MMA fighter claims he has been offered over $500,000 to fight a chimpanzee - but scientists warn the injuries could be 'catastrophic'

An amateur MMA fighter has shocked the internet by claiming to have been offered more than $500,000 (£370,000) to fight a chimpanzee.In a string of social media posts, Minnesota–born fighter Cole Johnson alleged that he has organised a fight with a male adult chimpanzee this coming Friday.However, experts have warned that this supposed match is a disaster waiting to happen.Although chimpanzees are usually remarkably tolerant of humans, primatologists warn that no amount of fighting skill will save Mr Johnson from 'catastrophic' injury.Besides the obvious animal cruelty and conservation concerns, it is staggeringly dangerous for a human to deliberately provoke a chimpanzee into attacking.Dr Kimberley Jane Hockings, Associate Professor in Conservation Science at Exeter University, told the Daily Mail: 'Chimpanzees are wild animals with sophisticated social and behavioural responses, and when they perceive a threat to themselves or other members of their community, they can respond with extraordinary aggression.'Chimpanzees are extremely powerful animals, with substantially greater upper–body strength and dynamic muscle performance than humans.'When chimpanzees do attack, the injuries can be catastrophic.' Cole Johnson, an amateur MMA fighter, has shocked the internet by claiming to have been offered more than $500,000 (£370,000) to fight a chimpanzee. But experts say his injuries could be 'catastrophic' Mr Johnson's bizarre mission to fight a captive animal began after he boldly claimed in a viral post that he could 'beat a chimpanzee in a fight'.The post garnered over 7.8 million views on TikTok, and soon, Mr Johnson claimed that members of the public began offering him money to make good on his claims.In an interview with Brendan Ruh of SantaCruzMedicinals, Mr Johnson claimed that he had initially been offered $500,000 to fly to an unnamed country and fight a chimp.While that initial funder ultimately backed out of the deal, the fighter claims he has now found a 'less sketchy' group willing to pay even more to arrange the fight.The chimpanzee will supposedly be unsedated and left with its claws and teeth intact, with the fight taking place in a large, grass–based cage.Mr Johnson also claims that there will be 'people with tranquillisers' to attempt to stop the chimp before it kills him. While it's impossible to know whether these claims are being made in earnest, a website has now been launched to advertise the 'fight' and market the sale of a related cryptocurrency.In a later post, Mr Johnson also claimed to be en route to the Democratic Republic of Congo to 'try and get a deal worked out'. While it is difficult to tell whether these claims are legitimate, a website advertising a countdown to the 'fight' has been created (pictured) However, for Mr Johnson's own sake, we can only hope that these claims are part of an elaborate prank.Dr Hockings says: 'The physical risks to the human participant are very real.' In the wild, chimpanzees will occasionally engage in extreme violence during territorial encounters, especially between males.These clashes frequently result in severe injury and even death for one or both of the animals involved. Research has found that chimpanzee muscle exceeds human muscle's maximum dynamic force and power output by about 1.35 times.Another recent study found that chimps have a bite force of between 1,251 and 1,908 newtons, which is around three times the strength of a human bite. Dr Hockings adds: 'There is a persistent claim that they are three or four times stronger than humans, although the scientific evidence is more nuanced than that. 'The danger isn't really captured by a simple strength comparison: chimpanzees have powerful jaws and large canine teeth, exceptionally strong hands and upper limbs, and a very different repertoire of aggressive behaviour.' An adult male chimpanzee named Travis (pictured) famously caused devastating injuries when it attacked its owner's friend, Charla NashLikewise, Professor Michael Wilson, a chimpanzee expert from the University of Minnesota, told the Daily Mail: 'There are SO MANY reasons that it is a bad idea for a human to try to fight a chimpanzee. 'The chimpanzee is unlikely to understand that the fight is a kind of game, rather than a struggle for survival.' Besides their long, sharp canine teeth that can cause 'severe bite wounds', chimpanzees also 'use their hands to twist and tear parts of their opponent's body'. Professor Wilson adds: 'Chimpanzees appear easily provoked to extreme violence. A chimpanzee threatened by a human opponent might escalate to a severe fight that could end up with the human injured or dead.'Besides the incredible physical danger Mr Johnson plans to place himself in, experts also have serious ethical concerns.Professor Joanna Setchel, a primate expert from Durham University, told the Daily Mail: 'Chimpanzees are wild animals, not opponents or entertainers. There is no responsible or ethical way to stage such a “fight”.'Treating a chimpanzee as an object for human entertainment is entirely at odds with efforts to protect them and with modern standards for the welfare and ethical treatment of primates.'The important question isn’t whether a human could “beat” a chimpanzee. It is why anyone would deliberately place an endangered, highly intelligent and socially complex wild animal in a frightening and potentially injurious situation for entertainment in the first place.'Similarly, experts point out that this spectacle threatens to set back years of conservation progress.Chimpanzees are generally extremely tolerant of people and attacks in the wild are rare, but deforestation is bringing them into contact with humans more frequently.A staged fight with a captive animal is likely to portray these usually calm creatures as inherently violent or dangerous, turning humans against wild populations.Dr Alexander Piel, Associate Professor of Anthropology at University College London, told the Daily Mail: 'The use of chimpanzees in publicity stunts is both ethically reprehensible and counterproductive to conservation efforts to protect them.'For those of us working to conserve chimpanzees in the wild, this stunt is particularly concerning. 'Wild chimpanzee populations are already under intense pressure from habitat loss, hunting, disease and human encroachment, and protecting them requires enormous investment in habitat protection, research, law enforcement and engagement with local communities.'