Mark Zuckerberg has stated that Elon Musk “isn’t serious” about holding a cage fight and that “it’s time to move on”.
The Meta CEO claimed in a post on his social media platform Threads that he had offered Mr. Musk “a real date,” but the competing businessman had provided excuses.
On his own messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Musk had earlier on Sunday suggested that he was ready to engage in combat as early as Monday.
The billionaires’ decision to fight, which was agreed upon in June, garnered a lot of media attention.
The rivals have been egging each other for months, but they have yet to set a date, casting doubt on whether the fight will ever take place.
The launch of Threads in July, a messaging app that competes with X, complicated the verbal battle by drawing more than 100 million sign-ups in less than a week.
With about 350 million users, X has regained its lead, but Mr. Musk has threatened to sue Facebook for “illegal misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets.” Threads’ user sign-ups has since declined.
Meta refutes the assertions.
Mr. Zuckerberg claimed last week that he had suggested the cage match be held on August 26. Then, in a shocking turn of events, Italy’s culture minister revealed on Friday that he had spoken with Mr. Musk about holding the match in the country as a fundraising event.
It would have “an ancient Rome theme,” according to Mr. Musk.
But on Sunday, the head of Meta wrote on Threads, “Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead.
“If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I’m going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously.”
However, in his response on X, Mr. Musk referred to the Meta CEO as a “chicken”.
A text message exchange between Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Musk was earlier posted on the messaging app by Mr. Musk.
In it, he informs the Meta boss that he will visit Palo Alto, where Meta’s headquarters are located, on Monday and that the fight could take place in Mark Zuckerberg’s Octagon, the eight-sided ring where cage fights are held.
Mr Musk continued: “I have not been practicing much, apart from a brief bout with Lex Fridman [the computer scientist and podcast host] today.
“While I think it is very unlikely, l given our size difference, perhaps you are a modern day Bruce Lee and will somehow win.”
Mark Zuckerberg, 39, and Elon Musk, 52, are two of the most well-known billionaires in the field of technology.
The bizarre idea to engage in combat between the two parties was began when Mr. Musk tweeted that he was “up for a cage fight” with Mr. Zuckerberg in June.
The Meta boss, who has experience in mixed martial arts (MMA) and has recently triumphed in jiu-jitsu competitions simply replied, “send me location”.
Source-BBC
