By: Richard Zhao

Last month, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Twitter, and SpaceX, challenged Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, to a “cage fight.” This event is starting to look more and more like reality and less like an internet stunt.

Zuckerberg contacted the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White, the day after he received the public challenge by Musk. White said that since that night, he has been talking daily with the two billionaires to organize the event.

The two have been at each other’s throats for years. Zuckerberg often criticizes Musk’s rockets, while Musk laments out the data privacy scandals at Meta. Recently, Zuckerberg also organized a team at Meta to work on a competitor to Musk’s Twitter.

White said that the fight would take place in Las Vegas, while Musk tweeted on Thursday that the fight could also take place in the Roman Colosseum. Both billionaires are aided by advisers, with Zuckerberg’s friends supporting the match. One of Musk’s advisors stated that while Musk hates sports and never worked out regularly, no one could rule anything out with him. Despite being in relatively bad shape compared to Zuckerberg, Musk’s attitude towards the fight suggests that there is a likely chance that he ends up accepting the offer.

White does have some concerns about the event. Musk is 52 years old, while Zuckerberg is 39. Musk is also at least 70 pounds heavier than Zuckerberg, which is a problem because contenders are usually matched up based on weight classes in mixed martial art fights.

Zuckerberg is already used to Ultimate Fighting Champion, or U.F.C., style fights. He has been training in his garage since 2021 and regularly spars with friends. Additionally, Zuckerberg has sought out teachers and even took place in a public martial arts tournament, in which he won gold and silver medals.

While Zuckerberg is putting together his training montage, Musk is in much worse shape. Once, Musk had to get surgery for an injury after participating in an exhibition with a sumo wrestler, so there is a chance that he might suffer another injury at the hands of Zuckerberg. “He made that very clear: “‘I’m not going to lose any weight,’” White said of Musk’s strategy.

Despite most advisors of the billionaires supporting the challenge, some of them don’t want the two billionaires to fight it out in the arena. Two people close to Zuckerberg say that they think the fight will be a distraction and a waste of time for Zuckerberg. Musk’s mother also seems to be concerned, tweeting “Don’t encourage this match!” along with two frowning emojis. Still, many people are looking forward to what White refers to as “the biggest fight in the history of combat sports.”

Source:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/technology/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cage-match.html