One of the Nelk Boys, Aaron Steinberg, known as Steiny, made a desperate effort to become one of Justin Gaethje‘s cornermen. The internet personality even tried to tempt the lightweight champion with a lucrative $1.5 million offer. Even so, ‘The Highlight’ ended up turning it down.

During a recent episode of One Night With Steiny, the influencer referenced Arman Tsarukyan’s viral entrance at UFC 331 with N3ON and asked whether Gaethje would be open to a similar spectacle with him.

“I don’t have thoughts,” Gaethje answered first.

After hearing the UFC star’s response, Steiny started raising the price and got it to $1.1 million, which briefly enticed Gaethje.

“I would ponder it,” Gaethje added. “I would think about it. $1.1 million.”

Steiny mistook Gaethje’s pondering for a green light and pushed to lock in a deal. But again, the lightweight champ’s refusal prompted him to raise the offer to $1.5 million. This time, however, Gaethje gave a far more detailed explanation for why he doesn’t want someone like Steiny in his corner: he doesn’t want to add anyone else to his tight-knit, specialized group.

“I don’t make deals like that,” Gaethje added. “You could say $100 million right now, and I wouldn’t make that deal. Holy shit. That’s just because I take my job seriously, and I have a team.”

Justin Gaethje has trained with head coach Trevor Wittman and longtime coach Luke Caudillo since the start of his professional career in 2011. From that day, he has rarely changed his core coaching staff, which is why he’s so hesitant to bring in another member, let alone an influencer.

Meanwhile, Arman Tsarukyan has migrated from team to team quite a bit. The Armenian began his UFC journey training at American Top Team. Though he still maintains ties with ATT, he has brought in other specialists. Khamzat Chimaev has firmly established himself as Tsarukyan’s training partner to sharpen his wrestling.

Plus, he recently brought in famous kickboxer Giorgio Petrosyan to help prepare for Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331. Even Joe Rogan was hyped seeing Petrosyan in Arman’s corner. So the lightweight contender’s far more open and diverse team dynamics allowed N3ON to earn a spot, unlike with the champion Justin Gaethje.

However, Justin Gaethje isn’t the only one who recently turned down a large sum. Arman Tsarukyan also recently did the same thing. 

Arman Tsarukyan didn’t accept $250K from N3ON 

Before grabbing headlines with his walkout at UFC 331, Arman Tsarukyan had a little bet going with N3ON. The internet personality offered the Armenian $250K to walk out to his song “She Wanna Hang With an Indian,” which he eventually did. But recently, Tsarukyan revealed that he didn’t actually take the money from N3ON.

During a conversation with Ariel Helwani, Tsarukyan revealed that he didn’t take the money from N3ON, citing that their friendship goes beyond monetary transactions. Plus, he believes the influencer being just 21 years old wouldn’t make it right to take the money.

“Zero. I wanted to get $250K, but he doesn’t have the money, and I said, ‘Okay, no problem,'” Tsarukyan said. “We are friends. It’s not all about money. I mean, he has money, but he is 21, and taking $250K from him is unfair. Khamzat, coach, everybody, they trust me. Khamzat said, ‘If my brother decided to be there, me and Neon…’ For me, it doesn’t matter.”

Justin Gaethje, so far, hasn’t shown any interest in walking out with an influencer in exchange for money. However, Tsarukyan has certainly started a new trend that could entice other champions or fighters to walk out with notable personalities for money, clout, or something else.

That said, it would be interesting to see whether Justin Gaethje remains firm on his stance, or whether time changes that too.