Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg Fight Date: When is it? Why are they fighting? Battle of the billionaires explained

In an unexpected “battle of the billionaires” two giants of the business and tech world, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, have agreed to a cage match - but why now?

Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, said Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg were “absolutely dead serious” about their upcoming cage fight.

Who would win in a fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk? The question, that we’d expect to hear over a ‘merry’ conversation at the bar, has escalated from banter to a real-life brawl after the two men agreed to a cage match. Reminiscent of the days of the legendary feud between Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Apple’s Steve Jobs, the owners of Twitter and Meta have taken their rivalry to a whole new level.

It all started with 52-year-old Musk criticising the Instagram parent company Meta and their newly released Twitter competitor Threads, tweeting that he would be “up for a cage fight” with its boss; Mr Zuckerberg. Shortly after, 39-year-old Zuckerberg who is also the boss of Facebook posted a screenshot of the tweet with a caption that read “send me location”.

To make matters more interesting, the pair - who both rank in the top 10 richest people in the world list - have brawn to back their brains. Talk Sport reported that “Musk’s fighting skills have been certified by a Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt” and that “Zuckerberg began studying various martial arts in 2020 and has impressed several UFC stars, including Conor McGregor, with his fighting ability.”

Here’s an overview of the Musk vs Zuckerberg fight including when the fight date falls, why the pair agreed to a cage fight, and who is expected to win according to expert analyses.

Why do Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg want to fight?

In response to a report that showed his rival company Meta was planning its own ‘version’ of Twitter, Musk set the fuse by tweeting that he was “up for a cage fight” if Zuckerberg was. Rising to the occasion, the Meta boss posted a screenshot of the Tesla chief executive’s tweet to his Instagram account along with the caption “send me location”.

The chief engineer of SpaceX then suggested the pair brawl at the Vegas Octagon; a caged fighting arena in Las Vegas that hosts Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matches. The sport newspaper Marca reported that Dana White, the CEO of the UFC, has been in contact with both men about the proposed cage fight.

In a statement to TMZ, White said: “Probably spent an hour and a half on the phone with both of them last night.” He confirmed the two are ‘wholeheartedly dedicated’ to making the showdown a reality and that it could be the ‘fight of the century’ surpassing the highest-selling fight in history between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.

When is the fight date?

There is debate as to whether or not this fight will happen at all despite the ongoing banter on social media between the two and the UFC president stating that “both guys are absolutely dead serious.”

The American news platform Vox reports that the fight will fall on a “to-be-decided date” but hopefully a confirmed time will be announced soon.

The latest reports indicate that the colosseum in Rome will be the location where Musk and Zuckerberg face off. As far back as the 3rd century BC, gladiatorial duels would take place here which acted as a form of entertainment for the Roman people.

Where will Musk and Zuckerberg fight each other?

Previously, the UFC bout between Musk and Zuckerberg was set to take place in Las Vegas. However, a new report by Business Today revealed that the “much-awaited cage fight between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will take place in Rome’s Colosseum, Italy.”

Musk himself disclosed the location via his Twitter account. TMZ Sports reported that Zuckerberg was approached by the Minister of Culture who suggested Rome’s Colosseum as the arena for their showdown.

Who would win in a fight between Musk and Zuckerberg?

TMZ Sports reported that Musk weighs 230 lbs and is 6 ‘2’ while Zuckerberg weighs 145 lbs and is 5 ‘7’. Despite this, neither billionaire seems bothered about the clear disparity. Lex Fridman from the popular Lex Fridman Podcast on YouTube recently held a training session with Elon Musk and was impressed by his physical ability. What’s interesting is that Fridman has also trained with Zuckerberg.

In his words: “I did an impromptu training session with @elonmusk for a few hours yesterday. I’m extremely impressed with his strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground. It was epic.

“But I think the world is served far better if they train martial arts but not fight in the cage.

"That said, as Elon says, the most entertaining outcome is the most likely... I’m there for them, no matter what.”

Zuckerberg has trained in Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts, bagging himself medals in several tournaments as well. He dazzled online viewers as he completed 300 squats, 200 press-ups and 100 pull-ups all before running a mile with a 9 kg weighted vest on; no small feat. 

Khai “The Shadow” Wu, Zuckerberg’s martial arts instructor, has said he is clueless about who can win the fight (maybe a well-timed “zucker” punch from the Meta company’s boss would be the deciding factor?)

As it stands, both men have received support from UFC stars. According to DAZN News: “UFC legend Georges St-Pierre has already offered his coaching services to Musk, but now it looks like Zuckerberg could have current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones in his corner. “

On Twitter, Jones expressed his interest in the fight and pledged his allegiance to “Team Zuck”.