Looking at who would win in a fight between Vladimir Putin Vs. Elon Musk

The world seems to have gotten more bizarre with each passing day since 2020, and 2022 is no different. This week saw Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk call out Vladimir Putin for a fight which was odd, to say the least. On his personal Twitter account, Mr. Musk wrote “I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat”

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Musk has said something unusual on his Twitter account, and it probably won’t be his last either. In terms of celebrity beefs, this is probably up there with the time Justin Bieber called out Tom Cruise for an MMA fight. For fans of this potential fight, there’s some bad news. The chance of this one happening is slim to none due to a number of reasons. Still, we can always hypothesize.

All jokes aside, this article will give a serious look at who would win their fight. We should note that this piece will be looking solely at the physicality of either individual. In other words, there’s no bias or political slant here and we’ll be taking each fighter at face value.

Who would win in a fight, Elon Musk or Vladimir Putin?

Advantages for Musk

Perhaps Elon Musk’s biggest advantage is his age and body. At 50 years of age, he is almost 20 years younger than Putin which means his body hasn’t started its muscular and athletic decline as badly as Putin’s. If you look at Musk, he is in good physical shape for his age – and whilst he may not have the body of an MMA fighter, he’s still pretty fit and healthy.

Interestingly, had this been a fight between a 15 year old vs. a 35 year old, the physical advantage would firmly sit with the older fighter. However, the body begins to naturally break down with age from around 40 years old plus. Therefore, as Musk is significantly closer to 40 compared to Putin, this would serve as a great advantage for him.

There is also speculation that Putin is physically unwell, as he has recently been seen with a puffy, bloated look which further puts the physical edge in Musk’s favor. Simply put though, if ever you’ve trained martial arts with a 50 year old and a 70 year old, you’ll notice a huge difference in physicality between the two.

The next physical advantage Musk has would be his height. Although height isn’t a massive issue whilst fighting, the fact remains that Musk stands at 6’2 feet tall, compared to Putin who is roughly 5’6 feet in comparison. This would mean that potentially, Musk could out-box Putin due to having a superior reach with his longer arms. The same can be applied for kicks.

Does Elon Musk know martial arts?

There are some reports online that Musk dabbled in martial arts as a child, such as Judo and Karate. However, these have yet to be verified. One thing worth noting is that generally, this doesn’t count for much when fighting as an adult is concerned. Usually, most people that have trained as a child forget their moves after years of not training. Similarly, the way kids train isn’t the same as adults, so it’s arguably less realistic. In this case, it’s fair to say that even if Musk did train as a kid, it wouldn’t be worth much as a 50 year old man.

Advantages for Putin

By far, the biggest advantage that Putin would have is his background in Judo and Sambo. All politics aside, Putin is a legitimate Judo black belt that goes back to his youth where he grappled competitively. In fact, we’ve previously covered this history in depth in a past article. Furthermore, US Judo Olympian Travis Stevens has also gone on record to believe that Putin’s technique was serious.

With this said, Putin is no joke when it comes to martial arts and has good technique. He has no history of training striking-based martial arts such as boxing but is certainly well versed when it comes to grappling. Interestingly though, Putin’s Judo may not be as effective without the Kimono. Historically, Judo is based on grips which literally aren’t there without the gi. Although you can learn lots of nogi variations, if Putin hasn’t done this then his Judo may not be as effective. So, if he fought Musk with the pair wearing jackets, then he could legitimately take Musk down. However, if they were both topless then this may be a problem.

Another benefit for Putin is his physical strength. Although an old man now, he was seriously jacked in his younger days. His body won’t be the same these days and he physically looks smaller than he used to which is expected due to his age, but the fact remains that this will serve him well with a baseline of strength. As we know, training martial arts will make you strong, so he’s probably not as weak as some people think.

So, who would win?

There are two scenarios that would possibly play out here. The first is that Putin is too old and frail to fight properly. Despite years of training Judo, the sad truth is that age catches up with everyone and Putin is only human. So, if he failed to implement his Judo then Elon Musk would win the fight due to his age and size advantage. It’s no secret that strength and physicality is king when it comes to fighting, and if Putin’s technique wasn’t there anymore then he would probably lose.

The second scenario that could happen is that Putin would be able to use his Judo and effectively take Musk down. Really, this depends on how capable his body is at this age, and whether his Judo is still good enough. In recent years, we’ve seen videos of Putin drilling Judo and it looks ok. However, these videos are years old and he may not have trained since then. Similarly, drilling is very different from fighting against a resisting opponent.

Still, if Putin was able to hit a throw in combat then he would probably win due to the smothering pressure that Judoka’s possess, meaning he would then defeat Musk whilst on the floor, by way of ground and pound or submission.

The verdict

This hypothetical fight would make for a very interesting bout. On the one hand, you’d expect Musk to favor striking from standing and to avoid being taken down. On the other, Putin would be looking for take downs as much as possible. In many ways, this could possibly mirror an early UFC fight where there’s a huge style clash between a striker and a grappler. However, the reality is watching a 50 year old vs. a 70 year old would look pretty cringy and ugly at times.

Overall though, the betting money would be on Elon Musk at this point, who would probably have enough of a physical edge to defeat Putin. Had both fighters been the same age then Putin would be the clear favorite. However, fights aren’t always fair and due to the 20 year age gap, you have to argue that Musk would be able to beat Putin due to being in far better shape.

If you’re a fan of Elon Musk then check out this great biography here.