UFC president Dana White admitted that an MMA fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg was real, and he was negotiating it.
There were rumors several years ago that the UFC was thinking about doing an MMA fight between Musk and Zuckerberg, two of the richest and most powerful men on planet Earth. Musk is the richest person in the world, as he recently became the first human to become a trillionaire, while Zuckerberg is said to be worth several hundreds of billions.
Now, we know the rumors were true, as White confirmed that he was working on a fight between the two.
Dana White Confirms Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg Fight Was Real
Speaking to reporters following UFC Vegas 119, White was asked if there was truth to the rumors about a Musk vs. Zuckerberg UFC fight. White admitted that, yes, he was negotiating a fight between the two men, and that there were talks about doing the fight at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. However, the price to do the fight there was too high, and the fight fizzled out, with White admitting that thoughts of a UFC event ever happening at the Colosseum are a pipedream.
“It’s impossible (to do a UFC card at the Colosseum) because I was negotiating the deal with Zuckerberg and Musk. That was real. I was literally in my backyard for two weeks negotiating that fight. They wanted the Colosseum. The Colosseum wanted something $150 million to do it there, which that money would go into a fund that restores all the iconic places in Italy. The Colosseum would take Zuckerberg fighting Musk to happen, because those two were going to put up the money for the Colosseum,” White said.
The UFC president then joked that if someone wanted to pay for the promotion to hold an event at the Colosseum, he would do a card there.
“Anyone who wants to put up the money for the UFC to fight in the Colosseum, I’m in,” White said.
The UFC White House event costed $60 million 😅
“It’s impossible [to do an event there]. I was negotiating the deal for Zuckerberg and Musk… those two were gonna put up the money for the
UFC Has Big Plans
The UFC just finished the UFC Freedom 250 event last weekend at the White House, which is why White was asked about doing an event at the Colosseum. The promotion did the Sphere in Las Vegas two years ago, which was an amazing event, but the UFC White House card topped anything that the promotion has ever done up to this point. So, how can the UFC top it?
Well, the Colosseum would be one way to do that, as there would likely be no bigger and more special venue for the UFC to hold an MMA event than the Colosseum. But again, the price tag is a bit out of the UFC’s wheelhouse. When you think about it, the UFC spent $60 million to do the White House card, so the Colosseum’s price tag is almost three times that. You can see, then, why White isn’t willing to pony up the cash to do that.
Then again, if White can get Musk and Zuckerberg aboard, then maybe it’s a possibility, as for those two men, $150 million is a drop in the bucket. But given Musk is now 54 and Zuckerberg is 42, it feels like this fight will never happen anymore.
Dana White: Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg UFC Fight Was Real