The Battle of the Century is brewing between Twitter, Tesla, and Space X CEO Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. It isn’t an intellectual battle; the two have turned a playful back and forth on social media into a full-blown grudge match for the ages in the Octagon! What it will lack in pure pugilistic integrity will certainly make up in comic relief, and we need that.
The potential battle has inched closer toward reality, as Zuck has already been training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Musk has accepted an offer from UFC legend Georges St-Pierre to train him for the brawl. It may be a tough ask for the older Musk, but if anyone is familiar with Elon, they know that when he commits himself to something, he goes all-in. It would be no surprise to see Musk with a chiseled physique when the fight finally happens.
As for Zuck, he has a head start as he has already been training and competing for over a year. The Meta head recently won a tournament in Silicon Valley and has been training with Dave Camarillo, the well-known UFC mentor to numerous successful fighters. While Camarillo is no Mr. Miyagi, and Silicone Valley was no All-Valley Karate Tournament, it is still impressive to compete and win at any level.
As expected, UFC head Dana White is itching to get his hands on the fight. He predicted it would break all pay-per-view records and “be the biggest fight ever in the history of the world.” White also said: “These guys would raise hundreds of millions of dollars for charity. You don’t have to be a fighting fan to be interested in this fight. Everybody would want to see it.”
While Mike Tyson fans might argue, White has a point. Besides a fight, it is a curiosity. Who wouldn’t be even mildly interested in such an odd pairing? The charity aspect just adds extra flavor, as most people don’t want to watch two mega-rich CEOs get richer.
Naturally, social media is already taking sides. Most people have hard opinions on Musk and Zuck. Since taking over Twitter and reopening the platform to most forms of actual free speech, Musk has essentially alienated the left after years of being their golden boy because of Tesla and Space X.
Zuck, on the other hand, has softened his public image somewhat by making himself appear more normal and human. Often stiff and emotionless, Zuck’s foray into Jiu-Jitsu and recent failure with the Metaverse have made him seem actually human to many folks.
Social media has weighed in, and people appear to be evenly split on a winner. A woman from Colorado said: “Elon Musk will take Zuckerberg to the ground, I hope he does.”
Meanwhile, a Missouri man disagreed: “I think Zuck’s got him. I’ve seen a couple clips of him training jiu jitsu. He looks pretty fit. And Elon, he’s pretty old.”
An Alaskan man threw his support behind Musk for political reasons: “I hope Elon Musk kicks [Zuckerberg’s] butt. I don’t agree with all his politics, but he’s a free speech advocate. He (Zuck) just seems to want to make money. And Elon, he wants to change the world.”
An Arizona man broke it down in fighting terms, giving the edge to Musk: “It really depends on who can throw the hardest punch in the first 10 seconds. I don’t know about Zuckerberg.”
Whether you are interested or not, a grudge match between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg is a spectacle that comes along once in a lifetime. Thankfully we are alive to see it. If both men take it seriously, it could be highly entertaining and earn millions for charity. That’s a win for both sides.
Featured image screen grab from embedded Youtube video
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