Trump called UFC champ Gaethje mid-fight — and they talked golf

The world's most powerful leader called. The UFC champion put everything on hold and picked up.

UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje has revealed how a phone call from US President Donald Trump caused him to miss most of the first round of the Arman Tsarukyan-Mauricio Ruffy bout.

Gaethje shared the story on the podcast "One Night With Steiny," an episode released Friday. He had been watching the Tsarukyan-Ruffy fight at UFC 331 on Tuesday when the call came in.

"Right when the bell rang, my phone went off. I looked at the screen and it was Donald Trump," Gaethje said. "I answered, and we talked for about four minutes. So I missed almost the entire first round."

After hanging up, Gaethje said he turned back to the fight and noticed that Ruffy's eye area was badly swollen. Tsarukyan went on to knock Ruffy out with an elbow strike at 4:56 of the first round, with just four seconds left in the round.

The topic of conversation was not MMA but golf. According to Gaethje, Trump was with his favorite pro golfer, Bryson DeChambeau, at the time. Trump told Gaethje he had seen him on TV, then put DeChambeau on the line. Gaethje reportedly invited DeChambeau to play a round together.

A well-known golf enthusiast, Gaethje carries a handicap of 6 to 8 and is passionate enough about the sport to host his own charity golf tournament.

The timing could not have been worse — the call came just as a pivotal fight was getting underway. After knocking out Ruffy, Tsarukyan made clear he wanted a shot at the lightweight title. Gaethje has since acknowledged Tsarukyan as a leading contender, saying he is a likely opponent for his next title defense.

Tsarukyan has said UFC officials told him after his UFC 331 win that his next fight would be a title bout, and he has expressed his desire to face Gaethje. However, Gaethje is currently focused on recovering from an injury, and the opponent and timing of his next title defense have yet to be finalized.