Billionaire Elon Musk asked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to find a historic place for the announced fight with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Elon Musk wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that he has spoken to both Giorgia Maloney and the culture minister in her government, Gennaro Sangiuliano, and claims that they have agreed on an “epic” site, reports the agency. DPA and Agerpres.

Without revealing the exact location, he added that “everything in the frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern,” thereby provoking speculation that it could be the Colosseum in Rome, where gladiator fights took place in ancient times.

However, Sangiuliano denied this version, saying that the match between Musk and Zuckerberg “will not take place in Rome”, but confirmed that he had a “long and friendly conversation” with the billionaire who owns companies such as Tesla or SpaceX. Maloney did not comment.

Musk also wrote on X that “we are thinking about how to organize a major charitable and historic event while fully respecting and protecting the sites,” and specified that his and the Tsuka Foundations will manage the fight.

According to the DPA agency, it seems that there is a dispute regarding the purpose of the funds collected at the event. The Minister of Culture said that there are plans to donate a large sum, “many millions of euros”, to two large children’s hospitals in Italy, and Musk wrote on his social network that “all proceeds will go to veterans”.

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How the story of the cage fight between Musk and Zuckerberg began

The news of the fight between the two billionaires, perhaps one of the strangest this year, came after a user jokingly told Musk on Twitter on June 20 before the launch of Threads that he shouldn’t contact the Facebook boss because Zuckerberg is playing well jiu-jitsu.

Musk replied to that commenter, “I’m ready for a cage fight lol,” referring to the cages that MMA fights take place in.

The next day, Mark Zuckerberg, who is also a martial arts fan and posts fight videos, responded on Instagram with a screenshot of Elon Musk’s message along with the message: “Send my location.”

Musk replied, “The Vegas Octagon,” referring to the venue where the mixed martial arts (MMA) championship matches are held.

Musk, 51, grew up in South Africa and said he got into street fights as a child, but he also recently wrote that he only gets exercise when he grabs his kids and tosses them in the air.

Musk is much taller than Zuckerberg: his height is 186 cm against 171 cm. Zuckerberg is 39 years old, he is fond of jiu-jitsu and has won several tournaments. He is apparently into mixed martial arts (MMA) and has been training for some time.