This Is What Happens When A Bodybuilder Takes On A UFC Champion In A Fight

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An ongoing Twitter spat between reigning UFC  Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt and bodybuilder/Instagram personality Matthew Kline Kader has come to a bizarre conclusion.

Rising mixed martial arts star Garbrandt had been recovering from injuries which had prevented him from defending his title against black belt badass and former teammate TJ Dillashaw.

It was initially expected that the fight would be rescheduled for a later date however Dillashaw was eager to get fighting and instead made plans to battle for the flyweight title against the UFC’s leading ‘pound-for-pound’ fighter, Demetrious Johnson.

Garbrandt did not take kindly to this at all, making his thoughts clear through a tweet which criticised Dillashaw for not waiting for him to heal.

Garbrandt then received one of the more unexpected requests of his career. Social media celebrity and bodybuilder Matthew Kline Kader took offence to Garbrandt calling out Dillashaw and challenged him to a fight during a heated argument over Twitter.

Garbrandt turned the disagreement up a notch, giving Kader the address of his gym where the strangely matched pair could fight it out, once and for all, on the 25th June 2017. No Love vs. Shallow King.

John Kavanagh from Straight Blast Gym (SBG) offered to give $1,000 to charity if the fight took place, promising $10,000 if Kader actually won the fight.

The pressure was mounting…

At this point, most people would have swallowed their pride and backed down. Kader instead opted to send a screenshot of his plane ticket to Sacramento where the fight would take place, claiming that he would bring along a camera crew to film the entire bout.

Kader appeared confident and even excited to face No Love in the weeks prior to 25th June, launching a bold social media campaign complete with photoshopped posters and promos to build up hype amongst fans.

However, Kader is a well known troll and had already taken an eye-watering beating from UFC Welterweight Champ Josh Neer after sending him abusive online messages. Many believed that the brash beefcake had ventured out of his depth once again.

Here you can see a video showing Kader invite Garbrandt to have the ‘guts’ to fight him:

It was starting to look like Kader might really go through with his own challenge. Kader arrived at the gym, recording himself preparing for battle in gold sunglasses emblazoned with the word ‘king’.

Unfortunately for Kader, his bravado only got him so far and flashes of doubts started to show as the moment drew close.

Kader’s video recording was interrupted by one of Garbrandt’s Team Alpha Male teammates, who appeared greatly amused, making more than one comment to suggest that Kader was in way over his head. Kader can be heard laughing nervously at the UFC professional’s jibes before eventually exiting the premises.

You can watch Kader beginning to show nerves in the following footage:

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By the time Garbrandt arrived at the gym, there was no trace of Kader.

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Garbrandt left his mobile number at reception on the off chance Kader might return.

However, we have a sneaking suspicion that he may be waiting for that call for a quite a while!

Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.