Musk sends strong message to Meta foe

Those who thought the planned fight between with Mark Zuckerberg was a walkover for the latter should think again.

Elon Musk puts Alex Fridman in a lock

Those who thought the planned fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg was a stunt or a walkover for the Meta boss should think again.

Musk has been training with MIT researcher and podcaster Lex Fridman, who came away “extremely impressed” with the Twitter chief’s “strength, power and skill, on the feet and on the ground”.

Fridman, a black belt in jujitsu, has also sparred with Zuckerberg.

Fridman posted pictures of Musk throwing him to the mat and putting him in a lock during their session, suggesting the billionaire has more in his locker than he has let on. “I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids and throwing them in the air,” Musk tweeted, adding: “I have this great move that I call ‘the walrus’ where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing.”

He later admitted: “Although very dated now, I trained in judo, Kyokushin (full-contact karate) and no-rules streetfighting.”

Lex Fridman is thrown by Elon Musk

Fridman has said he was a “long-term friend” of Musk and a recent acquaintance of Zuckerberg and has welcomed both into the world of mixed martial arts.

“I do believe there’s tremendous value in them practising martial arts, as it will make them better leaders, better human beings and students of human ­nature,” he said in a preview to a video of him sparring with ­Zuckerberg.

However, Fridman has said he does not welcome the prospect of the pair fighting each other.

“It’s really inspiring to see Elon and Mark doing martial arts but I think the world is served far better if they train martial arts but not fight in the cage. That said, as Elon says, the most entertaining outcome is the most likely … I’m there for them, no matter what.”

The pair’s feud came to a head last week when they tentatively agreed to fight after a series of tweets.

Dana White, the president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, told the TMZ website the billionaires were “deadly serious” about the bout and claimed that the Las Vegas Octagon, which hosts MMA events, was a potential venue.

Bookmakers have made Zuckerberg the favourite – a view seemingly echoed by Maye Musk, Elon’s concerned mother.

She claimed on Twitter last week the fight had since been cancelled, adding that it was a “great relief”. It is unclear whether Elon will do as he is told.

THE TIMES