Justin Gaethje Says Arman Tsarukyan Offered a Cheap Truck
Justin Gaethje said the real reason he refused Arman Tsarukyan’s truck is that it was too cheap. The lightweight champion told Demetrious Johnson he sent Tsarukyan the truck he wanted, and that the contender tried to buy him something lesser instead.
“I sent him the truck I wanted, he didn’t buy it. He wanted to buy me a cheap a** truck.”
That is a new version of a story that has been running since June. After Gaethje stopped Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250, Tsarukyan said a friend cashed a massive bet on the underdog and that he would buy the new champion a Ram.
Gaethje had asked for one. At the post-fight press conference he said his 2020 truck, bought after the Tony Ferguson win, had about 65,000 miles on it and that he was due for a new Ram.
Tsarukyan told reporters he would get it done, asked about horsepower through Gaethje’s manager, and talked about a Ram discount because the brand sponsors the UFC. Then Gaethje shut it down on Joe Rogan’s show.
“I’m not taking this truck from fcking Arman,” Gaethje said then. “There’s absolutely no way I would take a truck. I’m going to have to ride around in a fcking truck that a dude bought for me every day.”
He also said they never shook on it and that Tsarukyan did not owe him anything. This week he added the price complaint. In his telling, the gift failed twice: it would have been a rival’s truck, and it was not the truck he picked.
Tsarukyan took the first rejection as an insult. “If you don’t want it, fck you,” he said. He also said he would fck Gaethje up in a fight and that the champion should have said thank you.
The truck did not sit in a lot. Tsarukyan bought one and gave it to a fan, saying the winner deserved it more than Gaethje.
Gaethje is 28-5 and the undisputed 155-pound champion. He is not fighting again in 2026 after a bone bruise in his knee and hands that still will not let him punch.
Tsarukyan remains in the title mix. He meets Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 on Sept. 19 in a lightweight fight that has been treated as a step toward the belt while Gaethje sits out.
A future Gaethje-Tsarukyan fight does not need a truck to sell. The champion already beat Topuria. Tsarukyan has been calling for the winner for months. The gift just gave them another reason to dislike each other in public.
Gaethje’s latest comment makes the original refusal look less like pure pride. He is now saying Tsarukyan lowballed the present after a bet that was reported in the millions.
None of that is a contract. White has talked about a Topuria rematch or a Paddy Pimblett fight for the former champion’s return. Gaethje has said the UFC will pick his next opponent if he fights again.
The truck is gone. The cheap-truck line is new. The fight, if it happens, will not be this year.