- Conor McGregor criticized Khabib Nurmagomedov for his NFT project featuring Dagestan cultural elements.
- The criticism was met with a reminder of McGregor’s own failed memecoin launch called REAL.
- McGregor’s token raised less than 40% of its funding goal and refunded all participants.
- The memecoin sector saw a sharp decline in 2025 after a strong performance in 2024.
- Memecoin market cap dropped to $39.4 billion, a record low for 2025, losing up to $5 billion in one day.
Conor McGregor, the UFC fighter, publicly criticized former rival Khabib Nurmagomedov for releasing a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Telegram. The NFT drop included digital “papakhas,” which are traditional hats from Nurmagomedov’s home region of Dagestan. McGregor questioned the use of Nurmagomedov’s late father’s name and Dagestan’s culture for what he described as a scam in a now-deleted post on X.
In response, blockchain analyst ZachXBT highlighted McGregor’s own attempt to launch a celebrity memecoin called REAL in April. ZachXBT stated, “There is just no way good guy McGregor used his reputation, as well as Irish culture, to scam his fans and fire sell a bunch of digital tokens online and then delete all of the posts after they were sold, leaving his fans robbed of their money?” according to this post.
The REAL token sale was conducted via a sealed-bid auction intended to prevent manipulation by trading bots. The token offered staking rewards to holders but only achieved 39% of its funding goal. McGregor later refunded all participants, citing factors such as the overall downturn in the cryptocurrency market and a bear market specific to memecoins.
Memecoins, a category of cryptocurrencies often created as internet jokes or with celebrity endorsements, were among the best-performing sectors in the crypto market throughout 2024. However, in 2025, this trend reversed sharply. Multiple high-profile memecoin launches faced severe losses immediately after debut or were labeled as rug pulls. This included projects endorsed by prominent figures such as US President Donald Trump and Argentina’s President Javier Milei.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the memecoin market capitalization dropped to $39.4 billion recently, marking the lowest level recorded in 2025. The sector reportedly lost up to $5 billion in a single day during this decline.
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