Khamzat Chimaev‘s problems are not going to end anytime soon. After being hospitalized and pulling out of his last fight, the Chechen warrior has now found himself in the middle of a crypto scam. In the middle of the controversy, Chimaev’s manager has now released his official statement.
A few days ago, Khamzat Chimaev posted a video on his social media promoting his Solana-based meme coin called SMASH. Overnight, the coin shockingly fell by more than 90%, raising claims of pump and dump. While responding to the accusations, Chimaev’s manager revealed that he took the deal without much research and faced the consequences.
I want to comment the recent reports on the SMASH meme coin. I was approached by a group claiming to be fans of my client Khamzat Chimaev. They wanted to record a short video promoting their launch. So I agreed to that, nothing more nothing less. Maybe I was mislead.
Khamzat Chimaev’s manager via X
Chimaev’s manager further stated that Khamzat Chimaev had no clue about the situation and did not want his supporters to suffer. This occurred just a few weeks after the fighter was rumored to have retired from MMA. Back then, Chimaev’s manager cleared the air and revealed that the fighter would return to active competition soon.
I want to comment the recent reports on the SMASH meme coin. I was approached by a group claiming to be fans of my client Khamzat Chimaev. They wanted to record a short video promoting their launch. So I agreed to that, nothing more nothing less. Maybe I was mislead. Khamzat…
— Majdi Shammas (@MajdiShammas) July 7, 2024
Before becoming ill, Chimaev was scheduled to face top middleweight Robert Whittaker in the inaugural UFC Saudi Arabia. However, after the Aussie defeated Chimaev’s replacement, the ‘Borz’ took to X and expressed his desire to fight again. This encouraged fans to be optimistic about the fighter’s return. Nevertheless, nobody had expected things to turn out like this.
How did Khamzat Chimaev’s crypto scam come to light?
After Khamzat Chimaev’s coins lost most of their value within 24 hours, it caught the attention of many in the crypto world. Popular on chain investigator ZachXBT, took to X and posted everything he could make out of the situation. In the process, he exposed everything that occurred with Chimaev’s crypto controversy and accused the fighter of pumping and dumping.
Khamzat Chimaev’s Smash coins pumping and dumping (via Bleacher Report)
Pump-and-dump tactics in the cryptocurrency realm often include celebrities investing in a token, strongly pushing it to drive up the price, and then selling their holdings for a large profit. This frequently results in a significant drop or even collapse of a token’s price, affecting unwary holders. The investigator identified Chimaev by tracking the money. Check out what ZachXBT tweeted about the crypto controversy:
Khamzat your team is incompetent as you directly linked the team wallets with the insider wallets buying up 78%+ of the supply.
Why do all of you instantly nuke your reputation with meme coin scams?
Summary:
Using timing analysis confirms 71% insider and dev team wallets is… pic.twitter.com/0mVYvAofYE
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 4, 2024
These tweets went viral and attracted a lot of criticism towards Khamzat Chimaev and his team. Many fans couldn’t believe how Chimaev went from being one of the biggest superstars in UFC to allegedly scamming his fans for money. Since then, Chimaev has deleted all the posts regarding the coins and has not made any kind of public statement regarding the situation.
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