Zuckerberg ready for cage fight but Musk isn't committing

It was Musk who proposed that the duo engage in a cage fight - a form with lesser formal rules and even suggested the Vegas Octagon, the destination in Nevada where Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bouts are held, for the face-off.

But not much has translated to activity on the ground; the enthusiasts of such a match-up do not even have a date for it, and now we know the reason why.

Musk delaying the bout

Musk has been using his social media platform to share information about his training for the event, giving the impression that he intends to take on Zuckerberg.

However, after months of cross-talking, the Meta CEO claimed that he had even suggested August 26 as the date for the showdown, but it is Musk, who hasn't confirmed yet.

Instead, Musk is more interested in the logistics of how it will be broadcasted and recently touted that X's live stream feature would be a nice fit.

All this leads to one simple question. Is the proposed bout just a ruse to drum up activity on their social media platforms and keep users engaged? Musk and Zuckerberg are already fighting it out on social media after the latter's Threads was unveiled last month.

Packing punches in the digital realm

While Musk fans wait for the Techno king to dominate the showdown, it is actually Zuckerberg who is pulling some great punches on social media.

For instance, when a Threads user enquired if the fight was mutually agreed upon, Zuckerberg responded by saying, it was more of a "funding secured" scenario in a dig at Musk's comments for taking his company Tesla private in 2018.

Even Musk's announcement about live streaming the bout on X drew this response.

Musk, who now has 152 million followers on Twitter, has mastered the art of using social media to promote his companies. Zuckerberg seems to have taken a leaf out of this book and is using it to get people interested in Threads.

The platform managed to get over a 100-million sign-ups within days of its launch but is unlikely to get the engagement that users on X enjoy. By posting content about the bout exclusively on Threads, Zuckerberg wants to increase engagement on the platform.

Musk and Zuckerberg may not see eye to eye on multiple issues but surely do not mind mutually extracting benefits from a non-event that has garnered so much interest in the media.