Besides the recent Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz boxing bout, combat sports buzz with hysteria over the touted “cage fight” between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. It is well known that these two tech billionaires have had differences in the past.
Previously, Musk had expressed differing views about Zuckerberg’s signature creation, Facebook, through his tweets. In 2018, Twitter users requested the closure of the Facebook pages of Musk’s noted companies, SpaceX and Tesla. The ‘Twitter Boss’ didn’t hesitate to promise his followers that he would actually delete the two pages. Hence, it may be said that there has always been some tension between the two. However, talks of the coveted ‘cage fight’ between them started from a similar incident to the aforementioned one.
What was the inception of the feud between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg?
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
The bitterness between the two started back in 2016. It was a failed September 2016 partnership between the two billionaires that caused tensions to rise. The $200 million satellite owned by Zuckerberg experienced an explosion during a pre-launch test on one of Musk’s SpaceX rockets. This had him deeply disappointed. He also took to his own Facebook account and penned a disheartening post about the same.
After a year, ‘Zuck’ severed his tone and blamed Musk for his “irresponsible” act of handing the entire task to artificial intelligence “naysayers” in one of his Facebook live streams. In response, the Twitter boss took a subtle jab at Zuckerberg stating, “I’ve talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited.”
This probably is the prime incident that kicked off this infamous rivalry between the two.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads vs. Elon Musk’s Twitter
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022 may have provided Zuckerberg with an opportunity to take out his grudge against the man whom he blamed for his 2016 satellite launch failure. Also, with both being social media platform head honchos now, ‘Zuck’ probably decided to hit Musk professionally. He recently launched another social networking platform named ‘Threads’, which resembled Musk’s Twitter in several aspects.
The SpaceX CEO was far from impressed by it. When a Twitter user posted about Meta’s plan to launch ‘Threads’, Musk replied, “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options. At least it will be ‘sane’. Was worried there for a moment”.
I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options.
At least it will be “sane”. Was worried there for a moment 😅.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023
A fan then pointed out that Musk should be careful of Zuckerberg since he was a regular Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. However, ‘The Twitter boss nonchalantly replied, “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol”.
I’m up for a cage match if he is lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023
However, Musk’s fears came true as he announced that the advertising revenues of Twitter had dropped by almost 50% after ‘Zuck’ launched his new social networking platform, ‘Threads’.
We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load. Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2023
Many fans may now find Musk’s desire to fight ‘Zuck’ justified. After all, the annoyance of the head honcho of a company is completely understandable, given that his organization had taken such a significant blow.
When ‘Zuck’ replied to Musk’s “cage fight” offer with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s iconic catchphrase saying “Send me location”. The combat sports community was taken by storm. Many noted combat sports and UFC personalities jumped in with offers to train the celebrity of their choice. But, the UFC boss, Dana White, saw a tremendous business opportunity as he vouched to make the fight happen under the UFC.
Elon Musk says his cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg will be streamed on X
‘The Twitter boss’ selected the famed UFC legend, Georges St-Pierre, for training him. While ‘Zuck’ chose the current UFC Middleweight and Featherweight champs, Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski to prepare him for the bout.
With the passage of time, the chances of the materialization of this bout are also intensifying. Musk also put out a tweet recently, revealing, “Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on 𝕏. All proceeds will go to charity for veterans.”
Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on 𝕏.
All proceeds will go to charity for veterans.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2023
Well, now that the Twitter CEO has even tweeted about the streaming of his bout, the conversation has accelerated.
Mark Zuckerberg ‘not holding breath’ over Musk cage fight
Apart from training with the noted UFC champs, ‘Izzy’ and ‘Volk’, ‘Zuck’ has also been a regular practitioner of BJJ. A few months back, he also won two medals in a BJJ tournament in Woodside, California. Quite understandably, the Facebook CEO has developed enough skills in BJJ to defeat even core athletes of the sport.
View this post on Instagram
The Threads CEO wasted no time using his own platform to take a series of jibes at ‘the Twitter boss.’ First, he subtly derided Musk’s decision to raise money for charity by streaming the fight on Twitter(X). He suggested that a “more reliable” platform could be used to raise funds for charity from the fight.
Post by @zuck
View on Threads
Also emboldened by his prowess in martial arts, ‘Zuck’ posted for the second time on ‘Threads’, highlighting Musk’s tweet. He mocked a recent tweet from Musk that stated he wouldn’t be able to fight on the previously decided date of 26 August. The ’39-year-old’ also stated that he could take on Musk “today”. However, he wasn’t holding his breath for the bout.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Post by @zuck
View on Threads
Zuckerberg’s supporters might have felt a stream of power within them after witnessing such confidence from their beloved celebrity. It was probably ‘Zuck’s years of training in the field that emboldened his voice.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Watch this Story – Dana White Chimes In After Elon Musk & Mark Zuckerberg Agree To MMA Fight
How do you think this coveted “cage fight” between these billionaires will conclude? Will ‘Zuck’ be able to back his confidence with his performance, or will Musk prove to be a formidable competitor?