Mark Zuckerberg says he has secured a special venue for his proposed cage fight with Elon Musk, but says the X CEO is getting cold feet about the bout.
The Meta man said he’s been in talks with Italy’s government about hosting the event at a “historical” location, although says Rome’s Colosseum is out of the question.
But the chances of the fight happening look slim after Musk poured cold water on the idea.
In a post on his social media site Threads – which attracted more than 100 million sign-ups in less than a week – the Meta boss said he had offered Musk “a real date” but the rival entrepreneur had made excuses, saying he “isn’t serious” about making it happen.
Zuckerberg said: “Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead.
“If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I’m going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously.”
Responding on X, however, Musk called the Meta boss a “chicken”.
Earlier, he had posted a text message exchange on the messaging platform purportedly between himself and Mr Zuckerberg.
In it he tells the Meta boss that he will be in Palo Alto, home to Meta’s headquarters, on Monday and that the fight could be held in Mr Zuckerberg’s Octagon, which is the eight-sided ring in which cage fights are held.
Mr Musk continued: “I have not been practicing much, apart from a brief bout with Lex Fridman [the computer scientist and podcast host] today.
“While I think it is very unlikely, l given our size difference, perhaps you are a modern day Bruce Lee and will somehow win.”
Related: Jonathan Gullis wants to make Stoke the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley
