Andrew Tate has backed Elon Musk in the battle for the social media giants, offering to train the controversial owner of Twitter as he prepares for a “cage match” with his Facebook rival Mark Zuckerberg.
The influencer and former kickboxing champion, who was charged in Romania this week with rape, human trafficking and forming an organized crime group, shared his grievances with Facebook’s parent company on Twitter earlier today.
He wrote, “Meta banned me everywhere for telling the truth about vaccines. But now we can restore honor with an attack on the leader of the enemy clan. I will train you @elonmusk. You won’t lose.’
The 51-year-old Musk offered to take on Brazilian jiu-jitsu white band Zuckerberg in a Twitter thread on Wednesday about a suspected new Facebook project, coupled with a direct “reaction to Twitter.”
When Zuckerberg responded via Meta’s Instagram asking for a location, Musk seemed to double down, suggesting the Vegas Octagon.
Andrew Tate poses for a photo in gym clothes. He said earlier today that he would train Elon Musk
Andrew Tate took to Twitter today to offer to train Twitter’s newest owner, Elon Musk
Elon Musk (right) has challenged jiu-jitsu-trained Mark Zuckerberg to a “cage match” after making an underhanded comment about Meta’s reported new development, Threads
Zuckerberg replied on his Instagram story, sharing a screenshot of Musk’s challenge, writing, “Send me location.” The CEO of Meta recently posted a jiu-jitsu tournament in May
Tate had been banned from Twitter since 2017 before Elon Musk took over the site last October and reinstated his account, along with those of Jordan Peterson, The Babylon Bee, Kanye West, and Donald Trump.
Lasting just over a month, the former kickboxer was ridiculed for targeting Greta Thunberg on Twitter late last year, and was banned from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for “hate speech.”
He was subsequently arrested in Romania, charged with crimes including human trafficking and rape.
Meanwhile, Musk polled Twitter users about whether he should step down from the top job.
57.5% of the 17 million users said yes, and Musk said he would step down as CEO if he found someone to take over.
He eventually announced that NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino would oversee CEO responsibilities in May 2023, but has taken an active role in running the site and continues to interact with fans through his public Twitter profile.
The sudden escalation came amid a post about Zuckerberg’s latest suspicious project, which will reportedly be called Threads and rival Twitter.
I’m sure the Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options. At least it will be “healthy”. Was worried there for a moment,” Musk noted.
After another user reminded Tesla’s CEO that the 39-year-old Facebook founder was “doing jiu-jitsu now,” Musk brushed it off. “I’m up for a cage match when he’s having fun,” he replied.
Zuckerberg replied on his Instagram story, sharing a screenshot of Musk’s challenge, writing, “Send me location.”
Musk has trained all his life in Kyokushin karate, taekwondo, judo and “Brazilian jiu-jitsu briefly,” he revealed on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and shared a photo of him fighting a sumo wrestler in the past.
However, Musk may not find the match as easy as he thinks as Meta’s CEO, who recently placed himself in a jiu-jitsu tournament in May.
“Maybe your ability to keep doing interesting things, to some extent, is your willingness to be ashamed again and go back to step one and start as a beginner, and get your kicks,” Zuckerberg said earlier this year in a podcast.
Earlier this month, Zuckerberg hit a New York Times report that he was knocked out of a Jiu-Jitsu fight after a referee ended the fight prematurely, handing the win to an opponent.
A clip of him struggling to the floor and trying to break free from an opponent who pinned him to the mat went viral.
They struggled for over a minute before Zuckerberg was locked in a submission, but the referee called the bout and handed the win to his opponent.
And the official said he stopped the fight because he heard the tech CEO snoring and thought he passed out during the chokehold.
But Zuckerberg and his coach Dave Camarillo told the publication that he had not lost consciousness and that the referee mistook his grunt for snoring.
“That never happened,” Zuckerberg wrote in an email.
Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox commented on the company’s forthcoming text-based app, calling it “our response to Twitter,” the Forget reported earlier this month.
The app will reportedly feature a host of celebrities, including Oprah and the Dalai Lama.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Meta for comment.
Last year, Musk challenged Vladimir Putin to “single combat.”
“I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat,” Musk tweeted in March 2022, typing Putin’s name in Russian.
“Ukraine is at stake,” he added, writing the country’s name in Ukrainian.
The interaction began after Musk commented on the meta’s reported in-development app, saying, “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options.”
Before winning his tournament, Zuckerberg admitted he had to “prank you” while learning the fighting style
Musk concluded his challenge with a direct reference to the Kremlin.
“Do you agree to this fight?” he wrote at the time, tagging the Kremlin’s official Twitter account.
The South African-born billionaire, who is known for making bizarre comments on Twitter in the past, bit off more than he can handle to challenge the former head of the KGB.
The Russian president is a judo blackbelt and even co-authored a book on the sport entitled “Judo: History, Theory, Practice.”
Putin, 69, was named honorary president of the International Judo Federation in 2008 but has been suspended over his war on Ukraine.