Arman Tsarukyan says Ryan Garcia lost a $40,000 bet, promised to pay, and then disappeared when it was time to send the money.
The whole thing started earlier this month when Tsarukyan and Garcia were together on Garcia’s Kick stream. Tsarukyan bet Garcia $40,000 that the boxing star could not drop one of Tsarukyan’s teammates with a body shot. Garcia agreed, failed to put the teammate down, and the money never showed up after the stream ended.
Speaking on Adam Zubayraev’s YouTube channel, Tsarukyan said Garcia acted like he would honor the wager but never followed through. Tsarukyan said:
“Brother, he hasn’t paid up. Now, Khamzat [Chimaev] and I are going to go talk to Ryan Garcia — $40,000. … No, he didn’t [pay]. There was a lot there. ‘We’ll count it now and bring it over.’ They counted it and never brought it. ‘We’ll send it to your account.’”
Tsarukyan added:
“He said, ‘I give you my word as a man, I’ll send it to you.’ Five days have passed, and he hasn’t even texted, asking for [the] card number.”
Ryan Garcia fires back at Arman Tsarukyan after being accused of not paying a $40K bet 👀
“We can just set up a squabble between whoever on your team. No body shot things, just a fight.
I’m not paying you sh*t, let’s just fight. If any of you can win I’ll give you $100K.”
(via… pic.twitter.com/3lTMSgo528
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 16, 2026
Ryan Garcia refuses the payment and offers a fight instead
Garcia answered in a series of social media posts, making it clear he was not planning to pay the bet. Instead, he tried to turn the situation into a fight offer. Garcia wrote:
“Arman and his team, we can just set up a squabble between whoever on your team, no body shot things, just a fight. Not for $40K, for however much. I’m not paying you shit, let’s just fight. If any of you can win, I’ll give you $100K.”
He then added:
“Ryan Garcia vs. Arman. $100K if he survives 8 rounds. We give him the money on stream. Time is ticking.”
Garcia also explained why he backed off the original wager, claiming Tsarukyan’s side left out an important detail. Garcia wrote:
“I actually got scammed [to be honest]. Not one mention his friend was a professional fighter. That right there is deceptive. So again, you guys can take sides, but I’m not one to be played.”
He also took the usual boxer-versus-MMA shot, writing:
“First of all, I don’t care about you MMA nut smackers talking about real ‘fight.’ There’s a reason MMA fighters can’t box, because it’s HARD to just use your hands. Grabbing, rolling on the floor for hours is something I’m not trying to learn, but go off.”
Garcia’s response is here:
I actually got scammed tbh, not one mention his friend was a professional fighter. That right there is deceptive. So again you guys can take side but I’m not one to be played
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 16, 2026
Tsarukyan quickly kept the pressure on with a response of his own:
$100k for 8 rounds lol. Survive 1 round of MMA sparring with me and I’ll give you $1,000,000. @RyanGarcia
— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) April 17, 2026
At this point, the real dispute is not whether the bet happened. It is whether Garcia gets to walk away from it because he thinks Tsarukyan’s side played him. Tsarukyan says a bet is a bet and Garcia gave his word. Garcia says he got tricked and would rather turn it into a boxing challenge than pay the original $40,000.
