Khamzat Chimaev‘s rise to stardom in the UFC has been unprecedented, to say the least. He’s steamrolled through most of his opponents and still remains undefeated, competing in his prime. But on the other side of the story, there have been quite a few controversies that ‘Borz’ has been linked to in the past, and one of those controversies involved a cryptocurrency scam.

The excitement that Khamzat Chimaev created among fans with his incredible performances started to dwindle down due to long lay-offs. During his time off, he started promoting a meme coin on his social media platforms. However, that would end up causing serious damage to his public image. As he gears up for his UFC 308 clash against former champion, Robert Whittaker, let’s take a deep dive into the crypto controversy.

What was the SMASH meme coin?

There was indeed a lot of promotion going from Khamzat Chimaev’s social media handles when it came to his crypto coin, known as the SMASH meme coin. For context, a meme coin is a form of cryptocurrency that originated from a popular internet meme. Before he made these promotions, Chimaev would even take fans’ suggestions on where to invest when it came to cryptocurrencies.

Inspired by his “smash” catchphrase, the undefeated star dropped the SMASH and urged fans to buy it. However, the coin ended up causing many people to lose a lot of money as its value went down to zero. Later, reports claimed that Khamzat Chimaev did a ‘pump and dump’ with his SMASH meme coin and took over a million dollars.

A number of online crypto experts chimed into the conversation and took issue with Khamzat Chimaev’s strategy of siphoning millions of dollars from his fans. However, ‘Borz’ wasn’t going to stay quiet about something so serious being linked to him. Hence, Chimaev broke his silence and revealed that his manager was to blame for this whole financial mess.

‘Borz’ blames his manager for the crypto fiasco

Khamzat Chimaev, in his defense regarding the meme coin scam, claimed that he never understood the concept of cryptocurrency. During an interview with Russian internet personality Aslanbek Badaev, the 31-year-old revealed that it was his manager who came to him with the offer to promote the SMASH meme coin. “Well, my manager… you can say acted stupidly, and I also made a mistake in this crypto. I don’t understand [crypto] at all. I trust my manager,” Chimaev stated.

Chimaev would also narrate that he went through asking people whom he could “trust” about it and they gave him the green signal. He was told by the people who operated the coin that he would be handsomely compensated for the promotion he did on his social media accounts. However, Khamzat Chimaev got ripped off. He plans to make them pay now. “Now, we are looking for them. One was found. They forced him to make a video that it’s their fault, the Chechnyan-born added.

What is your take on this whole cryptocurrency scam? Let us know in the comments down below.