Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg was one of the biggest ill-fated celebrity fights fans never saw.
The battle of the tech oligarchs was heavily hinted at in 2023 and fueled by trash talk from Musk, as well as Zuckerberg training with UFC champions. UFC CEO Dana White alleged he was in discussions with the Colosseum in Rome to make the fight a reality.
Sadly, this never happened, but White has given some more insight into the goings-on of the fight and why it might have broken down.
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Dana White ‘had a blast’ organizing Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg fight at the Rome Colosseum
Speaking to Tucker Carlson on February 4, White discussed his position on the Meta Board of Directors before moving on to the topic of ‘Musk vs. Zuck.’ The fight fell through after thorough negotiations about rulesets, weight classes, and venue.
“[Musk vs. Zuckerberg] was real,” White said. “I was in the middle of it and I had a blast doing the negotiations with that thing. Talking with Elon for an hour every night, and talking to Mark for an hour every night. . . . [Negotiations were] about the fight, where it would be, [weight classes].
“[…] I was literally doing conference calls with the government in Italy to do this thing in the Colosseum in Rome. For the right number, the Colosseum was gonna let us do that fight there. Eventually it started to fall apart, but while it lasted it was fun.”
The fight never came to fruition, and the UFC continued to find landmark success with UFC 300 and UFC 306 in 2024. The UFC’s Sphere show cost upwards of $16 million.
Elon Musk alleges Mark Zuckerberg pulled out of their fight
According to Musk, Zuckerberg was the one who withdrew from the fight. Musk alleges ‘Zuck’ didn’t want to fight despite Zuckerberg being a proficient grappler and having secret fights.
“[…] Zuck pulled out,” Musk said on the Joe Rogan Experience. “. . . He accused me of not being serious, at the end of the day I will fight you any place, anywhere, under any rules.”
Since their botched fight, Musk has assumed a position in the US Government’s Department of Government Efficiency. On the other hand, Zuckerberg resides as CEO of Meta, which hired White in January 2025.
Zuckerberg would still like to fight Musk, as he revealed in January. Whether the two tech moguls can find the time to organize the contest is another issue, seeing as they have gained more responsibilities since the original rumors.
