots of a text exchange with Zuckerberg that showed he had indeed proposed a practice match at Zuckerberg’s home. These texts were initially shared by author Walter Isaacson after Musk allegedly sent them to him, and their authenticity was later confirmed by Musk.
“Want to have a practice match at your place next week?” Musk’s text read.
“If you genuinely want to have a real MMA fight, then you should train independently and let me know when you’re ready to compete,” Zuckerberg replied. “I don’t want to keep hyping something that’s never going to materialize, so either decide to commit and do it soon, or we should move on.”
“I’ll be in Palo Alto on Monday,” Musk responded boldly, sharing his location. “Let’s fight in your Octagon. I haven’t been practicing much, except for a brief sparring session with Lex Fridman today. While I consider it highly unlikely, given our size difference, perhaps you’re the modern-day Bruce Lee who will somehow win.”
In essence, Musk seems to want a practice round, while Zuckerberg is growing impatient and wants Musk to either commit or abandon the idea. Practice matches aren’t common in MMA, which makes Musk’s request somewhat contradictory to his bravado. However, Musk doesn’t perceive it this way, and he and his followers are playfully labeling Zuckerberg a “chicken” for not allowing him a trial run.
“He can’t eat at Chick-fil-A because that would be cannibalism,” Musk quipped, offering a playful remark reminiscent of a Back to the Future villain.
Zuckerberg hasn’t responded, seemingly content to let Musk continue his own pursuits far from his realm. Despite this, he hasn’t been entirely silent during this ongoing narrative. Last week, in response to a Threads post jesting that the fight “will take place on Mars in 2035,” Zuckerberg replied with a laughing emoji.
Photo Sources: Wild Trance & PostToast
