Will Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg actually fight at the Colosseum? Dana White shares $150 million update

The White House may no longer be big enough for modern sports spectacle. At least that is the thinking behind UFC president Dana White’s latest wild idea: staging a blockbuster fight night at Rome’s Colosseum.

White has openly acknowledged that the concept was as outlandish as the proposed main event itself, which would have gone beyond mixed martial arts and into the realm of global celebrity showdowns, potentially featuring Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, two of the wealthiest people on the planet.

“That was real,” White says

“That was real. I was literally in my backyard for two weeks negotiating that fight. Those two were going to put up the money,” White said during a recent UFC press conference.

The bout he was referring to is the long-rumored clash between Musk and Zuckerberg, a fantasy matchup that generated massive attention across social media but never materialized.

A $150 million venue problem

While UFC events routinely draw massive gates, the logistics of staging a card at the Colosseum pushed the idea into another stratosphere entirely.

White has said that hosting an event at the historic Roman landmark would have required a $150 million payment, largely tied to repairs and restoration work needed to preserve the ancient sites around Italy.

For context, that figure dwarfs major UFC productions, including UFC Freedom 250, which reportedly cost more than $60 million and featured Ilia Topuria suffering his first loss against Justin Gaethje.

Musk and Zuckerberg key to unlocking the idea

Despite the Colosseum plan being shelved, White suggested there was one scenario in which it might have worked: direct involvement from Musk and Zuckerberg themselves.

Both men, among the richest individuals in the world, could theoretically bankroll the event while also serving as its biggest promotional draw. The idea even included the novelty of the two tech billionaires stepping into a modified combat sports setting, given their casual involvement in physical training and martial arts.

UFC vs. the biggest leagues in America

White also used the discussion to underscore the UFC’s position in the broader sports entertainment landscape, framing it as a direct competitor to America’s biggest leagues.

“Literally, we’re competing with the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball and the NHL right now,” he said.

For White, the message was clear: even ideas that sound impossible, like a fight night at the Colosseum headlined by global tech billionaires, now sit within the UFC’s expanding imagination of what combat sports entertainment can be.

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