Elon Musk is looking for an ‘epic location’ in Italy to fight Mark Zuckerberg

Get ready for the Fisticuffs in Florence or the Venom in Venice. Just not the Rumble in Rome.

Elon Musk has reached out to Italian leader Georgia Meloni to secure an “epic venue” for his “cage fight” with tech rival Mark Zuckerberg – but a government official has ruled out the Eternal City as a venue.

“I spoke to the Italian Prime Minister and Minister of Culture,” Musk tweeted on Friday.

“The live stream will be on this platform and meta. Everything in the camera image will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all.”

Hours later, Musk also posted a cryptic tweet with a possible date for the clash between the tech titans.

“Gaius Julius Caesar, March 15,” he posted on his rebranded Twitter page X, a nod to the infamous Ides of March when the Emperor was killed.

However, the much-rumored “Gladiator”-style showdown in the ancient Colosseum or any other historical site in Rome will not be an option.

Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said: “It will not take place in Rome.”

“I had a long and friendly phone conversation with Elon Musk,” he said The guard. “We talked about a shared passion for the history of ancient Rome. We are discussing how to organize a major charity and historical commemoration event with full respect for the sites.”

The Post has asked the Ministry for comment.

After Musk tweeted earlier this month that he was “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg, the Facebook co-founder countered by posting a screenshot of Musk’s tweet with the caption “Send me location.”

Zuckerberg’s team reportedly relayed the message to Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, whose people said they got in touch with Italian officials TMZ Sports.

However, the outlet later reported that sources with direct knowledge confirmed that the ministry first contacted Zuckerberg privately, then forwarded the request to White and there was a follow-up and a call scheduled for next week.

In response, Musk tweeted that there had been “some changes.” [the] The fight will take place in the Colosseum,” which Sangiuliano has since quashed.

Despite the setback, Musk still appears to have his eye on Italy, firing off a series of tweets in Italian, including: one who says “Dulce est desipere in loco” which translates to “it’s sweet to be lost in this place”.

Musk and Zuckerberg representatives did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.

Though both tech moguls trained under Lex Fridman — an artificial intelligence researcher at MIT who hosts the Lex Fridman Podcast and also holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu — Zuckerberg undoubtedly has more experience in the sport.

While Musk has a significant size advantage compared to his tech rival, he could still have a lot of work to do against Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg, 39, has been training at MMA gyms since September in hopes of competing, he revealed on June 17. In May, Zuckerberg revealed via an Instagram post that he had won his first Brazilian amateur ju-jitsu tournament.

Musk, 52, also recently revealed he has a shoulder problem that may require surgery and has a recovery time of “a few months”.