Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White recently claimed he spoke with Italy’s minister of culture regarding the potential Elon Musk-Mark Zuckerberg mixed martial arts fight at the famous Colosseum in Rome, claiming the event could potentially generate over $1 billion in revenue.
White’s comments came on Mike Tyson’s “Hotboxin” podcast, where the UFC president said he spoke to Italian officials about the potential Musk-Zuckerberg fight in Rome.
TMZ had previously reported that there was “no formal contact” between White and the Italian government, but some sort of conversation had taken place.
White told boxing champion Tyson, contrary to TMZ’s claim, that he “actually did have a meeting with the Minister of Culture’s team in Italy to actually hold that fight in the Colosseum if it would happen.”
“We’re talking,” he added.
“Think about how big that fight is two of the richest, most powerful guys in the f—king world are gonna fight on the biggest stage ever,” White said. “Who the f—k doesn’t wanna see that fight? … That’s the kind of fight your f—king grandmother would watch,” the promoter exclaimed.
Musk’s remarks came a couple of days after Musk tweeted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he would require surgery on his back and neck before he fights.
“Exact date is still in flux. I’m getting an MRI of my neck & upper back tomorrow. May require surgery before the fight can happen. Will know this week,” Musk wrote on X.
Exact date is still in flux. I’m getting an MRI of my neck & upper back tomorrow.
May require surgery before the fight can happen. Will know this week.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2023
In 2022, Musk spoke about how he injured the discs in his back while fighting a sumo wrestler.
“Managed to throw him, but it cost me smashing my c5-c6 disc & 8 years of mega back pain! Finally fixed with c5-c6 disc fusion,” he said.
Managed to throw him, but it cost me smashing my c5-c6 disc & 8 years of mega back pain! Finally fixed with c5-c6 disc fusion.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2022
As rumors surrounding a potential Musk-Zuckerberg fight came to light, White seemed to squash such rumors during a press conference at a Power Slap event, one of the UFC president’s more prominent events.
“Is Elon ducking?” White asked, reiterating a reporter’s question. “No. You’re talking about two of the richest, most powerful guys in the world. You’re talking about a couple of eccentric billionaires,” he explained.
“If you look at what it takes to put a fight together between two professional fighters, who do it for a living … nobody’s ducking anybody,” he added.
Dana White says he spoke to Elon Musk yesterday and he was with Mark Zuckerberg two day ago.
Asked about a date for their fight: I'm working on it pic.twitter.com/kZGL52ItiI
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 10, 2023
As for Zuckerberg, the Meta owner recently revealed his dieting technique before his potential fight.
“20 nuggets, a quarter pounder, large fries, Oreo McFlurry, apple pie, and maybe some side cheeseburgers for later?” the social media guru said.
