ZachXBT's On-Chain Evidence: McGregor's Own NFT Project Becomes Ammunition in Khabib Controversy

On November 26, the blockchain investigator ZachXBT threw a curveball into the heated dispute between two UFC legends. Rather than taking sides, ZachXBT turned McGregor’s own words—and project history—into a mirror, highlighting that the fighter himself had ventured into the controversial NFT space years earlier.

The Papakha NFT Fiasco That Sparked Everything

The controversy ignited when Khabib Nurmagomedov’s “Papakha” NFT collection sold out in just 25 hours, generating millions in revenue. The digital assets featured the iconic traditional Dagestani sheepskin hat Nurmagomedov wore during his UFC walkouts. While the collection was officially marketed as a cultural tribute to his heritage and his late father Abdulmanap, the situation took a dramatic turn when all promotional content vanished from social media shortly after the sellout.

McGregor’s Counter-Strike: Allegations of Cultural Exploitation

Seizing the moment, McGregor launched into a pointed X post, questioning how someone could leverage his father’s memory and Dagestani traditions to “scam fans and fire sell digital NFTs online,” then erase all evidence. His words were dripping with sarcasm: “There is just no way good guy Khabib used his late father’s name, as well as Dagestan’s culture, to scam his fans and fire sell a bunch of digital NFTs online and then delete all of the content after they were sold, leaving his fans robbed of their money?”

Nurmagomedov’s camp swiftly retaliated, branding McGregor an “absolute liar.” They defended the Papakha collection as legitimate exclusive digital gifts with intrinsic value, emphasizing the cultural significance of the sheepskin hat as a symbol of Dagestani heritage.

ZachXBT’s Plot Twist: The McGregor Realm Receipts

What makes ZachXBT’s intervention particularly significant is the on-chain sleuth’s tactical move. By reposting McGregor’s accusations, ZachXBT posed a provocative question to the community: Could anyone genuinely believe “good guy McGregor” would leverage his own reputation and Irish heritage to push digital tokens onto fans, only to scrub the evidence afterward?

The punchline? ZachXBT highlighted McGregor’s own 2022 NFT project called “McGregor Realm,” drawing a direct parallel to the very activities McGregor was now condemning. This move transformed the entire narrative from a straightforward rivalry dispute into a commentary on hypocrisy within the celebrity NFT space.

The incident underscores a broader pattern in crypto: when public figures enter the NFT arena, the fine line between cultural celebration and financial exploitation becomes increasingly blurred, and critics like ZachXBT are quick to expose the contradictions.