Sean Strickland reacts to Khamzat Chimaev's recent SMASH coin controversy: "That was 100% to scam his fans"
Sean Strickland recently shared his opinions regarding the controversy surrounding Khamzat Chimaev. Strickland accused Chimaev of scamming people with his 'SMASH' meme coin.
Chimaev faced criticism this week for promoting a cryptocurrency meme coin called 'SMASH' on his social media accounts. The significant push from the 30-year-old caused the crypto coin's value to rise, but a huge decline the next day led some to assume they had been duped out of their money.
Chimaev's manager Majdi Shammas already accepted accountability, confessing that he "agreed to record a short video promoting their launch" without conducting the necessary amount of research. In an apology to Chimaev and the fans, Shammas wrote on X:
''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 wasn’t involved and know just as little as you do. So the news is really unpleasant and I’m seeking an explanation from those responsible. My apologies to Khamzat and all others of you affected by this, if I could have done anything differently. Thank you for your understanding, I’ll keep you updated.''
However, that didn't sit well with Strickland, who blasted Chimaev for deceiving his followers with his meme coin. The former UFC middleweight champion wrote the following in a string of posts on X:
''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........''
Strickland added:
''Been on x too much. I'll leave you all with this. That was 100% 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.''
When Sean Strickland outlined the reason for not fighting Khamzat Chimaev
Sean Strickland previously discussed the possibility of fighting Khamzat Chimaev in Saudi Arabia. The former UFC middleweight champion declined to fight Chimaev, citing personal reasons for not flying to Saudi Arabia.
During an interview with MMA journalist Shakiel Mahjouri, Strickland was questioned about whether he was offered a bout against Chimaev at The Kingdom Arena. 'Tarzan' replied:
"Nah, I wouldn't go to Saudi Arabia. Hang out with a bunch of burqas, I'm good man... Something about burqas and no bikinis and sh*t doesn't sound like my place."
Check out Sean Strickland's comments below:
However, Chimaev was absent from the UFC Saudi Arabia card as well. He withdrew himself from his bout against Robert Whittaker due to an illness.