I think Elon has been hitting the ganja again. Early this morning he challenged President Putin to “single combat.”

Вы согласны на этот бой? @KremlinRussia_E

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022

Musk isn’t the first person on Twitter to threaten to beat up Putin but because it’s him and not some rando this tweet has about 43,000 retweets and 275,000 likes. Musk implied his size and age would be enough to determine the outcome.

Pretty much

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022

He also referred to a previous fight with a Sumo wrestler which…he lost.

Yeah, I did manage to throw the world champion sumo wrestler, but at the cost of smashing a disc in my neck that caused me insane back pain for 7 years!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022

But he claimed he was absolutely serious.

I am absolutely serious

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022

Putin hasn’t responded but Dmitry Rogozin, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia did respond.

Ты, бесенок, еще молоденек,
Со мною тягаться слабенек;
Это было б лишь времени трата.
Обгони-ка сперва моего брата.

А. С. Пушкин "Сказка о Попе и работнике его Балде" https://t.co/KuR328iH20

— РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) March 14, 2022

Twitter’s translation renders that:

You, little devil, are still young,
Compete with me weak;
It would only be a waste of time.
Overtake my brother first.

A. S. Pushkin “The Tale of the Pope and his worker Balda”

Here’s the Wikipedia entry for The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda. I’m not sure if that’s a Russian way of saying “I’m your huckleberry” or something else. Fox News notes that Musk and Rogozin, who is also the head of the Russian space agency, have sparred on Twitter before.

🇺🇸🇺🇸 American Broomstick 🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/r2hJvFQosS

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2022

A Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister sided with Musk.

https://t.co/0NShQYIuGM

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 14, 2022

Anyway, lots of people are having fun visualizing this fight.

Musk is 6'3 Putin is 5'6, it was over before it began

— 1 (@ancientreptile7) March 14, 2022

And this one which has superimposed Musk’s face on Bruce Lee’s body from Way of the Dragon.

My friend make this one for Elon… pic.twitter.com/TP5zNF3t0K

— VT🔶GalaxyHeroes (@VT6688) March 14, 2022

A lot of fight handicapping going on.

Lot of people coping about Putin’s judo black belt. It simply does not matter. Putin is between 5’1 and 5’5. He’s literally a manlet. Elon musk is 6’2. “Bigger they are harder they fall” boys are coping. https://t.co/zFJVM2AZeK

— Sigma Sensei (@BigSigmaSensei) March 14, 2022

Elon in the 3rd round 🥊 https://t.co/pnCzpq2w6F

— Crypto (DJ) Prestige (@DjPrestigeUk) March 14, 2022

Molly Jong-Fast isn’t impressed with Musk’s fitness.

Elon mush https://t.co/KotzTyhJs1

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 14, 2022

Others just want him to lose. There are lots of people like this on Twitter about anything involving Elon Musk.

I would do anything for Elon to not be alive anymore https://t.co/rwQyv3vdoE

— Homie (@Proud_Shooter) March 14, 2022

I don’t get why Musk does this stuff. Maybe he’s just trying to tweak Putin who definitely sees himself as a tough guy. I doubt anyone will admit it but I bet there’s plenty of talk about this inside the Kremlin, though I sort of doubt anyone wants to be the person who mentions it to Putin himself.