Arnold Classic 2022 - Pre-Competition Special
Author: This coming weekend, the 34th Arnold Classic will take place in Columbus, USA, which is considered the second most prestigious competition in the world of professional bodybuilding after Mr. Olympia!
A little bit of history
The competition, founded by the legendary bodybuilder, seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, former Governor of California, and last but not least the very famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, began its history in 1989.
Until 2013, it was exclusively for heavyweights from the Open category, and from 2014 to 2018, representatives of the division up to 212 pounds also had the opportunity to compete.
Arnold Classic winners in the Open category:
- 1989 - Rich Gaspari
- 1990 - Mike Ashley
- 1991 - Shawn Ray
- 1992 - Vince Taylor
- 1993 - Flex Wheeler
- 1994 - Kevin Levrone
- 1995 - Mike Francois
- 1996 - Kevin Levrone
- 1997 - Flex Wheeler
- 1998 - Flex Wheeler
- 1999 - Nasser El Sonbaty
- 2000 - Flex Wheeler
- 2001 - Ronnie Coleman
- 2002 - Jay Cutler
- 2003 - Jay Cutler
- 2004 - Jay Cutler
- 2005 - Dextre Jackson
- 2006 - Dexter Jackson
- 2007 - Victor Martinez
- 2008 - Dexter Jackson
- 2009 - Kai Greene
- 2010 - Kai Greene
- 2011 - Branch Warren
- 2012 - Branch Warren
- 2013 - Dexter Jackson
- 2014 - Dennis Wolf
- 2015 - Dexter Jackson
- 2016 - Kai Greene
- 2017 - Cedric McMillan
- 2018 - William Bonac
- 2019 - Brandon Curry
- 2020 - William Bonac
- 2021 - Nick Walker
If we look at the individual names of the winners of this competition, we will see in a moment that the most successful competitor is Dexter Jackson, who has been the winner five times in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2015!
In addition to this, Dexter has also been very successful in other competitions that bear the name of the legend of the sport. In fact, he also managed to score victories at the Arnold Classic Australia in 2015, the Arnold Classic Africa in 2015 and 2016, and the Arnold Classic Europe in 2015!
It is no wonder that Dexter is the most successful professional bodybuilder in history! After all, he has an incredible 90 professional starts to his credit, and he has managed to turn 29 of them into victories, including the Mr. Olympia title in 2008!
It's hard to imagine that anyone can surpass him in the number of triumphs!
Moreover, as we have already informed you, this legend is expected to make another competitive start, at the Masters Olympia in 2023!
Winners of the Arnold Classic in the under 212 lbs:
- 2014 - James "Flex" Lewis
- 2015 - Jose Raymond
- 2016 - Hidetada Yamagishi
- 2017 - Ahmad Ashkanani
- 2018 - Kamal Elgargni
This year's edition
A total of 14 fighters were invited to participate in this year's edition, namely:
- William Bonac
- Rafael Brandão
- Maxx Charles
- Brandon Curry
- Samson Dauda
- Nathan De Asha
- Regan Grimes
- Steve Kuclo
- Cedric McMillan
- Fabio Giga Rezende
- Justin Rodriguez
- Mohamed Shaaban
- Brett Wilkin
- Akim Williams
However, there will be "only" nine of them on stage, as the five consisting of Rafael Brandão, Nathan De Asha, Cedric McMillan, Mohamed Shaaban and Akim Williams have cancelled their participation for various reasons.
Despite this fact, it cannot be said that it should not be a prestigious competition. Two former winners, William Bonac and Brandon Curry, will still be on the podium!
The favourites to win:
Brandon Curry
Brandon Curry is considered the clear favourite to triumph, having walked off the stage as the winner back in 2019. In that year, he even managed to score the most important victory of his career, the Mr. Olympia title!
Curry has been training under coach Abdullah Al Otaibi for a year now, and it's paying off.
Brandon Curry - form 6 days before the start of the 2022 Arnold Classic
On the above picture Brandon himself states:
I'm well on my way to bringing all bodybuilding fans, whether they are fans of mine or anyone else's, something they should appreciate! I put my whole heart and soul into this training! I enjoyed every minute of it! This is going to be something special!
William Bonac
The two-time winner of this competition in 2018 and 2020 won't want to leave the stage "empty" either, and it will certainly be his goal to prove that he is still one of the top of the current scene!
