Arnold Classic 2022 - double winner is Brandon Curry!

Columbus, North America was the venue of the 34th edition of the prestigious Arnold Classic, the second most prestigious competition in the world of professional bodybuilding after Mr. Olympia!

The contest, which has been held continuously since 1989, has been dominated by 19 fighters in its history, so the question was whether this year's winner would be the twentieth anniversary winner or one of the fighters who already has a triumph in his diary from the past.

Although the organizers invited fourteen fighters to this year's event, only nine of them were on the podium. The five consisting of Rafael Brandão, Nathan De Asha, Cedric McMillan, Mohamed Shaaban and Akim Williams did not complete their preparations for various reasons.

Despite this, it should have been a very attractive contest, as our pre-contest special suggested.

The biggest favourite to win was undoubtedly the 2019 champion, and Mr. Olympia winner from the same year, Brandon Curry. Even before the semifinal bouts, many assumed that Curry was the clear winner, and the fight would be for second place at most, with the starting field so even that virtually anyone could have fought for it.

However, the semi-final itself showed that Curry would not have it so easy! Immediately into the first semifinal comparison, the five consisting of Samson Dauda, Steve Kuclo, Brett Wilkin, Luis Rodriguez, of course the aforementioned Brandon Curry, and also William Bonac, who came off the stage of this event as the winner in 2018 and 2020, were called up.

First semifinal comparisons - Brett Wilkin, Steve Kuclo, Brandon Curry, William Bonac, Luis Rodriguez and Samson Dauda

Indeed, when Curry was alone on the stage, he possessed a truly admirable "WOW" factor. However, when he stood next to more formidable opponents, it wasn't so cheerful and unequivocal.

In this comparison, the superbly impressive Bonac, who had been underestimated by many and even sent into bodybuilding retirement, proved to be Curry's greatest rival!
Indeed, he was able to regain some of his muscle density and massiveness, and came close to his best self from 2018 to 2020, when he was able to not only dominate the Arnold Classic twice, but also take a great second place at Mr. Olympia 2019!

The pair of Steve Kuclo and Luis Rodriguez fought a fierce battle for third to fourth place during the semifinal battles. The former competed a good few kilograms lighter than in previous years, which allowed him to offer a very decent form. Unfortunately, hand in hand with that went the massiveness of his thighs, which looked more subtle and flatter than we are used to seeing from him.
The latter fighter, on the other hand, not only started with the best form of his career to date, but also offered his greatest massiveness to date! When we mentioned in relation to Curry that during the semi-final comparisons his "WOW" factor was not as evident as during the individual presentation, it was quite the opposite for Luis! He had the "WOW" factor right from the start of the semifinals to spare even in the company of the other fighters! But unfortunately he couldn't keep it and it started to fade away.
However, that doesn't change the fact that Luis was able to offer the absolute best biceps across the entire starting field!

The pair of Samson Dauda and Brett Wilkin, who were competing in the Arnold Classic for the first time, also fought for a place in the Top 5 during the semi-finals.

Samson was certainly in the form of his life here, and if it wasn't for a hesitation during the first comparison, when he somehow forgot to pose, he could have fought for even higher positions! As it was, he was unfortunately overlooked.

Brett was considerably more powerful than he was last season, but on the other hand, he didn't offer the kind of final preparedness that led him to a great second place finish from Wings of Strength Chicago 2021, which earned him a ticket to Arnold.

Brett Wilkin vs. Samson Dauda

The final matches started with free routines, then came the individual comparisons. Here the judges chose a different procedure than usual, and so the first to be compared were the fighters who stayed in front of the gates of the TOP 5, fighting for sixth to ninth place. These were the foursome of Max Charles, Brett Wilkin, Regan Grimes and Fabio Rezende.

First Final Comparison - Max Charles, Brett Wilkin, Regan Grimes and Fabio Rezende

The second round of comparisons consisted of the trio of Luis Rodriguez, Steve Kuclo and Samson Dauda, who battled it out for third through fifth place.

Second heat - Luis Rodriguez, Steve Kuclo and Samson Dauda

It was so obvious that two former champions of this event, Brandon Curry and William Bonac, were going to duke it out for the win as they faced off in the third and final comparison in front of the judges.

Third Final Comparison - William Bonac and Brandon Curry

After these comparisons, it was time for the results to be announced. After that, Brandon Curry was indeed the last one standing on the podium, and he was able to repeat his success from 2019.

