Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg Fight Confirmed; Money Will Be Donated to Veterans
Twitter owner Elon Musk announced Friday that he and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have agreed to terms on an MMA fight.
Musk tweeted that the fight will take place in Italy, be promoted by his and Zuckerberg's foundations and be streamed on Twitter and Meta.
He also tweeted that all proceeds from the bout will be donated to veterans.
Musk did not provide a date for the fight, nor did he provide a specific venue beyond Rome, but he tweeted that he spoke with Italy's prime minister and minister of culture, and they worked together to choose "an epic location."
In June, Musk tweeted there was "some chance" he and Zuckerberg would duke it out inside the historic Colosseum in Rome.
According to TMZ Sports, both Musk and Zuckerberg spoke with Italy's minister of culture in June, and sources said they would "love" to fight at the Colosseum.
Per TMZ Sports, talk of an MMA fight between Musk and Zuckerberg began in June when it was reported that Zuckerberg was working on a social media platform to compete against Musk's Twitter.
In reference to that news, Musk tweeted, "I'm up for a cage match if he is lol," and Zuckerberg later responded, "Send me location."
While most initially assumed they were joking, the likelihood of a fight between them continued to grow, and UFC president Dana White told TMZ he felt Musk and Zuckerberg were "absolutely deadly serious" about making it happen.
White also expressed his belief that Musk vs. Zuckerberg could be three times as big as the previous biggest combat sports bout, which was a 2017 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.
As the potential for the fight to happen drew closer to reality, UFC legend Georges St-Pierre offered to train with Musk, and Musk accepted the invitation on Twitter.
Later, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya tweeted a photo of himself and UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski training with Zuckerberg:
The 39-year-old Zuckerberg was shirtless and looked to be both in excellent shape and ready for a fight.
Assuming the fight truly does happen, Zuckerberg will have a significant youth advantage since Musk is 52 years of age, but Musk is far bigger.
Isabelle Butera of USA Today estimated that Musk is 6'2" and 187 pounds, while Zuckerberg is just 5'7" and 155 pounds, which suggests they would likely have to fight at a catchweight.
Regardless of the tale of the tape and their MMA experience or lack thereof, Musk and Zuckerberg are two of the most recognizable people in the world, and it stands to reason that their fight could be the most-watched combat sports event of all time.
