Mark Zuckerberg Accepts Elon Musk’s Challenge to a Cage Fight

It looks like this beef might actually make if off the internet and into the ring. 

Mark Zuckerberg has seemingly accepted a challenge from Elon Musk to face off in a cage match. This unlikely matchup is the result of rising tensions between the two CEOs as news broke that Meta has begun to create a product that could compete with Twitter, which Musk finalized his purchase of in October 2022. 

This showdown originated when a Twitter user seemed to poke fun at Zuckerberg's jiu jitsu videos on Instagram, warning Musk that he "better be careful," to which the 51-year-old replied, "I'm up for a cage match if he is lol."

And what might have started as a joke became much more serious when Zuckerberg posted a screenshot of Musk's challenge to his June 21 Instagram Story with the caption, "Send Me Location." The 39-year-old's story also included a reply to Musk's proposal that read, "Lol I love you Elon but you better start training."  

And despite this matchup being on nobody's 2023 bingo card, it looks like it might really be happening. When news broke of Zuckerberg's acceptance, the SpaceX founder tweeted a proposed location for the physical confrontation. Musk simply said, "Vegas Octagon."

Meta previously confirmed to CNBC that it was "exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates," which is reportedly now in consideration to be named Threads. 

The app will be integrated into Instagram, allowing Meta to build off its preexisting user base. Per CNBC, a top Meta executive said that high-profile users, including celebrities and content creators, were looking for a "sanely run" platform. This comment comes after months of controversies that have plagued Twitter since Musk took over. This includes implementing a completely free speech policy, which caused many advertisers to leave the platform over concerns that it would allow users to post racist, sexist, or otherwise hateful speech without consequence.

The details of Meta's proposed Thread platform comes only weeks after Musk officially stepped down as Twitter's CEO. 

The Tesla CEO, who officially took over the social media platform back in October in a $44 billion deal, announced that ad exec Linda Yaccarino will now be at the helm of the company in May 2023. 

"@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology," he tweeted May 12. "Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app."