Elon Musk has suggested his planned cage fight with Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg will take place in an “epic location”.
In a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, the company’s controversial owner said he has been in contact with the Italian prime minister and minister of culture about hosting the event.
He also reconfirmed the fight will be live-streamed on X and Meta.
Musk, 52, wrote: “The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC). Livestream will be on this platform and Meta.
“Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all.
“I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture. They have agreed on an epic location.”
He added: “Everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy. And all proceeds go to veterans.”
As well as the reference to ancient Rome, Musk also posted the word “gladiator” with two emojis of swords crossed as well as the Latin phrase Dulce est Desipere in Loco – translated as it is pleasant to be frivolous at the appropriate time.
This led some X users to speculate that the cage fight may be held at the Colosseum – the largest standing amphitheatre in the world where gladiatorial contests were held during the Roman Empire.
Musk had also previously posted: “Some chance fight happens in the Colosseum.”
A spokesperson for the Italian government did not respond to Sky News’s questions this afternoon.
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The latest development comes after weeks of teasing between the two men over the fight, which so far has not been formally organised.
They agreed to fight in June, when the billionaire Tesla boss wrote he was “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg, who replied: “Send me location.”
Musk, who bought Twitter for $44bn (£35bn) last October, has said he “almost never works out”.
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Zuckerberg, 39, holds a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and recently won gold and silver medals in a tournament. He took up the sport, as well as MMA, during the pandemic and says he now trains three to four times a week.
The animosity between the pair appears to have been sparked by Meta releasing a direct rival to X called Threads, which saw rapid growth on its launch.
Musk threatened to sue Zuckerberg’s Meta, claiming he copied X.