Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg denied that he called Chael Sonnen and asked for the former UFC star turned ESPN analyst to train him for his reported upcoming fight against fellow billionaire Elon Musk.
A Meta CEO told TMZ Sports that no such phone call took place after Sonnen made the claim during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani Monday (June 26), adding that the billionaire brawl would be included at UFC 300.
"I have confirmed with Mark that he did not call Chael Sonnen," the representative said.
Sonnen, however, was making a much different claim during his MMA Hour appearance on Monday.
"Zuckerberg contacts me because he saw your tweet that I'm coming on," Sonnen said. "Zuckerberg has told me that he has agreed to fight Elon Musk at UFC 300 and it was a very big deal."
"That just happened. [My producer] Ethan is my witness, my son, Thero, my dog, Duke. This is a shoot," Sonnen added.
UFC president Dana White had previously told TMZ that a Zuckerberg-Musk matchup would "be the biggest fight ever in the history of the world," so it would, naturally, be saved for the landmark UFC 300 event.
Musk, the CEO of Twitter Tesla and Neuralink, claimed he was "up for a cage match" in a Twitter thread bashing the Facebook co-founder and referencing Zuckerberg's recent jiu-jitsu training last Tuesday (June 20).
"Send me location," Zuckerberg responded in an Instagram story, which included a screenshot of Musk's tweet, shared last Wednesday (June 22).
"Vegas Octagon," Musk wrote, adding, “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’ where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.”
The exchange was started in a Twitter threat by Mario Nawfall in which he claimed Zuckerberg's company, Meta, "began coding 'Project 92' three months after Elon acquired Twitter" in response to the purchase.
"I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options," Musk tweeted. "At least it will be “sane”. Was worried there for a moment."
A Twitter user then joked that Musk "better be careful" as Zuckerberg "does the ju jitsu [sic] now."
"I’m up for a cage match if he is lol," Musk responded.
Zuckerberg is reportedly "serious about fighting" Musk and is "waiting on details" if Musk decides to actually follow through, a Meta spokesperson confirmed to the Verge's Alex Heath.
“The story speaks for itself,” a Meta spokesperson said in reference to Zuckerberg's response to Musk's seemingly joking challenge.
The sports betting website BetOnline.ag currently has Zuckerberg as a -500 favorite in a potential fight against Musk.
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