UFC CEO Dana White is seemingly still dreaming of promoting a fight between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Speaking to a reporter at the conclusion of the UFC's Saturday debut in Saudi Arabia, the UFC boss was asked what fight, if any, could generate 8 million pay-per-view buys.
After a moment of contemplation, he gave his answer with a wry grin.
"Zuckerberg vs. Musk," he said.
Musk, the man behind Tesla, SpaceX, and more recently X (formerly Twitter) has been feuding with the Meta CEO and co-founder Zuckerberg for years.
The rivalry between the two tech moguls, who have a combined net worth of nearly $500 billion, reached a crescendo last year, when they began discussing a potential MMA fight to settle their differences.
White, ever the opportunist, was quick to involve himself in the conversation, offering to promote a fight between the two billionaires for charity.
Of course, as most people predicted, the fight never happened, and before long, White seemed ready to abandon the idea.
“I never say never, but [it's] probably not [happening]," White said on a September, 2023 episode of OutKick.
After Saturday, it's clear that the Musk vs. Zuckerberg fight is still something White thinks about. It's easy to understand why. Whether the proceeds were donated to charity or not, there is no question it would generate massive mainstream interest — enough, by White's estimation, to sell 8 million pay-per-views.
For context, the most successful pay-per-view in UFC history was UFC 229, which was anchored by a lightweight grudge match between champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and MMA superstar Conor McGregor. It sold just under 2.5 million pay-per-views.
In terms of boxing, the most successful pay-per-view on record was Floyd Mayweather's 2015 showdown with Manny Pacquiao, which was purchased just over 4.5 million times.
Time will tell if Musk and Zuckerberg ever put on the gloves to settle their beef. If it happens, it would undoubtedly be big business, but it would probably leave a lot to be desired in terms of sporting quality. While Zuckerberg has some solid Brazilian jiu jitsu experience, neither he nor Musk have any real MMA experience, and they would most likely look like amateurs when the punches and kicks started flying.
