In an unexpected turn of events, Elon Musk, the CEO of X (formerly known as Twitter), has revealed private messages between himself and his tech rival, Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to either commit to their proposed $1 billion super fight or abandon the idea. The revelation came on Monday, shaking the tech and sports worlds alike.
According to a report by Daily Mail, the exchange between Zuckerberg and Musk began when Musk tweeted that he was “up for a cage fight” with his fellow billionaire. Zuckerberg, not one to back down, responded with the words, “Send me location,” indicating his willingness to engage in the showdown.
Musk took this exchange further by sharing the conversation with biographer Walter Isaacson. In this leaked exchange, Zuckerberg expressed his doubts about continuing to hype an event that might never come to fruition. This raised questions about the seriousness of their intentions regarding the proposed super fight.
UFC president Dana White weighed in on the matter, confirming that both Zuckerberg and Musk were genuinely interested in organizing an MMA showdown that could potentially generate over $1 billion in revenue. White even revealed that discussions had taken place with the Italian Minister of Culture about hosting the battle at the historic Colosseum in Rome, one of the world’s seven wonders.
However, Zuckerberg seems to be reconsidering the fight’s feasibility. He took to his new social-media platform Threads to express his skepticism, writing, “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me.” This statement suggests that Zuckerberg is demanding a clear commitment from Musk if the fight is to proceed.
Adding more fuel to the fire, Musk leaked a screenshot of his private messages with Zuckerberg over the weekend. The conversation revealed that Musk had proposed a “practice bout” at his mansion in Palo Alto, an offer that Zuckerberg reacted negatively to. Zuckerberg had recently constructed an Octagon on his property in preparation for the potential fight, which reportedly caused tension with his wife Priscilla Chan.
The leaked exchange between the tech titans also received validation from American author Walter Isaacson, who is set to release a biography on Musk in the coming month. Isaacson posted a snapshot on X of Musk sending him the conversation with Zuckerberg, accompanied by the caption “Wow.”
In the screenshot, Zuckerberg responded to Musk’s challenge for a practice bout in his Octagon, stating, “If you still want to do a real MMA fight, then you should train on your own and let me know when you’re ready to compete. I don’t want to keep hyping something that will never happen, so you should either decide you’re going to do this and do it soon, or we should move on.”
Musk’s full response, as reported by Business Insider, was, “I have not been practicing much, apart from a brief bout with Lex Fridman today. While I think it is very unlikely, given our size difference, perhaps you are a modern-day Bruce Lee and will somehow win.”
Zuckerberg’s subsequent Threads post appeared to confirm the authenticity of the leaked messages. He addressed the offer for a practice bout and questioned Musk’s commitment to a genuine contest. “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I’m going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously,” Zuckerberg stated, leaving the future of this much-discussed showdown uncertain.
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