Messages between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk ahead of their proposed MMA clash appear to have been leaked by the latter’s biographer. The owners of social media platforms Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, have fuelled rumors of a £790million ($1billion) cage fight showdown to settle their differences over several months, and Musk appeared to call out his rival for a practice bout this week.
Walter Isaacson, who is writing an authorized biography on Tesla and Space X owner Musk, posted a screenshot of a text message exchange on the billionaire’s social media platform on Sunday. The author wrote: “I got this text message from Elon Musk at 4:44 a.m. CT showing a screenshot of some text messages in which he tells Mark Zuckerberg they should fight this Monday at Zuckerberg’s home in Palo Alto.”
Musk started the conversation, writing “Wanna do a practice bout at your house next week?” Zuckerberg, though, declined, insisting he and Musk will face off in a real fight or not at all.
He replied: “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 added that he would be in Palo Alto, California on Monday and wanted to face Zuckerberg in his home octagon before the screenshot cuts out the rest of the conversation. But based on the Meta owner’s reaction, it seems highly unlikely Musk’s request was granted.
The billionaires have been locked in a spat since Musk became owner of Twitter – which he has since rebranded – last year, with tensions rising since Zuckerberg’s Meta launched rival platform Threads last month.
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Zuckerberg, 39, is more experienced in the world of martial arts than Musk, 52, and the Facebook founder is widely expected to come out on top if the pair do meet in a cage. Zuckerberg took part in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament in May, winning gold and silver medals, and he has since trained alongside UFC champions Isreal Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. Musk, meanwhile, has honed his skills in sessions with UFC icon Georges St-Pierre.
UFC boss Dana White could be involved in the promotion if a fight could be made, with revenue expectations for $1 billion mooted. White told TMZ Sports in July: “This would be the biggest fight ever in the history of the world, bigger than anything that’s ever been done,” he said. “It would break all pay-per-view records.”
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