William Bonac - form 3 days before the start of the 2022 Arnold Classic
To the photo above, William adds:
We have 3 days until the semi-finals and 4 days until the final. I know many have written me off, but that's ok. However, I would count at most two bad performances in the last two years.
Both of the aforementioned starts are associated with the Mr. Olympia competition. At last year's edition he took "only" sixth place, the year before he finished fifth, while in 2019 he took a great second place!
So the question is whether William can still compare himself with the very top. After all, that's what we should find out in just a few days.
Who can surprise:
Steve Kuclo
Steve, who is one of the best built bodybuilders today and you would be hard pressed to find the slightest flaw in him, will be competing at the Arnold Classic for the fifth year in a row, and last year he was confident of victory. In the end, however, he had to settle for "only" third place when he was beaten not only by Nick Walker, but also, very surprisingly, by Iain Valliere!
So he will definitely be hungry to fix his appetite this year!
Steve Kuclo - form 5 days before the start of the 2022 Arnold Classic
Samson Dauda
Samson Dauda will make his debut at the Arnold Classic, who is the ward of former successful professional bodybuilder and currently a sought-after and highly respected coach Milos Sarchev.
Samson had a very successful season last year when he managed to score his first professional victory! He won it in front of Czech bodybuilding fans at the 8th EVLS Prague Pro.
It is with this in mind that Samson is one of the strong favourites for the top places, quite possibly even for the win!
Samson Dauda at arm training 2 weeks before the start of the 2022 Arnold Classic
Regan Grimes
Regan Grimes, another of Milos Sarcev's charges, will also be competing at the Arnold Classic for the first time, and he should undoubtedly be one of the stronger contenders for the top spot. After all, judge for yourself what form he could boast of 2 days before putting on his competition swimwear.
Regan Grimes - form check 2 days before Arnold Classic 2022
Brett Wilkin
Brett Wilkin caused quite a stir when he posted a photo on his instagram account showing his form 16 days before the competition where he will also be competing for the first time.
Brett Wilkin's form 16 days before the 2022 Arnold Classic
Another picture posted by him, this time 4 days before he was due to take to the podium, provided no less of a stir.
Brett Wilkin - form 4 days before the start of the Arnold Classic 2022
Immediately the rumours started to spread that he also has the skills to beat Curry and secure a very good result!
Luis Rodriguez
Luis Rodriguez, who finished a respectable 4th last year, will make his second competitive start at this year's Arnold Classic!
Considering the fact that he also managed to score his debut win at the Indy Pro last year, he is certainly one of those who can think about a very decent placing!
Luis Rodriguez - form 5 days before the start of the Arnold Classic 2022
Live Stream
Will we be able to watch this prestigious event online? It seems so!
At the moment, there are two ways to enjoy this year's entire Arnold Sports Festival.
The first is the paid form on fanmio.com, for less than $25.
The second option is the edanet.tk website. Here registration is required, but it is not known if this is also a paid version.
Schedule:
Friday, March 4 to Saturday, March 5 our time
- Friday, March 4, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. - Semifinal bouts in Classic Physique, Fitness and Figure categories
- Friday, March 4, 9:00 p.m. to Saturday, March 5, 1:00 a.m. - Arnold Strongman Classic
- Friday, March 4, 9:30 p.m. to Saturday, March 5, 1:30 a.m. - Arnold Strongwoman Classic
- Saturday, March 5 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. - Classic Physique, Fitness, and Figure category finals + Open category semifinals
Saturday 5 March to Sunday 6 March our time
- Saturday 5 March 16:00 to 18:00 - semi-final bouts of Men's Physique, Bikini and Wellness categories
- Saturday 5 March 18:00 to 19:00 - Wheelchair competition
- Saturday 5 March 20:00 to 23:00 - Slap Fighting Championships
- Saturday, March 5, 8 p.m. to Sunday, March 6, 1 a.m. - Arnold Strongman Classic Finals
- Saturday, March 5 11:00 p.m. to Sunday, March 6 1:00 a.m. - Arnold Strongwoman Classic Finals
- Sunday, March 6 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. - Men's Physique, Wellness, Bikini and Open finals
Fights that have little to do with bodybuilding and fitness can be very interesting, but muscle will certainly play a role here too! This is the Slap Fighting Championships, the so-called "slap fight"!
Source:
www.instagram.com
www.youtube.com
www.fanmio.com
www.edanet.tk
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