A modern-day gladiator fight could take place at Rome's Colosseum between tech moguls Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
As previously reported, earlier this month the 51-year-old Tesla chief executive raised eyebrows after responding to a Twitter thread mocking Zuckerberg, stating that he was "up for a cage fight" with him.
The tweet was a reply to an online user that said Musk's fellow businessman "does the jujitsu [sic] now," a reference to his recent medaling in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament.
It seems like the 39-year-old founder of Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta was down for a battle as he posted a screenshot of Musk's tweet with the caption "send me location".
On Thursday (June 22), the Twitter owner actually named a location, cryptically penning "Vegas Octagon" - which is the iconic competition mat used for UFC bouts based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In addition to this, he was spotted training with Lex Fridman, a popular scientific podcaster and a seasoned jiu-jitsu black belt holder. Fridman recently took to the social media platform to share a snapshot of Musk in action during a surprise training session, showcasing a successful take-down maneuver.
Sharing pics of Musk grappling, he wrote: "I did an impromptu training session with @elonmusk for a few hours yesterday. I'm extremely impressed with his strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground. It was epic.
"It's really inspiring to see Elon and Mark doing martial arts, but I think the world is served far better if they train martial arts but not fight in the cage," Fridman added. "That said, as Elon says, the most entertaining outcome is the most likely... I'm there for them, no matter what."
The showdown between the two men - who have a combined net worth of $335 billion - is garnering anticipation as according to TMZ Sports, an official from the government of Italy contacted Zuckerberg about staging the fight at the legendary Colosseum.
The outlet reported that Zuckerberg's team passed on the message to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White, whose people contacted the Italian Minister.
The 2,000-year-old amphitheater is one of the 7 Wonders of the World and there have not been large events held inside it in hundreds of years.
Musk seemed to add to the speculation by tweeting: "Some chance fight happens in Colosseum."
However, it is uncertain whether the fight is still on, as Musk's 75-year-old mother, Maye, declared that she isn't happy about her son's proposed fight.
She took to Twitter to express her disappointment with the matchup, writing: "No joking. Fight with words only. In armchairs. 4 feet apart. The funniest person wins."
Then, in another tweet: "Actually, I canceled the fight. I haven’t told them yet. But I will continue to say the fight is canceled, just in case…" And, following Fridman's training photos of Musk, the model and dietician responded: "Don't encourage this match!"
While both billionaires have trained in different forms of fighting, there has yet to be confirmation that the spectacle has been scheduled.