elon-musk.jpg
Getty Images

Billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have not abandoned their talks for a mixed martial arts fight. In fact, the pair are aiming to hold the fight at a historic location, according to Musk.

On Friday morning, Musk posted on X, formerly Twitter, stating that the intention is to hold the fight in "ancient Rome."

"The fight will be managed by my and Zuck's foundations (not UFC)," Musk wrote. "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."

Musk's statement that the UFC would not be managing the fight contradicts recent statements made by UFC president Dana White, who also mentioned speaking with officials in Rome.

"They do want to fight," Whyte said on Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson. "It's real. ... It's funny because we were talking about the Colosseum for that fight and I actually did have a meeting with the Minister of Culture's team in Italy to actually hold that fight in the Colosseum if it would happen. We're talking."

White also played up both men as having legitimate fighting skills, noting 38-year-old Zuckerberg's jiu jitsu training and that 52-year-old Musk "grew up doing judo."

Musk also posted on Friday that all proceeds would go to veterans while White's podcast appearance showed that the UFC president believed the fight would produce massive profits and he would load the card with big fights.

"It's one of those fights that if we did do that, I would build a killer undercard with tons of great fights, and then you'd have the main event," White said. "Think about how big that fight is: two of the richest, most powerful guys in the f---ing world are going to fight on the biggest stage ever. Everybody would [pay for it]! Who the f--- doesn't want to see that fight? Who doesn't want to see that fight? Everybody would watch it. That's the kind of fight your f---ing grandmother would watch. Trump would have to fight Biden for a fight to be bigger than that. I think this thing does a billion dollars in revenue. A billion dollars."

Recently, Musk hinted that the potential fight -- which does not have a date -- would be delayed after concerns over a potentially injured neck and back.

Responding to a question about the injury in the replies to Friday's post, Musk said his fused vertebrae were fine but that he still required a minor surgery.

"I spent 3 hours in an MRI machine on Monday," Musk wrote. "Bottom line is that my C5/C6 fusion is solid, so not an issue. However, there is a problem with my right shoulder blade rubbing against my ribs, which requires minor surgery. Recovery will only take a few months."