For these of you who’re very “on-line,” you’ve gotten most likely heard that there’s discuss of a possible cage match between Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla’s Elon Musk. Even in case you are not into fight sports activities, I wager most of you’ll tune in to see a battle between these two even if you happen to hope each in some way lose. As Jalopnik’s resident martial arts dork, I’m going to make my prediction for who would come out with their hand raised.

So how did we even get to the purpose the place we now have a nerd battle between two of Silicon Valley’s richest CEOs? For essentially the most half, this all began, with stories of Zuckerberg competing in some native Brazilian JiuJitsu tournaments and even successful just a few medals. There have been some stories that Zuck was choked out in one other event however skilled observers appear to assume that he simply tapped out and misplaced that match.

I’ll say that Zuck will get quite a lot of criticism for lots of issues, and rightly so. However selecting to coach and compete in BJJ at nearly 40 years previous will get props from me. I studied varied martial arts as a child then stepped away from coaching round 25. I began BJJ two years in the past once I was 40 and getting frequently smashed on the mat by folks which might be youthful, stronger, and/or higher isn’t what most would name an pleasing expertise… however for some odd purpose I hold coming again to class.

All this hype round Zuck’s martial arts competitions finally made its strategy to Elon, who has to Tweet about every little thing, and mentioned he’s “up for a cage battle if he [Zuckerberg] is.’ Zuck, on his Instagram, responded with “Ship me location.” And since the web is undefeated this potential turned the tech/movie star information we’re all speaking about. As a result of let’s be sincere right here, that is much more attention-grabbing than no matter VR silliness Meta is engaged on or the incessant dialog about how Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” is something however.

UFC President Dana White has gone on document to say that the 2 are “Lifeless critical” about this matchup and I might assume that the UFC would need a piece of the motion if it truly involves fruition.

If it does occur, who do you have to place your wagers on? Let’s have a look at a “story of the tape” as they are saying.

Elon Musk is 51 years previous, and most sources say he’s about six toes tall, with a weight reported between 180-200 kilos. That could be a substantial measurement benefit over Mark Zuckerberg who’s 38 years previous, about 5-foot-7, and round 155 kilos. In Zuck’s current BJJ matches, he competed on the 149-pound weight restrict. We could possibly be a weight differential of as much as 50 kilos, and anybody who tells you that “measurement doesn’t matter” is both mendacity or has by no means been in an actual bodily engagement with somebody that had outweighed them.

After all, if a battle had been to truly occur it’s most unlikely that any athletic fee would sanction a matchup with that giant of a weight discrepancy. There’s a purpose skilled fighters have weight courses. This battle would doubtless fall into some sort of “catchweight” and maybe Zuck bulks as much as 165 and Elon slims all the way down to 180. That 15-pound distinction nonetheless favors Musk.

Zuck, alternatively, brings extra to the desk to neutralize that measurement benefit. For starters, he’s youthful, and until a 52-year-old man is a devoted athlete, they will have a tough time in any bodily contest with somebody who’s 38.

The largest, and most evident issue right here is coaching. Mark Zuckerberg has just lately gotten hooked on martial arts coaching. He has been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a couple of 12 months and there’s some footage of him doing a little combined martial arts coaching as nicely. He did a digital spar with UFC champ Alex Volkanovski and has shared the mat with ONE FC grappling champ, and BJJ phenom Mikey Muscemeci.

Zuck additionally did some fencing in faculty, and whereas this matchup gained’t contain swords, the athleticism, timing, and footwork of fencing does have some carry-over.

Nonetheless, let’s not depend Musk out simply but. In an interview with Joe Rogan:

Musk described himself as a “bookish” child, the billionaire mentioned he studied karate, judo, and Brazilian jiu jitsu his youth.

The billionaire additionally wrestles. Final 12 months, Musk mentioned on Twitter that he managed to “throw the world champion sumo wrestler” at a celebration. Nonetheless, the expertise prompted him to slide a disc in his neck.

Not like Zuckerberg, Musk doesn’t appear to have saved up along with his coaching however having that base will definitely show useful if each events agree on a coaching camp to organize for this matchup.

General, Zuckerberg has a skillset benefit whereas Elon brings an influence benefit. I give Zuck a 3-to-1 odds of victory over Elon. Some of us most likely imagine this isn’t even a lot of a contest, however Elon has a puncher’s likelihood and Zuck remains to be comparatively new to fight sports activities and there’s proof of him making newbie errors in competitors.

If Zuck can handle his distance correctly, and rating an excellent takedown he has a extremely good likelihood of a first-round end by way of submission. However, if Musk does have some wrestling abilities as he claims, this could possibly be nearer than most individuals would predict. A good wrestler can provide even an intermediate BJJ practitioner a run for his or her cash. If this does flip right into a grappling match and Zuck pulls off a type of signature leglocks taught by “Darth Rigatoni” it’s unlikely Musk may have a solution for it.

So it appears Zuck is the betting favourite, with Elon nonetheless within the sport if he can land the best punch or brings some first rate grappling to the desk. As for the chances of this battle truly taking place… I say it’s someplace round slim to none. However it will certain be enjoyable to observe.