A true clash of billionaire titans is in the offing as Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is possibly, maybe going to fight X Corp. chairman, Tesla CEO, and full-time internet troll Elon Musk in a cage fight.
As with most anything nowadays, there are betting odds available for this fiasco in the making, with Zuckerberg listed as the fairly significant favorite. Before diving into the history of how this all came about and where it might go from here, let's take a look at the betting odds.
Odds for fight winner between Zuckerberg vs Musk
| Mark Zuckerberg | Elon Musk |
|---|---|
| -440 | +290 |
Odds courtesy of FanDuel as of June 29, 2023.
A brief history of Zuckerberg vs Musk
Elon Musk, the 51-year-old South African tech magnate said a fight between him and Mark Zuckerberg "might actually happen" during a recent Twitter spaces discussion, according to Ryan Hogg of Business Insider.
While it appeared to be in jest, Musk doubled down on the challenge on Wednesday, June 21.
I’m up for a cage match if he is lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023
To which, Zuckerberg responded via an Instagram story for Musk to "send me location" and a, uh, dream bout was potentially born.
Now, what may or may not have been a silly riff between two obscenely wealthy men in the tech sphere has taken off. UFC president Dana White, who spoke with Zuckerberg and Musk in the wake of the verbal barbs, told TMZ last week that both sides are "dead serious" about making the fight happen.
Zuckerberg is considered the favorite despite Musk's size advantage due to his jiu-jitsu training and his competition in various tournaments.
Musk has enlisted Georges St-Pierre
Where things could potentially get interesting is in who Musk gets to train him, and it appears to be none other than former welterweight and middleweight UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, per TMZ.
This showdown is still unofficial, and it may not wind up happening if Musk's mom has anything to say about it. Maye Musk tweeted shortly after this clash started to take shape that she had it canceled:
Actually, I canceled the fight. I haven’t told them yet. But I will continue to say the fight is canceled, just in case…???? https://t.co/y9gg9qrnuQ
— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) June 22, 2023
Of course, this could be interpreted as wishful thinking on her part and the fight could be full steam ahead. For now, there is no date to circle on the calendar, but that hasn't stopped the pair from stirring things up online.
Roman holiday
Musk teased his followers on August 11 with a thread on X that contained specific details about a potential bout. The outspoken billionaire boldly claimed the fight would be livestreamed from Rome and would be co-produced by his and Zuckerberg's foundations.
The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2023
Livestream will be on this platform and Meta. 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.
Musk's tweet produced plenty of chatter online, but it has thus far failed to genuinely entice Zuckerberg, who rebuffed his offer on August 13 in a carefully-worded post on Threads, Meta's newly-launched alternative to X. "I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on," he wrote. "I offered a real date. Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead."
If the two do ultimately step inside a cage to do battle, does that mean the winner gets Bezos? Stay tuned for more updates as Musk and Zuckerberg continue to spar online.
