Ryan Garcia has landed in another controversy after a joint livestream with UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan. The WBC star reportedly lost a $40,000 wager during the stream, but Tsarukyan says the money still has not been paid, setting off a public feud between the boxer and the Russian-Armenian MMA fighter.
What started as livestream entertainment quickly turned into a very public dispute between Ryan Garcia and Arman Tsarukyan this week during a crossover stream that has since gained traction across combat sports media. The disagreement centers on a $40,000 bet, and the backlash has grown because both fighters carry sizable online followings in the U.S., where boxer-vs-MMA storylines still draw major attention even when no sanctioned fight is on the table.
During the broadcast, Garcia bet Tsarukyan that he could score a knockdown with body shots against one of Tsarukyan’s training partners, professional boxer Rafael Simonyan, who owns an 11-1 record. After several attempts, Garcia failed to do it and acknowledged he had lost the wager. On camera, he appeared to hand Tsarukyan several stacks of cash.
According to Tsarukyan, that payment did not stick. He said the money was taken back for recounting, and that Garcia then promised to send the full amount by bank transfer. Tsarukyan later claimed days had passed without payment or even follow-up communication about where to send it.
The situation escalated when Garcia argued publicly that he had been misled because he was not told the man taking the body shots was a professional boxer. Instead of paying, Garcia proposed a new challenge: if Tsarukyan can last eight rounds under boxing rules, he would receive $100,000. Tsarukyan fired back with an MMA version of the same idea, offering Garcia $1 million if he could survive one round of MMA sparring.
For American fans, the appeal here is obvious: this is the latest collision between boxing celebrity and UFC credibility, and Tsarukyan’s name only carries more weight after emerging as one of the most dangerous lightweights in the world. Garcia, meanwhile, remains one of boxing’s biggest lightning rods, which makes any dispute instantly bigger than the original bet.
If this keeps spiraling online, expect the next round to play out on social media first — and maybe in a gym later.
