While most of the world thinks the trash talking and discussion of a cage fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk is just two billionaire frenemies having fun with the public and media, UFC president Dana White foresees a cash bonanza.
“This would be the biggest fight ever in the history of the world,” White told TMZ. “It would break all pay-per-view records.”
How much are we talking? Maybe more than $1 billion.
The previous biggest pay-per-view ever, per White, was Conor McGregor’s 2017 match with Floyd Mayweather, which brought in more than $600 million in revenue. A Musk-Zuckerberg fight, he predicts, could triple that.
The billionaire social media kings are “absolutely deadly serious” about fighting each other, White said, claiming to have spoken with both men for 90 minutes each.
It’s important to note, though, that White is not only the CEO of UFC, he’s also a promoter, whose job it is to whip up interest in his organization. And when he’s pressed for details, that’s when the talk gets squishy.
“If these guys are serious, I make fights that people want to see,” he said. “These are early stages. We’ll see how things play out.”
White further conceded there’s no date set and nothing final has been decided.
Musk, of course, loves to make headlines with outrageous moves, whether it’s walking into Twitter headquarters literally carrying a sink or naming his dog CEO of the social media site. So it’s hard to think his challenge is serious—especially when he declares that his top move is “’the Walrus’, where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing.”
Whether it happens or not, the beef has succeeded in capturing some people’s attention—something Twitter, Facebook, and the UFC are always happy to have.