Cole Johnson claims he was offered $500,000 to fight a chimpanzee, and primatologists are warning it could go horrifically wrong

An amateur MMA fighter from Minnesota claims he has been offered $500,000 to step into a ring against a chimpanzee, and the prospect has drawn immediate pushback from primatologists and animal welfare experts. As reported by Ladbible, Cole Johnson previously posted on TikTok claiming he could beat a chimpanzee in a fight, and he now says he has secured an investor willing to make the stunt happen. It remains unclear whether the plan is a genuine event or an elaborate prank.

Johnson has said the fight would take place on Friday, with the chimpanzee unsedated and still in possession of its teeth. He has claimed people would be present with tranquilizers in case the animal turned aggressive toward him, and a website promoting the event has also been tied to a cryptocurrency launched around the proposed fight.

Experts have pushed back hard on the idea. Dr. Kimberley Jane Hockings, an associate professor in conservation science at Exeter University, said chimpanzees have upper body strength and muscle performance that far exceed human capabilities, and that the injuries they can inflict when provoked can be catastrophic.

Experts say the real problem isn’t whether Johnson could win

Dr. Hockings also noted that chimpanzees have large canine teeth, powerful jaws and a different repertoire of aggressive behavior than humans, making their reactions difficult to predict. Professor Michael Wilson of the University of Minnesota said a chimpanzee is unlikely to understand a staged fight as anything other than a genuine survival situation.

Furthermore, chimps in aggressive encounters have been observed twisting and tearing at an opponent’s body while delivering severe bite wounds. A level of unpredictability that echoes cases like a child bitten by an alligator after ignoring posted warnings at a Florida preserve.

Beyond the physical risk to Johnson, experts have raised ethical concerns about using an endangered species for entertainment. Chimpanzees share about 95.6 percent of human DNA and are considered highly intelligent, socially complex animals capable of forming deep bonds and passing knowledge across generations. Professor Joanna Setchell of Durham University argued that the central issue isn’t whether a human could win, but why anyone would place an endangered animal in a situation designed to provoke fear or injury purely for entertainment.

All chimpanzee subspecies are currently listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with populations under pressure from habitat loss, the illegal exotic pet trade and the bushmeat trade. Conservationists estimate that up to 3,000 chimpanzees are taken from the wild each year, and because the animals are protective of their group members, poachers reportedly kill as many as ten chimps to capture a single one alive, a dynamic unfolding the same week a volcano stranded thousands of travelers abroad on the other side of the world.

Organizations such as the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation fund research, population monitoring and rehabilitation sanctuaries aimed at protecting the species from further decline. Johnson’s original TikTok claim about being able to beat a chimpanzee reportedly drew 7.8 million views. As of publication, no fight has been confirmed to have taken place, and neither Johnson nor his stated investor have provided verified details beyond the promotional website.