Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are taking the fight “deadly serious” and plans are already afoot in Las Vegas to stage a cage fight between the feuding Bay Area tech moguls.
Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, said Thursday that he spoke to the two billionaires to gauge their interest in a high-risk showdown at the Vegas Octagon, where his company hosts mixed martial arts fights.
“I probably spent an hour and a half on the phone with both of them last night,” White told TMZ. “Both are absolutely serious.”
The idea of a physical fight between two of the world’s richest men gained traction after Tesla CEO Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion last year, responded to a tweet that suggested Meta Platforms, owned by Zuckerberg managed company to develop a competing service.
“I’m ready for a cage fight if he does that,” Musk said. To which Zuckerberg responded via Instagram, owned by Meta, with the primitive phrase, “Send me the location.”
A spokesperson for Meta said in a statement that the story “speaks for itself.” And it started from there.
On Saturday, Musk confirmed that the proposed cage fight “could actually happen.”
During a Twitter Spaces conversation with senior Bloomberg reporter Ashlee Vance, the 51-year-old Twitter owner admitted he hadn’t started working out yet but was ready.
“I spend my time as needed,” Musk said. “I don’t usually have to fight people.”
Andrew Tate, the controversial social media personality and former professional kickboxer currently facing rape and human trafficking charges in Romania, volunteered to help get Musk into fighting shape. In a tweet addressed to the Twitter owner, Tate said: “i will train you. You won’t lose.”
Zuckerberg, 39, has extensive training in mixed martial arts. Last month he successfully competed in his first Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament in Woodside, defeating an Uber engineer and winning two medals.
The odds makers favor Zuckerberg in the possible cage fight.
“Zuckerberg is 12 years younger and competed in an intense challenge where he ran a mile, completed 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups and 300 squats before running another mile, all while wearing a 20-pound weighted vest. said Johnny Avello, director of racing and sports operations for sportsbook DraftKings, in a statement.
White predicts the proposed fight would draw even more attention than the $600 million match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather in 2017. According to White, the pay-per-view cost of following the tech moguls’ brawl in the Las Vegas Octagon could reach $100, above the standard $80 fee.
The UFC president expects the event to generate record-breaking sales of more than $1 billion.
“I don’t think either of them needs the money,” White said, suggesting that the money be funneled to a charity.
White did not speculate if the fight would actually take place. “If these guys are serious, I put on fights that people want to see,” he said. “That’s how I earn my living.”
Reach out to Aidin Vaziri: [email protected]