The probability of a cage match between tech giants Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, which had been vastly anticipated, appears to have dissipated after the Facebook co-founder dismissed Musk for holding back their expected duel in the ring. "I think we can all agree Elon isn't serious and it's time to move on," Zuckerberg wrote Sunday on Threads, Meta's text-based app recently launched as a competitor to X. The two social media executives, who had begun hinting at a possible mixed martial arts battle since June, had labeled it a "cage match," a phrase suggesting a fight in a restricted area where the opponents have to make an effort to get out. However, Zuckerberg said that while he was unhesitatingly ready to battle, Musk kept rejecting it citing various reasons. "I offered a real date. Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity," Zuckerberg wrote, mentioning the president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, which the New York Times reported was attempting to host the fight. "Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead," the Meta CEO continued, recalling Musk's earlier statement that he may need medical attention before fighting his adversary. "If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously," Zuckerberg concluded. Musks has not yet publicly responded to Zuckerberg's latest comments, and a representative for X could not be contacted immediately. In the interim, Musk tweeted what he claimed was a screenshot of a text conversation with Zuckerberg, on which Musk proposed that they meet for a "practice bout" in Zuckerberg's backyard in Palo Alto on Monday. This follows reports from TMZ that Zuckerberg had built an Octagon, an opened-ended UFC-branded ring, in his yard. Their competition intensified when Zuckerberg presented Threads last month to rival X. Later, an attorney for Musk dispatched a letter accusing Meta of using X's confidential data and recruiting former Twitter employees to make Threads. "I'm sure Earth can't wait to be exclusively under Zuck's thumb with no other options," Musk wrote on Twitter in advance of the Threads release. Musk and Zuckerberg are the second and 16th wealthiest people on the planet, respectively, according to Forbes' most current billionaires list.
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