Results:

1. Phil Heath
2. Shawn Rhoden
3. Dexter Jackson
4. “Big Ramy” Mamdouh Elssbiay
5. William Bonac
6. Roelly Winklaar
7. Cedric McMillan
8. Dallas McCarver
9. Josh Lenartowicz
10. Justin Compton
11. Victor Martinez
12. Nathan DeAsha
13. Steve Kuclo
14. Ben Pakulski
15. Akim Williams
16. Kevin Levrone, Michael Lockett, Brandon Curry, Lukas Osladil

Scorecard:

Top 5:

1 .Phil Heath: Phil was Phil. Best back on stage, great muscle bellies. Still not the Phil we saw earlier this decade. Waist keeps getting wider. Back is lights out. Friday night I had Dexter winning, although Saturday I think they made the right decision.

2. Shawn Rhoden: Shawn looked great. I would have had him third behind Dexter but not extremely upset with the decision.

3. Dexter Jackson: Dexter is the man. 47 years old. Looked amazing. Hard to imagine that this is the “third” best bodybuilder in the world.

4. “Big Ramy”: What a difference 24 hours makes. Big Ramy was “small” by his standards on Friday. I’m assuming Chris Aceto tried keeping him small to show conditioning. Didn’t work. Came back Saturday and pushed to move up to the top 3. Insane size.

5. William Bonac: The new Giant Killer. William Bonac has more muscle per square inch as anyone. Small waist, huge legs, great muscle bellies. If he was 5’9 he’d be your champion.

The rest:

Roelly Winklaar (6th) showed us a physique straight out of Dr. Frankenstein. Look I know that many of you all will think he should win. He doesn’t get lean enough, he isn’t aesthetic, but damn is he huge. Markus Ruhl 2.0.

Cedric (7th) showed us that he just doesn’t nail it. Maybe he can’t, maybe his body won’t let him get leaner. He has an ideal physique to some.

McCarver (8th) is 25 years old. Yes only 25 years old and stood close to 285-290 pounds. If he would have been able to lean out another 5-10 pounds, he may have been top 5.

Josh Lenartowicz (9th) had a hell of a debut. He was shredded. Still needs to add some mass to his chest, but looked amazing.

Justin Compton (10th) has the muscle, just needs to dial his conditioning. He is young, he will continue to get better.

Victor Martinez (11th) would have been top 8 in any other Mr. Olympia the last 10 years. Unfortunately this year was stacked.

Everyone else:

Nathan DeAsha (12th) could have been anywhere between 8-12. He looked insane. See if he does damage at the Arnold next year.

Steve Kuclo (13th) needs to go back to the drawing board. Looked okay. Not his best.

Ben Pakulski (14th) nailed his conditioning but everyone knows that his legs are world class, and everything else isn’t.

Akim Williams, Michael Lockett, Lukas Osladil, and Brandon Curry weren’t ready.

Hall of Famer Kevin Levrone:

I cannot talk bad about a champion like Kevin. Kevin is 52 years old, and had only been training for a few months when he jumped into the Mr. Olympia on a special invite. I hope I look half that good at 52!

Summary:

Phil wins #6. This ties him with the great Dorian Yates. He is now one behind Arnold Schwarzenegger and two behind Ronnie Coleman and Lee Haney. I do think that talent is slowly catching up to Phil, but the judges like what Phil brings each year.

Kai Greene was on Jimmy Fallon and not at the Mr. Olympia. Hard to believe that is true. He may have missed two opportunities the past two years to beat Phil.

Can Shawn win next year? Will Dexter continue to compete? Can Big Ramy, Bonac, Compton, Cedric, and McCarver make the gains necessary to win? Will Phil continue his dominance? We will know in 12 short months.

 

 

Thank you,

 

Dustin Holston

1st Phorm Brand Ambassador

Personal Trainer/Sports Nutritionist