Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t think his fight with Elon Musk will ever happen.
“I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” Zuckerberg, 39, wrote via Threads on Sunday, August 13. “I offered a real date. [UFC President] Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity.”
The Facebook founder went on to blame Musk, who owns X (formerly known as Twitter), for scheduling issues.
“Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead,” Zuckerberg noted. “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.”
The Meta owner seems to be bringing weeks of fight talk to an end. Musk, 52, first challenged Zuckerberg in June.
After Musk commented on a post claiming that Zuckerberg was looking to create a new platform to compete with Twitter (Meta launched Threads weeks later), a fellow user warned Musk to be “careful” around Zuckerberg, who has taken up jiu-jitsu as a hobby. The South Africa native tweeted in response: “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.”
Zuckerberg shared a screenshot of Musk’s tweet via his Instagram Story on June 21, writing, “Send me location.”
Since then, it’s been a back-and-forth about details, including date and location. Initially, Musk wanted to do the fight at the “Vegas Octagon” and more recently he suggested Rome.
“The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC),” he wrote via X on Friday, August 11. “Livestream will be on this platform and Meta. Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all. I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture. They have agreed on an epic location. Everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy and all proceeds go to veterans and pediatric hospitals in Italy.”
However, Musk also revealed that he needed surgery soon. “There is a problem with my right shoulder blade rubbing against my ribs, which requires minor surgery. Recovery will only take a few months,” he told a follower.
On the same day, Zuckerberg clarified that nothing about their possible match was set in stone. “I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me,” the New York native said via Threads. “If he ever agrees on an actual date, you’ll hear it from me. Until then, please assume anything he says has not been agreed on.”
Zuckerberg, who competed in his first jiu jitsu tournament earlier this year, noted that he doesn’t expect Musk to be his next opponent in the ring. “Not holding my breath for Elon, but I’ll share details on my next fight when I’m ready,” he added on Friday. “When I compete, I want to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of the game. You do that by working with professional orgs like the UFC or ONE to pull this off well and create a great card.”
Nicole Massabrook
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