Elon Musk Claims Mark Zuckerberg Refused Fight At Colosseum

Elon Musk says he isn't the one holding up a battle of the billionaires with Mark Zuckerberg ... claiming Tuesday the Meta honcho is actually the one who turned down a potential fight at Italy's Colosseum.

The Tesla exec took to X just minutes ago to explain his side of the situation ... saying after the two men had initially agreed to fight, Rome offered up one of the Seven Wonders of the World for the guys to scrap in.

But, according to Elon, Zuck just flat-out didn't want to do it.

"Zuck declined," Musk said emphatically.

That's when he said he offered to fight in Zuckerberg's backyard Octagon instead.

"I suggested his home as 'safe space,'" Musk said. "Tragically, he was ahem 'traveling.'"

Zuck, meanwhile, has offered up a completely different version of the situation, saying on Threads earlier this week that he was moving on from the battle ... because he didn't believe Musk was serious at all about the fight.

"I offered a real date," the 39-year-old said. "Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead."

He continued, "If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously."