A ‘Cage Match’ between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg should not be a joke

The day after Elon Musk challenged Mark Zuckerberg to “a cage match” on social media this month, Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White received a text message.

It was from Mr. Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. He asked Mr. White, who runs the world’s premier mixed martial arts competition, which is fought in cage-like rings, or Mr. Musk was serious about fighting.

Mr. White called Mr. Musk, who runs Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX, and confirmed he was willing to quit. Mr. White then passed that on to Mr. Zuckerberg. In response, Mr. Zuckerberg on Instagram: “Send Me Location,” a reference to the catchphrase of Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of the UFC’s most decorated athletes.

Since then, Mr. White said, he has spoken to the tech billionaires separately every night to organize the showdown. On Tuesday, he said, he was “on the phone with those two until 12:45 am.” He added: “They both want to do it.”

If you thought a cage fight between two of the world’s richest men was just a far-fetched social media stunt, think again.

Over the past 10 days, Mr. White said that he, Mr. Musk and Mr. Zuckerberg — aided by advisers — have been negotiating behind the scenes and moving toward physical combat. While there are no guarantees that a match will take place, the grand outline of an event is taking shape, Mr White and three people with knowledge of the discussions said.

The fight would be an exhibition match, Mr. White said, and outside of official UFC jurisdiction and rights agreements, though he would help produce the event. The tech leaders agree there should be a charitable component, Mr White and a person familiar with the talks said, and the details are still being worked out. The preferred location is Las Vegas, which requires Nevada Athletic Commission approval. On Thursday, Mr. Musk tweeted that the event could also take place in the Roman Colosseum.

Mr. Zuckerberg’s friends and advisors have generally supported the bout, two people close to him said, though others said a fight would be a distraction and not the best use of his time. A person close to Mr. Musk said that while he hated sports and didn’t seem to have the discipline to exercise regularly, no one could rule anything out with him.

If the contest between Mr. Musk, 52, and Mr. Zuckerberg, 39, goes ahead, it would be a rare spectacle, even in the boastful universe of the tech industry. While Steve Jobs and Bill Gates mocked each other, the tech world came closest to real sports feuds before that. among billionaire sailors such as Oracle’s Larry Ellison and SAP’s Hasso Plattner.

But two hugely wealthy tech titans wrestling, punching and kicking in an arena in Las Vegas or Rome? No one would have dreamed it.

Meta declined to comment. Mr Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Musk have long vacillated between competitors, enemies and outright enemies. The two have criticized each other over the years, including over Mr. data protection scandals at Meta and more. Most recently, Mr. Zuckerberg sends a team to Meta to kill a competitor of Mr. Musk’s Twitter, codenamed Project 92.

If they let their rivalry go beyond those jokes, Mr. White of the UFC that he was concerned about the physical differences between the billionaires. Aside from their 13-year age difference, Mr. Musk would be at least 70 pounds heavier than Mr. Zuckerberg. In official mixed martial arts bouts, athletes are generally matched by weight.

“We have two guys who have never fought professionally, and they are in two completely different weight divisions,” said Mr. White. Still, he said, “it’s going to be the biggest fight in martial arts history.”

Mr. Zuckerberg is mostly familiar with the UFC world. Over the past 18 months, he has embarked on a personal journey to immerse himself and immerse himself in Brazilian jujitsu, a wrestling martial art in which participants try to subdue their opponent and is used in UFC fights.

Mr. Zuckerberg began training on a lark in 2021, mostly in his garage, building what he called a “mini-academy” with a circle of friends who spar with him. He has said he appreciated that Brazilian jujitsu requires “100 percent focus” and strategic thinking to defeat an opponent, rather than brute force.

Mr. Zuckerberg has sought out martial arts experts, including Dave Camarillo, James Terry, and Khai Wu. In May, he took part in his first public martial arts tournament in Redwood City, California, which he attended undercover – until the moment he took off his hat and sunglasses to fight. He won gold and silver medals in the challenge.

Last year, Meta also announced that it’s partnering with the UFC to bring mixed martial arts bouts to Horizon Worlds, the virtual reality app.

Mr. White said that Mr. Zuckerberg was really committed to the sport.

“I’ve been talking to Zuckerberg for maybe almost two years now,” he said. “And there’s never such a thing as banter but we’re joking and laughing.” He said Meta’s CEO was “dead serious the entire time”.

Mr. Zuckerberg is probably in shape. He follows a strict training regimen, goes running and challenges friends and colleagues to beat his times, two people close to him said. This month he set a personal best for completing the “Murph” challenge, requiring a series of pull-ups, push-ups, several miles of running, and hundreds of squats, all while wearing military-grade weighted body armor.

“Sports that actually require your full attention, I think, are very important for my mental health and the way I stay focused on everything I do,” he said in a recent podcast episode.

Mr. Musk, on the other hand, does tweeted that he “almost never” trains and once suffered a back injury requiring surgery after participating in an exhibition with a sumo wrestler. This month he said he had trained in “judo, Kyokushin (full contact)” – two Japanese martial arts – and “no rules street fighting”.

“He made that very clear, ‘I’m not going to lose weight,'” said Mr. White about Mr. Musk’s approach to the possible matchup. “‘Are we going to fight or are we not going to fight?'” Mr. White told Mr. Musk.

This week Lex Fridman, a podcaster, posted photos of himself training judo with Mr. Musk. Mr. Fridman, who also trained jujitsu with Mr. Zuckerberg, did not respond to a request for comment.

At least one person doesn’t seem to be a fan of fighting: Maye Musk, Mr. Musk’s mother.

“Don’t encourage this match!” she recently tweetedalong with two frowning emojis.