Italy invites Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to fight in the Colosseum in Rome

A modern-day gladiator fight could take place at Rome’s Colosseum between tech bosses Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg as Italy invites the two billionaires to fight in the historic landmark.

The internet went wild after Elon Musk challenged Mark Zuckerberg to a fight on June 20. Zuckerberg soon replied to the invite by asking for a date, which made the whole world try to make the event happen.

The Italian government has now shocked everyone by inviting the two billionaires to have their fight at the 2000-year-old Colosseum in Rome, TMZ Sports reported.

The Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, is said to have reached out to Musk and Zuckerberg about staging the head-to-head at the landmark, which is one of the seven wonders of the world.

Musk and Zuckerberg are both hoping to fight in the Colosseum

Both of the eager fighters were excited about the idea. They reportedly passed on the message to Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, whose people contacted the Italian Minister.

The Colosseum has not hosted a big event, let alone a fight, in hundreds of years, and only a few hundred spectators can be seated in temporary seating within the theater.

While Italian media reports that the government has denied offering up the venue, Musk has added to the speculation this morning, tweeting: “Some chance fight happens in Colosseum”.

Musk continued to up the hype around the fight, quoting Russell Crowe’s character in the cult film Gladiator, General Maximus. The character famously tells his troops before battle: “What we do in life, echoes in eternity”.

If that location does indeed turn out to be the Colosseum, it would be the first time in hundreds of years that a fight has been staged at the historic arena.

In its heyday, the 50,000-capacity stadium regularly saw fights to the death between gladiators. But now its ruins could only host a few hundred people and it now mainly holds concerts instead of battles.