By Hyunjoo Jin and Greg Bensinger

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Forget about famed boxing bouts like the Rumble in the Jungle or the Thrilla in Manila — billionaire social media moguls Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been egging each other into a mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.

In recent days, Twitter owner Musk and Facebook parent Meta CEO Zuckerberg – whose social media platforms duke it out daily for advertising dollars – have been trading bluster about going mano a mano.

The brouhaha began Tuesday when Musk tweeted he was “up for a cage match” with Zuckerberg, who’s trained in jiujitsu.

On Wednesday, Zuckerberg, 39 who has posted pictures of matches he’s won on his company’s Instagram platform, asked Musk, 51, to “send location” for the proposed throwdown.

“Vegas Octagon,” Musk tweeted, referring to an events center where mixed martial arts (MMA) championship bouts are held.

“If this is for real, I will do it,” the Tesla chief tweeted.

He later said on Twitter that he had “this great move that I call ‘The Walrus,’ where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.”

The odds that such a fight will really take place appear slim, though. The two CEOs have a history of drawing attention to themselves: In 2021, Zuckerberg rode a motorized surfboard while waving an American flag; Musk has generated headlines with his controversial tweets.

Asked about Zuckerberg’s post on Wednesday, a Meta spokesperson said, “The story speaks for itself.”

Musk did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comments.

After he bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, its value plummeted as it faced an exodus of advertisers.

Musk in recent months has stepped up criticism of Zuckerberg and his companies, and has mocked reported plans by Meta for a platform to rival Twitter.

“I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options,” he said in the Twitter thread where he proposed fighting Zuckerberg.

Some betting experts differ on which CEO would prevail in a Fracas in Vegas.

SportsBetting.ag gives better odds for Zuckerberg, who is 12 years younger than Musk. However, Owain Flanders, news editor at VegasSlotsOnline.com, put odds at 3-to-2 in favor of Musk.

“Musk’s training for potential space travel and his notorious work ethic make him a formidable opponent,” Flanders said.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Greg Bensinger; editing by David Gaffen and Jonathan Oatis)

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