If there’s an aspect of Arman Tsarukyan’s like that competes with his reputation as an elite wrestler-grappler, then it should be money. Unlike the familiar “rags-to-riches” story associated with most fighters, his story revolves around family wealth. That likely explains how Tsarukyan is able to keep his promise when many cannot.

The recent incident, where he won the million-dollar bet on Justin Gaethje to defeat Ilia Topuria at the White House card, is a fitting example. Heading into the bout, Gaethje was the heavy underdog. Yet, if he managed to stage an upset against the unbeaten Topuria, then Arman Tsarukyan promised he would buy him a new truck. Now with Gaethje becoming a full champion, it was time for him to follow through on his promise. Speaking with Ariel Helwani, the Armenian-Russian fighter confirmed he was sticking to it.

“Of course. Of course,” Tsarukyan replied when Helwani asked if he was going to give Gaethje a truck. “So, I just fit the what color he wants. And I’m coming back July 12th. I’m competing July 18 at the St. Louis. And after St. Louis, I’m going to bring him a truck.”

It’s likely Tsarukyan got the location of his next freestyle match mixed up. His latest bout, against Tony Ferguson at RAF10, occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, a day before the White House event. Reportedly, he is set to face Kuat Khamitov at RAF Georgia on July 11 before returning to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the matchup against Colby Covington on July 18.

With the delivery timeline clarified, attention naturally shifted to the truck itself and what Tsarukyan planned to buy.

Regarding the vehicle specifications, he explained that Dana White mentioned a RAM truck, whose price starts from $47K for the base models and goes up to $100K for the fully loaded, heavy-duty versions. Given that RAM’s parent company, Stellantis, has a multi-year agreement with TKO Group Holdings, which owns the UFC and the WWE, Tsarukyan, as one of the promotion’s prominent fighters, hoped to get a 10%-15% discount.

To that end, even if he doesn’t get any discount, Tsarukyan will buy the ruck since the purchase is well within his means.

The lightweight contender’s confirmation follows the comments made by Gaethje during the post-fight conference of the White House event. Highlighting that he would like to have a RAM, the newly crowned champion explained how the model he currently owns is almost six years old and that he bought it after beating Tony Ferguson for the interim championship.

Notably, his bet caused quite a stir since Tsarukyan was designated as an official backup fighter for the main event between Gaethje and Topuria. The move, therefore, suggested a direct conflict of interest, given UFC’s athletic conduct rules prohibit fighters, coaches, and their teams from wagering on any UFC bouts.

Dana White later attempted to defuse the situation, indicating that the bet was allegedly placed by a friend rather than Tsarukyan himself.

While the purchase would leave Tsarukyan lighter in the pocket, he is not entirely going to complain about it since he won the bet. For the million dollars he placed on Gaethje, Tsarukyan is reportedly set to make around $5.7 million..

Ryan Garcia, Arman Tsarukyan, and the unsettled score

Outside of that issue, the incident serves as another reminder of Tsarukyan’s unusual relationship with money. His discussion with Helwani offered another glimpse into that side of his life. The Canadian MMA journalist expressed surprise when he learned that the lightweight contender took a British Airways flight for his recent travel instead of the usual practice where he frequently takes private charters for training and promotional trips.

If he is lenient when it comes to gifting expensive gifts, Tsarukyan is equally stringent when it comes to getting his payback on time.

The bitter fallout with boxing champion Ryan Garcia comes to mind in that regard. During a livestream, after Garcia wanted to test his punching power, Tsarukyan wagered $40,000 that he would not be able to drop his teammate with a single body shot.

Garcia, who holds the WBC’s welterweight title, hit Tsarukyan’s friend Rafayel Simonyan twice, but the man, a professional boxer, stood his ground, resulting in Garcia losing his bet.

But matters escalated after Garcia, despite initially offering to pay, allegedly backed out. He later refused to pay because he felt he was being scammed since Tsarukyan didn’t reveal his friend who took the punch was a professional fighter rather than a layperson, thus breaking the spirit of the bet.

Later, Tsarukyan and Garcia entered a back and forth regarding an actual fight After the Californian challenged him to an eight-round boxing match for $100k, the Armenian raised the stakes with a million dollar offer if Garcia could survive one round of MMA sparring. The issue entered a cliffhanger with Garcia refusing to accept the MMA fight and telling Tsarukyan that he has his $40k and if he wants it, he can come and collect it.

Still, Tsarukyan might ultimately be the one smiling, given how he is now richer by a whopping $5.7 million despite the roughly $150k hit (truck + Garcia bet) to his finances.