ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has given his thoughts on the social media war that has erupted between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
The tech billionaires have been going back and forth on their respective platforms about a potential MMA fight between them for the last few weeks, with Zuckerberg recently appearing to distance himself from the spectacle because of lack of commitment from Musk.
The X (formerly Twitter) owner doesn’t seem to have taken that lying down, and he suggested that their highly anticipated matchup should take place in the cage that the Meta CEO has set up in his backyard.
“Knock, knock. Challenge accepted, open the door. Thought you might want some tea, so I brought the bags,” Musk posted on X.
“For the Tesla FSD test drive in Palo Alto (on Monday night), I will ask the car to drive to (Zuckerberg’s) house. Will also test latest X livestream video, so you can monitor our adventure in real-time! If we get lucky and Zuck actually answers the door, the fight is on!
“Zuck thread coming soon about how he would, of course, love to fight anytime, but blah blah UFC something something.”
Musk’s latest online rant prompted a reaction from Sityodtong, however.
Taking to Facebook, the ONE boss gave a detailed breakdown of each of the billionaires’ skill sets while calling out Musk’s online antics and backing Zuckerberg to get his hand raised in their tussle.
“I normally don’t like to get involved in other people’s spats, but I am compelled to say something on the latest development of the potential fight between Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk,” Sityodtong posted.
“A few hours ago, Elon said that he was planning to show up to Mark’s house to fight him. Elon is one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history, and I have a lot of respect for his guts, accomplishments, and intellect. However, I dislike bullying of any kind.”
Sityodtong founded ONE Championship in 2011 and has overseen the promotion’s rise from a fledgling combat sports concept to global phenomenon.
Using his worldly experience in the fight game to gauge how realistic the Musk-Zuckerberg fight could be, the lifelong martial artist seemed to call the X boss’s bluff.
“First, Elon genuinely knows nothing about fighting or martial arts despite his claims to the contrary. As a lifelong expert martial artist who has been in my fair share of scraps, I can tell simply by the way he is acting,” Sityodtong added.
“The problem with most men who have never fought and/or trained seriously in martial arts is exactly what Elon is doing. They have a false sense of bravado and no understanding or appreciation for what technical skills and knowledge can do in a fight.
“As CEO of the world’s largest martial arts organization and someone involved in the fight game as my life, I know when people want to fight or not. When people want to fight, they accept a fight and simply show up. When people don’t want to fight, they do exactly what Elon has been doing. They make up excuses, conditions, and reasons for avoiding the fight.”
Sityodtong has shared the mats with Zuckerberg – a Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt under Dave Camarillo – at his home during a tour to the United States back in April, and he saw enough to convince him that the Meta boss will be able to handle business in the cage against Musk.
“In my expert opinion, Mark will likely choke Elon unconscious in a fight. Elon could win by a lucky punch due to his size and weight. He’s 186cm and weighs 100kg. Mark is 171cm and weighs 70kg. However, Mark is in fighting shape, and Elon is not. Mark has the gas tank for 3 rounds, and Elon has the gas tank for 3 minutes,” he predicted.
“As all martial artists know, skill often trumps size when there is a large disparity in skill. I am not saying that Mark will win 100%. A fight is a fight. Elon could get lucky. What I am saying, though, is that Mark has a very high probability of winning.”
