Justin Gaethje has turned down a luxury gesture from Arman Tsarukyan in the wake of his lightweight title win over Ilia Topuria at UFC White House.
A friend of Tsarukyan reportedly wagered $1 million on Gaethje to defeat Topuria and received a reported $5.7 million return, vowing to buy Gaethje a truck with the winnings. Gaethje, however, publicly rejected the offer during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.
“I’m not taking this truck from f*cking Arman,” Gaethje said. “There’s absolutely no way I would take a truck… I’m going to have to ride around in a f*cking truck that a dude bought for me every day. I don’t know, I just can’t go there. We didn’t shake on it, he does not owe it to me.”
Tsarukyan fired back, saying, “Justin is saying, ‘I’m not going to take the car,’” before adding, “F*ck it, we’re not going to give it to him. He doesn’t want it, he doesn’t deserve that. Yesterday, I watched the video and I was shocked, like what the f*ck, if you don’t want it, f*ck you.”
“I’m going to f*ck him up in the fight,” Tsarukyan continued, later adding, “F*ck you, Justin, I can’t wait to whoop your ass. … If you don’t need it, you have friends, family, parents, just give away or give somebody who needs that, you know better. Why are you such an assh*le?”
Tsarukyan, who is on a five-fight win streak and has lost twice in 12 UFC appearances to Islam Makhachev and Mateusz Gamrot, has been considered the No. 1 contender for about two years. Gaethje acknowledged Tsarukyan’s position, saying, “He is definitely the guy that’s up for [the next title shot], I agree.”
