Two of the world’s most high-profile technology billionaires – Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg – have agreed to fight each other in a cage match.
Mr Musk posted a message on his social media platform Twitter that he was “ready for a cage fight” with Mr Zuckerberg.
Mr Zuckerberg, boss of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, then posted a screenshot of Mr Musk’s tweet, titled “Send me the location”.
A spokesperson for Meta told the BBC, “The story says a lot about itself.” Mr Musk then replied to Mr Zuckerberg’s response, saying: “The Vegas Octagon.”
The Octagon is a competition mat and fenced-in arena used for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bouts. UFC is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mr Musk, who will be 52 later this month, also tweeted: “I have this cool move I call ‘The Walrus’ where I just stay on top of my opponent and do nothing ”
He later tweeted short videos of walruses, perhaps suggesting that his challenge to Mr Zuckerberg may not be entirely serious. This article includes material provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before loading anything, as they may be using cookies and other technologies.
You may want to read Twitter’s Cookie Policy, External, and Privacy Policy, External, before accepting. Select ‘Accept and Continue’ to view this content. He also tweeted, “I never work out other than picking up my kids and throwing them in the air.”
Meanwhile, Mr Zuckerberg, 39, is already training in mixed martial arts (MMA) and recently won a jiu-jitsu tournament. Twitter did not make a statement when contacted for comment by the BBC.
The exchange has gone viral with social media users debating who would win the bout, while others posted memes, including fake posters advertising the fight. For example, business consultant Sei Taylor tweeted: “Choose your fighter” alongside photos of the two tech bosses.
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Broadcaster and fight sports journalist Nick Peet said on the BBC’s World at One program that UFC president Dana White “must be licking his lip at the prospect of going ahead with this fight”.
He said he thinks he has a really good chance to get ahead in this thing, “mostly because of Elon Musk and his personality and his eccentric character. His career shows that he’s not the kind of person who Quit the job voluntarily.”
However, when asked who he thought would come out on top, he replied: “Zuckerberg all day! He’s 12 years younger. He’s too young. I think he’s 5 feet 7 inches, Elon is probably about 6 ft. And Elon probably has some rocks rolling him down.
“But unfortunately Mr. Musk hasn’t done any training. Even though Zuckerberg has only been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for 18 months, it is enough for him to step back, wrap his arms around his neck and give him a good kick.” Giving is enough. “It is hard to give.” Old age will not be difficult.
Mr. Musk has a history of making statements that are not serious or that do not happen. For example, he told the BBC in April that he made his dog the chief executive of Twitter.
In 2017 he tweeted that he had received “verbal government approval” for a so-called hyperloop – a type of train system – to link New York City with Washington DC, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
This has not materialized yet. Mr Musk was forced to step down as Tesla chairman by regulators in 2018 after he tweeted that he intended to take the company private.
Mr Musk has also followed through on some of his announcements, including stepping down as chief executive of Twitter this year after Twitter users voted in favor of his resignation in a poll he conducted.
However, he had already said that he wanted to step down as chief executive in November 2022. Sources told the BBC that earlier this month, Meta showed employees plans for a text-based social network designed to compete with Twitter.
It could allow users to follow accounts they already follow on Instagram, Meta’s image-sharing app. This could potentially allow the company to bring in followers from decentralized platforms like Mastodon.
“Send me location.”