Looks like a “Gladiator” sequel could be in the making.
An official from Italy’s ministry of culture has reportedly reached out to Twitter and Tesla head Elon Musk and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg to coordinate a fight at the historic Colosseum in Rome.
The Post has asked for confirmation from the ministry.
In response, Musk, 52, entertained the idea by tweeting, “Some chance fight happens in Colosseum.”
Both tech moguls have been training with Lex Fridman, an artificial intelligence researcher at MIT who hosts the “Lex Fridman Podcast.” He also practices Brazilian jujitsu and holds a first-degree black belt in the sport.
After Musk tweeted earlier this month that he would be “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg, the Facebook co-founder shot back by posting a screenshot of Musk’s tweet with the caption “send me location.”
Zuckerberg’s team reportedly passed on the message to Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, whose people contacted Italian officials, according to TMZ Sports.
Italy’s ministry of culture told the outlet in a public statement: “If Zuckerberg and Musk wanted to perform in the Colosseum they would have to make a non-violent challenge.”
But the outlet is doubling down saying sources with direct knowledge confirm again … the Ministry first reached out to Mark Zuckerberg privately, then the request was forwarded to Dana White, the president of UFC. There was a follow-up and a call was set for next week.
Musk’s Colosseum tweet was in response to this.
They reportedly offered up the 2,000-year-old venue as a battleground for the techies’ “cage fight.”
Considered a wonder of the world, Musk continued to up the hype around having the fight at the Colosseum, quoting Russell Crowe’s character in the film “Gladiator,” who famously tells his troops before battle, “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg, 39, has been training in MMA gyms since September with the hopes of competing, he revealed on June 17. In a May Instagram post, Zuckerberg revealed that he won his first amateur Brazilian jujitsu tournament.
Musk, however, may back down at the advice of his mother.
His 75-year-old mom, Maye Musk, declared that she is very much against the idea of her son getting hurt in the ring.
She took to Twitter this week to share her opposition to the matchup and told people she “canceled the fight.”
“Don’t encourage this match!” she wrote to podcaster Fridman.
In another tweet, she wrote: “Actually, I canceled the fight. I haven’t told them yet. But I will continue to say the fight is canceled, just in case.”
There has yet to be confirmation that the spectacle has been scheduled.
Maye later suggested an alternative.
“A verbal fight only. Three questions each. The funniest answers win. Who agrees?” she proposed.
The Post has reached out to Musk and Zuckerberg for comment.
If the historic amphitheater turns out to be the location, it would be the first time in hundreds of years that a fight has been staged at the arena.
The 50,000-capacity stadium is the largest ancient amphitheater ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheater in the world, despite its age. It regularly saw fights to the death between gladiators nearly 2,000 years ago. Today its ruins can host only a few hundred people, and stage concerts instead of battles.
In 2003, Sir Paul McCartney performed an exclusive charity show inside the Colosseum for an intimate audience of 400 people who paid up to $1,500 each. Apart from that, all other concerts have taken place outside the structure.
