Amateur MMA fighter vs chimpanzee: the fight nobody asked for

Amateur MMA fighter announces fight against a chimpanzee

On September 11, a fight could take place between Cole Johnson, a 24-year-old amateur MMA fighter, and an adult chimpanzee. The news, spread by the @Happy Punch profile, has sparked intense debate about the physical and legal antiestéticasibility of the event. Johnson, who trains at City Kickboxing in New Zealand, has a record of one win (unanimous decision over Harlem Frost in December) and ranks 165th among amateur welterweights in the Asia-Pacific region, a modest ranking in a group of more than 380 athletes.

The physics of the absurd

Analyses of a chimpanzee's strength are devastating. An adult primate is estimated to exert far greater force than a human of the same weight, and its fangs are natural weapons. Most voices agree that, without rules protecting the fighter, the result would be quick and brutal. Some point out that even with a muzzle and gloves, the chimpanzee would have the advantage. The idea that a human could subdue an animal of these characteristics seems, at the very least, optimistic.

The Mike Tyson precedent and the legal vacuum

This is not the first time such a duel has been proposed. Mike Tyson once expressed his desire to fight a gorilla, although it never materialized. In the current case, legal antiestéticasibility is another matter. In Spain, for example, there is a regulatory framework that prohibits animal abuse in public shows, but in other countries regulation is more lax. The debate over whether this fight could take place anywhere in the world remains open, and there is no clear answer.

Johnson's announcement, which promises to "lift the chimpanzee by the arm and slam it," has been met with widespread skepticism. The gap between the fighter's confidence and the primate's physical reality is where the analysis gets stuck: no one can explain how he plans to overcome such an abysmal strength difference.