Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would like to enlist the help of the world’s top promoters to bring his mooted fight with X/Twitter owner Elon Musk to fruition.
Musk took to his social media platform last week to announce that he had spoken to the Italian authorities about hosting the blockbuster showdown at the Colosseum in Rome under the banners of their respective corporations.
But Zuckerberg responded on Threads to say that he would rather get the professionals to handle the promotion of the bout.
“Not holding my breath for Elon, but I’ll share details on my next fight when I’m ready. When I compete, I want to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of the game. You do that by working with professional orgs like the UFC or ONE to pull this off well and create a great card,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The mixed martial arts world is widely regarded as a global duopoly, with ONE Championship and the UFC occupying the lion’s share of the combat sport’s market.
ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has long hoped to promote an event alongside the Singapore-based promotion’s North American counterpart, and he was quick to respond to Zuckerberg, offering his services in and out of the ring to make it happen.
“Let’s do it, Mark! Or we could do a co-promotion to make it truly the biggest fighting event in history. My vote would be ONE vs. UFC as main card, me vs. Dana (White, UFC president) as co-main, and you vs. Elon as main event,” Sityodtong suggested.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Sityodtong reiterated that he would be more than willing to step in and make the fight happen.
While ONE mostly operated in Asia before it made its United States debut this past May, the promotion’s founder would be happy to take the fight wherever it lands.
“As I have always said, I am ready to do ONE versus UFC anytime. If Mark and Elon want to fight in the Colosseum in Italy, my team and I would love to make it happen,” Sityodtong said.
The lifelong martial artist stopped by to train at Zuckerberg’s house while touring the United States back in April, and having experienced his skills first-hand, he feels that the Facebook founder would win if the tech billionaires eventually were ever to do battle.
Despite Musk’s 6-foot-2 frame, Zuckerberg has been training diligently in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu in San Jose for the best part of two years, and Sityodtong feels that his fighting skills would trump the South African’s size advantage.
“For sure, Elon has the size and strength advantage in this fight. However, there is a wide disparity in skill level and fitness level. I have also trained with Mark. He invited me to train together at his house when I was in the U.S. earlier this year. As a Renzo Gracie brown belt who trains hard five to six times a week, I was very impressed,” he said.
“Mark might be new, but he thinks about the fight game the right way – be it learning, training, or competing. He is a legit blue belt in jiu-jitsu. Mark and I have made plans to train again when I am back in the U.S. I look forward to training again with Mark and his team.
“The martial arts community is small. Consensus from folks who have trained with either or both men is that Mark is way ahead of Elon in terms of technical abilities, fitness, training regimen, etc. Elon is doing bicep curls at the office while Mark is fighting people in his backyard cage.”
