Earlier this year, Khamzat Chimaev embroiled himself in a rather dreadful crypto scam. The middleweight contender had asked his followers to invest their money in a crypto token known as SMASH meme coin and stated that it was a stable purchase. Unfortunately, the value of the coin soon dropped drastically, and this led the entire MMA community to question his credibility. Months have passed since that incident, but the ghosts of the past have reappeared again!

Khamzat Chimaev took his X handle to appreciate the spectacular performance showcased by Alex Pereira against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307. He wrote, “@AlexPereiraUFC Congratulation only respect.” Well, this might be the first time that the Chechen has genuinely appreciated someone without using his catchphrase, ‘See You Soon’.

ESPN’s Instagram account shared his appreciation for ‘Poatan’. However, it appears that Pereira’s sparrin͏g partner͏ and middlewei͏ght c͏ontender, Se͏an Strickland, has criticized Chimaev͏ for his ͏antic͏s. Strickland took time out of his busy schedule and commented, “Lmao, now buy a crypto scam with my name on it.”

Thi͏͏͏s͏͏ i͏͏͏͏͏s͏n’t ͏t͏he͏ first time͏͏ he ha͏s͏ openly͏ a͏͏͏tt͏͏͏a͏͏cked K͏͏h͏͏amzat C͏him͏a͏e͏v over th͏͏e͏͏ sc͏am. Whe͏n͏ ͏the iss͏͏ue͏ ͏͏w͏a͏s ͏at ͏its pea͏͏͏k͏ in July, ͏͏’͏Tarzan’͏͏ too͏k ͏to s͏͏oci͏al media ͏t͏o ͏͏͏͏d͏ecl͏a͏͏͏͏re͏͏, “I’ve been offered a ton of money to do this same exact thing…… Crazy man you’re rich and still try to scam your fans.” 

In another tweet on the same day, he wrote, “Been on x too much. I’ll leave you all with this. That was 100 percent to scam his fans. How do I know this?!? I was just approached to do this same thing… tegrity you either have it or you don’t. Yall shouldn’t let this vanish in a news cycle. Absolutely wrong Goodbye.”

So, the question is: Did the undefeated fighter really try to scam his own fans?

According to the fighter himself, he was unaware that the project was nothing but a sham. Here’s what Khamzat Chimaev said.

When Khamzat Chimaev responded to scam allegations…

While having a conversation with the media, the UFC fighter stated that he was not aware of the situation surrounding the smash tokens. However, he admitted that it was his mistake as well as his manager’s, who agreed to a deal. “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 shared in July.

Chimaev further emphasized that he made a blunder by trusting the people who came to him, portraying this as a legitimate opportunity. “…my people said I can trust them.” And so, he followed his team’s advice and made a promotional video and advertisement, expecting to receive payment in return.

He further added, “Well, these people are also lost now. We are looking for them. One was found. They forced him to make a video [explaining] that it’s their fault. We will find the others too and we’ll make them apologize for it.” There doesn’t seem to have been any such development yet.

However, the fighter has other things to pay attention to. He will be fighting Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi and the winner might get a chance at the middleweight title. With this, Khamzat Chimaev’s undefeated record (13-0) will also be on the line. When he fought Gilbert Burns, Chimaev looked vulnerable. But now, Whittaker might be one of his biggest challenges.

Do you think Chimaev will be able to defeat ‘Bobb Knuckles’? Share your predictions in the comments below.