Well, no one was expecting this: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to literally fight Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a cage match.
How did this happen? It all started on Tuesday night when Musk responded to a tweet about how Zuckerberg is preparing to release a rival social media platform, called Threads, to best Twitter.
Musk is no fan of Zuckerberg; he’s previously taken several jabs at Facebook’s founder over their different approaches to privacy and AI. On Tuesday, Musk hurled another insult.
“I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options,” he wrote, referencing Zuckerberg’s already vast influence over the social media market.
A Twitter user then told Musk: “Better be careful... I heard he (Zuckerberg) does the ju jitsu now.”
To that, Musk wrote: “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.”
Musk's tweet may have been a joke. But even so, Zuckerberg saw it and had to respond. On his Instagram account, the Facebook founder posted a screenshot of Musk’s tweet. Then beneath it, he wrote the words: “Send Me Location.”
Zuckerberg really has been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He’s posted several pictures and videos on Instagram showing him practicing with professional trainers. Last month, he also boasted, “competed in my first jiu jitsu tournament and won some medals.” (He also lost one match.)
So Zuckerberg is probably feeling confident he can choke out Musk in the ring. The craziest part is that the bout could actually happen. “Vegas Octagon,” Musk tweeted in response to the news about Zuckerberg accepting the challenge.
At the same time, Musk has made several tweets, indicating he’s treating the fight as more of a joke. “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus,’ where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing,” he wrote in one tweet. “I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids and throwing them in the air,” he later added.
Still, if the match does happen, it’ll grab headlines, to say the least. Obviously, it won’t be Ali vs. Frazier, the 1971 "Fight of The Century" between two of the greatest boxers. But a bout between Zuckerberg and Musk —two of America’s most famous and notorious tech CEOs—is bound to amuse and epitomize the weirdness of our own century.