Brandon Curry - Winner of the 2022 Arnold Classic

Curry clearly has one of the best physiques on the current professional scene, as he can offer full and rounded muscles, while also having a very narrow waist that adds to the symmetry.
Here he decided to put everything on one single card, which was symmetry and excellent posing. He did both very well, adding to his triumph the Ed Corney award for the best posed competitor in the field.

However, he is aware that it won't be enough for him at Olympia, where he will be facing two-time Mr. Olympia titleholder Mamdouh "Big Ramy" Elssbiay, whom he would love to beat and repeat his incredible achievement from 2019, when he added the Mr. Olympia title to his Arnold win!

But to do that he will need to work hard on his volume, which should be helped by the training duo of Ahmad Alnaqi and Abdullah Al Otaibi from Kuwait's Oxygen Gym, on whom he has relied for some time.

The second place was taken by William Bonac, who, as we have already written, was written off by many and even sent into bodybuilding retirement. However, he proved that the end of his career is not in his plans! Possessing hard, full and powerful muscles, he literally rolled his opponent in the back poses as he offered much better hamstrings, calves and glutes.

As he stated after the competition, his improvement is mainly due to Chad Nicholls, with whom he has recently partnered. Incidentally, Mamdouh Elssbiay is also training under the same coach.

William Bonac and Nick Walker, last year's winner

Third place, as last year, went to Steve Kuclo. He decided to come in some 5 kilograms lighter than he was at last year's event, thus proving to offer his lifetime form! In fact, he showed much more detail and much more sculpted and separated muscles. On the other hand, in some poses he looked more subtle and flatter than his competitors.

Samson Dauda, a pupil of coach Miloš Šarčev, managed to take the fourth place in his debut at this prestigious competition. He is one of the most elegant fighters on the current professional scene, despite the fact that he has managed to work on additional volumes.

The EVLS Prague Pro 2021 winner took the opportunity to compete at this year's Arnold Classic with respect and gratitude. At the same time, it was supposed to be a kind of test for him to see how he would fare against the representatives of the narrowest top. As it turned out, he did very well and it will be very interesting to see how he will do at this year's Mr. Olympia. Even there he could think about some very good results.

Luis Rodriguez also made it into the Top 5, which is disappointing not only for him. During the semifinal fights he managed to offer the form of his life, being cut to the bone, yet incredibly full, powerful, and even taking third place after the semifinals!
However, as the competition progressed, he literally began to fade before his eyes, unable to maintain his "WOW" factor, and eventually dropped down the results list.

Sixth place was earned by Brett Wilkin from the judges. He was considered the dark horse of the competition after his performance at last year's Wings of Strength Chicago, and many believed he would be fighting for the top spots! This was also suggested by the photos documenting his form just before the competition. But here it was confirmed that it is not important how a fighter looks a day, a week or a month before the competition, but what form he can offer on the day of the competition!

Brett was a bit more powerful than last year, but unfortunately he was also less sculpted, with little detail. Add to that a certain asymmetry between the more massive upper and more subtle lower half of his body, and his placement is well deserved.

Seventh place was taken by another of Milos Sarchev's charges, Regan Grimes. He also competed here more powerful than during last season, quite possibly more symmetrical as well. However, he still needs more and more kilograms of muscle mass to be able to compare himself with the best.

Despite that, Regan is happy with his performance, and he enjoys working with Sharchev. He hopes that this collaboration will continue to bear fruit.

Eighth place went to Max Charles, who, although he is one of the representatives of the more powerful fighters, very often does not find the ideal recipe for final preparedness.

The last place was taken by Fabio Rezende, who made his professional debut here as the overall winner of the 2020 Arnold Classic Amateur.

Results:

1. Brandon Curry
2. William Bonac
3. Steve Kuclo
4. Samson Dauda
5. Luis Rodriguez

6. Brett Wilkin
7. Regan Grimes
8. Max Charles
9. Fabio Rezende

Brett Wilkin, Samson Dauda, William Bonac, Brandon Curry, Steve Kuclo, Luis Rodriguez

1. Brandon Curry

2. William Bonac

3. Steve Kuclo

4. Samson Dauda

5. Luis Rodriguez

Other contestants:

More photos can be found HERE, on the server www.npcnewsonline.com.

Source:
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