Musk says MMA fight will be streamed on X; Zuckerberg says, ‘I’m ready.’
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg put a proposed mixed martial arts bout with Twitter buyer Elon Musk back in play Sunday by saying Sunday, “I’m ready.”
Talk of a “cage match” between the titans of tech seemed to die down in recent weeks, but on Sunday morning Musk announced his platform, now called X, will livestream the bout, which still lacks a date.
“Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on 𝕏,” Musk, 52, said on his platform. “All proceeds will go to charity for veterans.”
Zuckerberg had not publicly confirmed that information. Also on Sunday, responding a Musk statement on X that he’s been “preparing for the fight,” Zuckerberg said on Threads, his newest social media platform, “I’m ready today.”
“I suggested Aug 26 when he first challenged, but he hasn’t confirmed,” Zuckerberg, 39, wrote. “Not holding my breath.”
The Facebook co-founder says he’s a self-taught programmer; Musk studied physics and engineering.
Musk and Zuckerberg are the second and sixteenth richest people on the planet, respectively, according to Forbes‘ last annual accounting.
Their friendly rivalry got a little salty in recent months as Zuckerberg rolled out a Twitter-like platform, Threads, in a clear move to take advantage of users’ and advertisers’ growing dissatisfaction with Musk’s reign at the platform that would become X.
“I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options,” Musk tweeted June 20.
When an X user joked that Musk better watch his words because Zuckerberg trains in jiu jitsu, the Brazilian combat sport that is one of the core disciplines in mixed martial arts, Musk responded, “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.”
In early July the potential for pain got real when it was reported that a Musk attorney sent a letter to Meta alleging that it had misappropriated Twitter’s trade secrets and hired ex-employees in the lead-up to Threads’ surprising debut July 5.
Meta’s communications director, Andy Stone, responded to reports of the letter, saying on Threads, “No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.”
For now, the dispute seems headed for the cage instead of the courtroom.
The two Big Tech leaders, Musk of Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Co., and X, and Musk of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, had yet agree on a date, a format, a venue, and rules.
Both seem to have settled on “cage fighting,” an informal term that generally refers to the integral role played by the physical barriers in mixed martial arts, as they’re used to trap foes, fend off blows, and rebound from attacks.
In MMA, thin gloves are warn, elbows and knees are generally allowed, with key exceptions, and wrestling adds another dimension to strategy.
Contemporary MMA started as a bloody, bone-breaking, last-man-standing sideshow in the desert dive bars and barren halls between urban Southern California and Las Vegas, prompting late Sen. John McCain to famously characterize them as “human cockfighting” in 1996.
But money, popularity and television have given the sport a deep cleaning, and bouts are heavily moderated by referees who are usually quick to step in during one-sided beatings.
It seems assumed the Big Tech fight would echo mainstream mixed martial arts bouts like those of Ultimate Fighting Championship, which use a 25 foot diameter venue called “the octagon.” The ring includes an eight-sided barrier made of plastic coated fencing and measuring 5 feet, 9 inches.
In July, the New York Times reported that Dana White, president of Las Vegas-based UFC, was trying to organize the Big Tech bout.
After Zuckerberg reached out to him, the publication said, White has had regular phone calls with both men in an attempt to get them to settle on a date.
