Hadi arrives in Iran to a hero's welcome. MASS MONSTERS get the RESPECT they deserve in the Middle East.
It ain't about his being a mass monster. Middle Eastern dudes would win their classes at the IFBB Universe/World Championships and get heroes' welcomes when they return. That held especially true for the middleweights/lightweights who won their classes but didn't take the card, knowing they'd get murdered in the IFBB pro ranks. Others who'd turned pro by winning their countries' national championships would forfeit their pro status to compete in the IFBB Universe/World Championships.
If I recall, a guy named Hamdullah Aytkulla won his pro card in Turkey. He famously competed at the 1996 Night of Champions and was absolutely SHREDDED. But, he placed 6th or 7th. He gave up his pro card in 1998 to win the Mr. Universe, besting a Middle Easter mass monster, Mustafa Mohammed.
Unless the suits changed the rule, once you forfeit IFBB pro status, you can't get it back. But Aytkullu got more fame and fortune, winning the Universe than he ever did as a mediocre IFBB pro.
