Elon Musk is still discussing his sumo wrestling match, which seems to have caused him significant pain. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX reminisced about the bout on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday after a user posted a photo of the match. “Had a few minutes of glory and 8 years of neck pain,” Musk wrote.
This is not the first time he has mentioned his experience with a sumo wrestler. In March 2022, the eccentric billionaire challenged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to “single combat” for Ukraine. When then-Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao doubted Musk’s fighting abilities, Musk shared a picture of his sumo match. He did not provide details about when or where the fight occurred.
Musk is not the only tech mogul displaying an interest in physical fitness and masculinity
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “Managed to throw him, but it cost me smashing my c5-c6 disc & 8 years of mega back pain! Finally fixed with c5-c6 disc fusion,” Musk wrote after posting the photo.
Despite this, the experience has not deterred him from considering future fights. In June, Musk challenged Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight amid rumors that Zuckerberg was planning to launch a Twitter rival. Meta launched their text-based social media platform, Threads, a month later.
“Send Me Location,” Zuckerberg said in an Instagram story when he accepted Musk’s challenge. However, the match did not occur despite months of back and forth between Musk and Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg claimed Musk did not agree to an actual date for the fight. He has not forgotten about the cage match. “If only Zuckerberg were as tough (sigh). I’ve offered to fight him any place, any time, any rules, but all I hear is crickets,” Musk wrote on X last week in response to a satirical news story about a fight between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
He is not the only tech mogul displaying an interest in physical fitness and masculinity. For example, his rival, Zuckerberg, took up mixed martial arts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to getting in shape, Zuckerberg has also won medals in jiu-jitsu matches. Similarly, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has transformed from scrawny to muscular. “The obvious conclusion is that I need a lot more training,” Musk wrote in July after a training session with Canadian UFC legend Georges St-Pierre.