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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is refuting Elon Musk’s claims that the two will come to blows in Rome.
Hours after Musk made the announcement on his platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Zuckerberg revealed it wasn’t necessarily true.
“Not holding my breath for Elon, but I’ll share details on my next fight when I’m ready,” Zuckerberg posted to Threads. “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.”
He then reiterated his desire to take on the Tesla CEO and called him out for not setting a date.
“I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me,” he wrote. “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.”
He then showed a photo of himself taking on an opponent in his backyard octagon.
Early Friday morning Musk announced the fight was happening without any UFC involvement.
“The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC). Livestream will be on this platform and Meta,” he tweeted. “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.”
It’s unclear if the location in question is the Colosseum in Rome.
He then explained that “everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy” and that “all proceeds go to veterans.”
When a follower inquired about his recent MRI, he revealed all looks good except for one issue that would require him to go under the knife at some point.
“I spent three hours in an MRI machine on Monday. Bottom line is that my C5/C6 fusion is solid, so not an issue. However, 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 explained.
Five days ago, the Facebook co-founder took to Threads to respond to a tweet from Musk. In the tweet, he was bragging about lifting weights throughout the day to prepare for the fight.
“I’m ready today. I suggested Aug 26 when he first challenged, but he hasn’t confirmed,” wrote Zuckerberg, who is trained in mixed martial arts and posted about competing in his first jiu-jitsu tournament earlier this year. “I love this sport and will continue competing with people who train no matter what happens here.”
Back in June, the two tech billionaires sort of agreed to a “cage match.”
Musk, who owns X, responded to a tweet about Meta preparing to release a new Twitter rival called Threads. He took a dig about the world becoming “exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options” — but then one Twitter user jokingly warned Musk of Zuckerberg’s jiu-jitsu training.
“I’m up for a cage match if he is lol,” Musk wrote. After Zuckerberg appeared to agree to the proposal, Musk at that point suggested a UFC octagon in Las Vegas.
