Sunday, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg reintroduced a proposed mixed martial arts match with Twitter purchaser Elon Musk by declaring, “I’m ready.”
In recent weeks, talk of a “cage match” between tech titans appeared to subside, but on Sunday morning, Musk announced that his platform, now known as X, will livestream the still-unscheduled match.
“The fight between Zuck and Musk will be live-streamed on X,” Musk, 52, announced on his platform. All proceeds will be donated to veteran charities.
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Zuckerberg had not verified this information publicly. Also on Sunday, in response to Musk’s claim on X that he has been “preparing for the fight,” Zuckerberg stated on his newest social media platform, Threads, “I’m ready today.”
“I suggested August 26 when he first challenged, but he hasn’t confirmed,” Zuckerberg, age 39, wrote. “Not holding my breath.”
Forbes’ most recent annual ranking places Musk and Zuckerberg as the second and sixteenth wealthiest individuals on the planet, respectively. Zuckerberg claims to be self-taught; Musk studied physics and engineering.
Zuckerberg rolled out Threads, a Twitter-like platform, in a clear attempt to capitalize on users’ and advertisers’ mounting dissatisfaction with Musk’s leadership at the platform that would become X.
Musk tweeted on June 20: “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options.”
An X user joked that Musk should be careful with his words because Zuckerberg practices jiujitsu, one of the fundamental disciplines of mixed martial arts, and Musk responded, “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.”
In early July, it was alleged that a Musk attorney had sent a letter to Meta alleging that the company had misappropriated Twitter’s trade secrets and hired ex-employees prior to Threads’ unexpected debut on July 5.
Andy Stone, the director of communications for Meta, responded to allegations of the letter on Threads, stating, “No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.”
Currently, the dispute appears to be bound for the cage rather than the courtroom.
Musk of Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Co., and X, and Zuckerberg of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, had yet to agree on a date, format, venue, and set of norms for their meeting.
Both appear to have settled on “cage fighting,” a colloquial term that generally alludes to the integral role that physical barriers play in mixed martial arts by trapping opponents, deflecting blows, and bouncing back from attacks.
Thin mitts are worn in mixed martial arts, elbow and knee strikes are generally permitted, with a few exceptions, and wrestling adds a new dimension to the strategy.
Modern mixed martial arts began as a gory, bone-breaking, last-man-standing sideshow in the desert dive bars and barren halls between urban Southern California and Las Vegas, prompting the late Arizona Senator John McCain to infamously refer to it as “human cockfighting” in 1996.
But money, popularity, and television have given the sport a thorough cleaning, and referees are usually fast to intervene during one-sided beatings.
It is assumed that the Big Tech fight will resemble mainstream mixed martial arts contests, such as those of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which utilize a 25-foot-diameter arena known as “the octagon.” The ring contains a five-foot-nine-inch-tall, plastic-coated fencing barrier with eight sides.
The New York Times reported in July that Dana White, the UFC president based in Las Vegas, was attempting to coordinate the Big Tech match.
According to the publication, White has had frequent phone calls with both men since Zuckerberg reached out to him in order to set up a date.
