Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) and Tesla, has called Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta (formerly Facebook), a “chicken” after the latter suggested to “move on” from their proposed cage match. The two tech billionaires have been feuding for years over various issues, such as artificial intelligence, rockets, and social media. Now, they are threatening to settle their differences in a physical fight, but no date has been confirmed yet.
The origin of the feud
The feud between Musk and Zuckerberg dates back to 2016, when a SpaceX rocket, owned by Musk, exploded and destroyed a satellite of Meta, according to a report in Business Insider. The satellite was part of Meta’s Internet.org project to provide internet access to developing countries. Zuckerberg expressed his disappointment on Threads, a social media app that he launched in 2023 as a rival to X.
Since then, the two have clashed over various topics, such as the dangers of artificial intelligence, the reliability of SpaceX rockets, and the ethics of social media platforms. Musk has also deleted the Facebook pages of his companies Tesla and SpaceX, and mocked Meta’s rebranding and Instagram’s impact on mental health.
The cage match challenge
In June 2023, Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cage match on X, saying that he was “up for it”. Zuckerberg, who has been training in martial arts and competing in jiu-jitsu, accepted the challenge and said he was “ready today”. However, no official date or venue has been announced for the fight, despite the involvement of UFC president Dana White.
In August 2023, Zuckerberg posted a statement on Threads, saying that he was tired of waiting for Musk to confirm a date and that it was time to “move on”. He accused Musk of making excuses, such as needing surgery on his shoulder blade and asking for a practice round in his backyard. He also said that he would focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously.
The latest jabs
Musk did not take kindly to Zuckerberg’s statement and fired back on X with a series of insults. He called Zuckerberg a “chicken” and said that he could not eat at Chick-fil-A because that would be cannibalism. He also said that he could not wait to bang on his door the next day. He shared a screenshot of a text exchange he had with Zuckerberg, where he suggested to fight in his octagon and compared him to Bruce Lee.
Zuckerberg responded by posting a shirtless photo of himself with MMA fighters Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski on Instagram. He said that he loved the sport and that he would share details of his next fight when he was ready. He also hinted that he would work with professional organizations like UFC or ONE to create a great card.
The public feud between the two tech moguls has attracted a lot of attention and speculation from fans and media outlets. Some have compared it to the boxing matches between celebrities like Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather. Others have questioned the seriousness and legitimacy of the challenge. Whether or not the cage match will ever happen remains to be seen.
