Elon Musk Says He’s ‘Up for a Cage Match’ with Mark Zuckerberg Amid Rumors of Twitter Rival

Clash of the (tech) titans?

Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, responded to chatter on his social media platform Tuesday about reports that Mark Zuckerbeg, the CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, might launch a Twitter rival named "Threads."

"I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options," Musk posted on Twitter. 

"At least it will be 'sane.' Was worried there for a moment," he said, adding a smiley face with cold sweat emoji.

Another user wrote in the thread: "Better be careful @elonmusk I heard he does the ju jitsu [sic] now."

"I’m up for a cage match if he is lol," Musk, 51, who runs Tesla and SpaceX, responded. 

The two tech moguls, among the wealthiest people on the planet, have squabbled before. 

In 2016, Zuckerberg said he was "deeply disappointed" that a SpaceX rocket exploded on the launch pad destroying the Facebook satellite it was supposed to take into space. 

Zuckerberg, at the time, was in Africa promoting the launch of the satellite. Musk, two years later, took responsibility but shrugged off Zuckerberg's concerns.

"Yeah, my fault for being an idiot. We did give them a free launch to make up for it and I think they had some insurance," he said.

They also traded barbs over artificial intelligence, when Musk said it could pose a threat to humanity.

"I have pretty strong opinions on this," Zuckerberg said on a Facebook Live discussion in 2017. "With AI especially, I'm really optimistic, and I think that people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios ... I don't understand it. It's really negative, and in some ways, I actually think it's pretty irresponsible."

Musk responded on Twitter: "I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited."

But while they've exercised their brain power swapping insults, they've never tested their brawn with each other. 

Zuckerberg is a fan of combat sports and has been spotted at UFC events. 

He also trains competitively in Brazilian jiu jitsu and gave fans advice on the sport.

“[You] have to be willing to just get falling. People who train jiu-jitsu – you need to not have pride," he said.

Musk has also trained in martial arts, including Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Kyokushin karate, taekwondo and judo.

Last year, Musk challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "single combat" over the Ukrainian invasion.