Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are “very serious” about the fights, and plans are already underway in Las Vegas to stage a cage match between the Bay Area tech moguls.
Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, said Thursday he spoke with the two billionaires to gauge their interest in a high-stakes showdown inside the Vegas Octagon, where his company is hosting mixed martial arts fights.
“I probably spent an hour and a half on the phone with them two last night,” White told TMZ. “Both guys are absolutely serious about it.”
The idea of a physical fight between two of the world’s richest men gained traction after Tesla CEO Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion last year, responded to a tweet suggesting that Meta Platforms, the company run by Zuckerberg, was developing a rival service.
“I’m ready for a cage match if he is,” Musk said. To which Zuckerberg responded via Instagram, which is owned by Meta, with the primitive phrase: “Send me the location.”
A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that the story “speaks for itself.” And things took off from there.
On Saturday, Musk confirmed that the proposed cage match “could actually happen.”
In a Twitter Spaces chat with Bloomberg Senior Reporter Ashlee Vance, the 51-year-old Twitter owner admitted he hadn’t started training but was ready.
“I spend my time according to what is needed,” Musk said. “I don’t usually have to fight people.”
Andrew Tate, a controversial social media personality and former professional kickboxer currently charged with rape and human trafficking in Romania, has volunteered to get Musk fit. In a tweet addressed to the owner of Twitter, Tate said: “I will train you. You will not lose.
Zuckerberg, 39, has extensive training in mixed martial arts. Last month, he successfully competed in his first Brazilian jiujitsu tournament at Woodside, claiming victory over an Uber engineer and earning two medals.
Bettors favor Zuckerberg in the potential cage match.
“Zuckerberg is 12 years younger and participated in an intensive challenge in which he ran one mile, performed 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups and 300 squats, before running an additional mile, while wearing a 20-pound weighted vest,” Johnny Avello, director of racing and sports operations at bookmaker DraftKings, said in a statement.
White predicts the proposed fight would draw even more attention than the 2017 Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather matchup, which generated $600 million in revenue. According to White, the pay-per-view cost to watch the tech mogul brawl inside the Vegas Octagon could be as high as $100, exceeding the standard fee of $80.
The UFC president predicts the event will generate over $1 billion in record-breaking revenue.
“I don’t think either of them need the money,” White said, suggesting the money should go to charity.
White did not guess if the fight would actually happen. “If these guys are serious, I make fights that people want to see,” he said. “That’s what I do for a living.”
Contact Aidin Waziri: avaziri@sfchronicle.com