Khamzat Chimaev blames his manager for the crypto fraud

UFC middleweight challenger Khamzat Chimaev’s seemingly innocent endorsement of a cryptocurrency has landed him in hot water within the MMA community, as it appears the UFC fighter has scammed his fans.

In July 2024, Khamzat Chimaev took to X and shared a video promoting a cryptocurrency called SMASH. This coin was named after the undefeated superstar. This decision came as no surprise, as many athletes, influencers, and celebrities have been promoting crypto in recent years. However, it became apparent that something wasn’t quite right. Crypto sleuth ZachXBT discovered that 78% of the coin’s supply had been bought by insiders. Within 24 hours, the value of this coin would drop by 96%. This left early adopters with nothing but a lot of frustration.

Khamzat Chimaev blames Manger

Since the controversy began, Khamzat Chimaev has removed everything that tied him to the coin. However, it was only in a recent interview with Aslanbek Badaev that he would directly address the allegations. However, he blamed his manager for simply trusting the wrong people. During his interview, Khamzat explained;

“Well, my manager… you can say he acted stupid and I also made a mistake in this crypto. I don’t understand (crypto) at all, I trust my manager. You can say I asked people if I could trust them, my people said I could trust them. Make this video, like any other athlete, probably doesn’t know what crypto is and how it works. I’m not sure. I don’t even have time to look what it is.” He went on to say;

“I made a video and then an ad where they told me they would send me money. Well, these people are also lost now. We are looking for them. One has been found. They forced him to make a video (explaining) that it is their fault. We will find the others too and we will make them apologize.”

Khamzat Chimaev’s manager, Majdi Shammas, has already taken full responsibility for putting his fighter’s name on the scam. However, he made it clear that Chimaev was in no way involved in any attempted fraud.

Khamzat Chimaev was set to headline the UFC Saudi Arabia card in June 2024. However, the undefeated prospect was forced to withdraw after falling “seriously ill” with an undisclosed illness. Khamzat Chimaev is already making plans to return to the octagon at UFC 308. This should happen in October when the UFC makes its annual pit stop in Abu Dhabi. However, nothing has been officially announced at this time.

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