The proposed celebrity superfight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk generated enormous buzz back in 2023, and now UFC president Dana White has shed some light on just how ambitious — and expensive — the grandest version of that event nearly became.
White has revealed that staging the proposed MMA matchup between the two tech billionaires at the Roman Colosseum in Italy would have carried a price tag of something in the neighborhood of $150 million. The staggering figure underscores why, despite months of public back-and-forth between Zuckerberg and Musk, the fight never came together in any form — let alone at one of the world’s most iconic historic venues.
The idea of Zuckerberg and Musk squaring off in a sanctioned MMA bout became one of the stranger pop-culture stories of 2023. What started as social media trash talk between the Meta CEO and the Tesla and SpaceX founder quickly escalated into something that at least appeared, on the surface, to have real momentum. White positioned himself as a facilitator throughout that period, lending the conversation a degree of credibility given his standing in combat sports. Talk of the Colosseum as a potential venue added a cinematic element that kept the story alive in headlines for months.
Ultimately, the fight never materialized. Musk cited a back injury as one reason the bout fell apart, while Zuckerberg moved on and competed in actual jiu-jitsu tournaments. The two men’s public enthusiasm for the matchup appeared to cool considerably as 2023 wore on.
White’s $150 million cost estimate puts a concrete number on what would have been a logistical and financial undertaking unlike anything the combat sports world had seen. Whether that figure alone was a dealbreaker or simply one of many obstacles remains unclear, but it offers a revealing glimpse into how seriously the Colosseum concept was actually explored.
Source: Fightful
