Twitter owner Elon Musk claimed out of the blue on Sunday that he may need surgery, just weeks after challenging Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to a cage match.
In response to a tweet highlighting recent comments in which Zuckerberg said he was ready to fight, Musk responded by stating that he still hadn’t set a date due to possibly needing medical intervention.
“Exact date is still in flux. I’m getting an MRI of my neck & upper back tomorrow,” Musk wrote. “May require surgery before the fight can happen. Will know this week.”
Prior to his remarks, Musk said that he had begun lifting weights in anticipation of the fight. Zuckerberg, who recently competed in his first MMA match, has been training rigorously and even reportedly built an octagon in his yard.
Musk’s announcement of potentially needing to go under the knife was met largely with partisan responses. Supporters of Musk begged the billionaire not to go forward with the fight over concerns that serious injury could severely impact the future of the human species.
“Stop dude! Seriously. With your history of spine issues, this is a very poor decision that can have consequences well beyond what you can anticipate,” one user wrote. “It can affect the future of everything you are trying to do with your amazing companies.”
Opponents of Musk, however, argued that the tech titan was merely looking for an excuse to back out of the fight.
“Musk trying to find a way out of getting his ass whooped,” another user said.
The fight was first proposed in June when Musk claimed in a tweet that he would fight Zuckerberg in a cage match in response to the news that Facebook’s parent company Meta would be launching its Twitter rival Threads.
When Zuckerberg agreed to a fight, Musk took the proposal one step further by suggesting the bout take place at the Vegas Octagon.
Zuckerberg says that although he suggested Aug. 26, Musk never responded with a concrete date. The 39-year-old billionaire has since stated that he isn’t holding his breath, suggesting that he believes Musk may ultimately rescind on his promise.
Despite growing interest over the prospect of two billionaires pummeling each other for the world’s entertainment, Musk appears to be the only one holding back such an event.
We crawl the web so you don’t have to.
Sign up for the Daily Dot newsletter to get the best and worst of the internet in your inbox every day.
*First Published: Aug 7, 2023, 1:14 pm CDT
Mikael Thalen
Mikael Thalen is a tech and security reporter covering social media, data breaches, hackers, and more.
