SPEAKER_04 0:38

I'm fucking sick of you, Forrest. Fucking sick of you. What's up, dude?

SPEAKER_03 0:52

It's like I got my light on right now, so I'm ready to go.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Yeah, me too. We're already live.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

All right.

SPEAKER_04 0:58

What's up, fellas?

SPEAKER_03 1:00

What's up?

SPEAKER_04 1:01

Uh Kensen, you guys know each other. Kenson from EP09 and Ian Hedeck from Ian Hedeck. Yeah, we've we've done podcasts before. Yeah, we've done stuff before. What's up, fellas? What's happening? Lots of good stuff has been happening, as you can tell. And we're actually Xavier is going to be joining us too. So I just sent him the link because uh apparently Martin called him up and cursed him out. We did indeed. So uh yeah, yeah. So we got a lot to get to. So I'm not gonna handle this like a regular shooting the breeze because a lot happened over the weekend at the Arnold. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna handle a little differently, like I handled uh muscle talk when I was on uh uh muscular development. So I'm gonna be the uh point guard. I'm gonna bring up the topic and then I'm gonna pass it off to one of you guys to score. That's how we're gonna do it. Otherwise, we'll fucking fucking be here all day because I it was I wrote I have one, two, three, four, five, six, six major topics to cover. And obviously the majority of them is gonna be fucking Martin. But so uh I couldn't do a live feed this weekend because I had to work and I had to go to awake on Saturday, so I wasn't able, but I ran home and I jumped on EP09 because he was doing a live feed, and I was as shocked as anybody else when uh Hottie was announced third, and then Andrew was first. That was like a shocker to me. Now, so basically, Martin has basically you know uh overshadowed all everything. Everybody's just talking about Martin. So I want to talk about Martin, but I want to talk about Andrew, Hottie, Sam Sulik, Mike Sommerfeld, a bunch of other shit. So first things first, Andrew Jacked Kensen, did he deserve the victory?

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Yes, Andrew Jacked did deserve the victory, and the reason that he deserved the victory is because he had his clear path to victory. I've talked about it uh a thousand times over the last week, okay? Andrew Jacked has a path to victory that other bodybuilders do not have the privilege of even considering because part of his path to victory is having his shape with enough conditioning. He doesn't need to be the most shredded guy on stage, he just has to bring enough, and his shape does get him into the winner's circle. Clearly, now he filled out his frame, he had to do things for sure, and he did have to get to that at least. I don't want to say passable because that's incorrect, but he doesn't have to be ultra shredded. You guys know what I mean. That is why he was deserving of the victory. Ian, what do you think?

SPEAKER_03 3:56

No, I don't think he should have won, actually. Okay, I I mean to me, like when I looked at the scorecard, he was winning the whole entire thing. No way. I mean, I to me personally, I thought Nick and Hottie were one and two. I definitely think Nick was number two to me. He could have pushed for number one. I think sometimes with his posing, his stomach comes out just a little bit, and that's what also hurts. Right. But I thought Hottie would have won. I mean, yes, Andrew is phenomenal. That's what we all know that he's a freak of freaks, just like Samson. Samson doesn't have to be the best, uh, he has to be has to be the most shredded, but he just has enough conditioning, which I think you know he could have won that too. But I thought Hottie was gonna win because of he looked more the details and everything else.

SPEAKER_04 4:44

Yeah, I I have a I agree. I think I think the majority of the people had Nick and Hottie in one and two. And but but I think what's happening is a lot of people are going back and kind of re-looking and so on and so forth, and and um figuring out, you know, how did this happen? Now, I was scratching my I'm still um I still agree with Ian. I haven't changed my mind. I don't think Andrew deserved a victory, but that being said, a lot of people do. If you look in my comments when I did the wrap up, it was like half people said Andrew deserved it, and half of the other people said either Hottie or Nick deserved it. Kensen, did you think during pre-judging Andrew was in the lead?

SPEAKER_02 5:32

100% not. I was absolutely shocked when I saw the official scorecards, and Andrew wasn't just ahead at prejudging on the judge's scorecards, but he was an entire three points ahead. Yeah, I did not understand that, I still do not understand that, and the majority of the bodybuilding world reacted without understanding as well. It didn't make any sense. Nick was clearly ahead of everybody else, and when we talk about pass to victory, Nick has his as well. Nick shows up ultra-sredded, and everybody else shows up off, and Nick can win. Nick can win. If if Hottie, Martin, and Andrew didn't show up better at the finals, we would probably be talking about Nick Walker being the winner at the show. Honestly, I don't think that uh I don't think that Andrew would have been given the victory if he didn't make some improvements.

SPEAKER_04 6:31

But they I don't know, but they had him in the lead and pre-judging, like it's ridiculous, man.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

It's yeah, I know like I could not it it's it's incorrect in my opinion, you know, like ridiculously incorrect. I couldn't understand it. But one thing I do want to say though is when your original question of why did Andrew deserve it, that's why he deserved it. But I had Nick winning as well. I I had Nick well ahead at prejudging, and I had him win in the finals, too.

SPEAKER_04 7:01

Yeah. Um, as soon as it happened, me and Ian were were talking. And I remember Ian, Ian as soon as I called Ian. I mean me and Ian, Ian is the first friend I've made in bodybuilding when I moved to Jersey, which was like 2011, like literally, right? We used to go to the same gym together. Anyway, so he called me right away and we were talking, and I said, you know, maybe the Arnold just likes more of an aesthetic pleasing physique. You know, they've had Cedric and so on and so forth. And they, you know, uh maybe that they just like that more aesthetically pleasing physique. They don't want to go for the masked monsters. And then Ian said, but they had Derek over Samson last year. And I went, Yeah, there goes that. That goes right out the window. So the scoring, it's just it just baffled me that he had um that he had uh him in the lead from the beginning. Because, all right, let's let's take it, let's take it shot for shot, okay? All right, um, if you want to give Andrew all three front shots, right? Front relaxed, uh absent thighs, front double bye. If you want to give uh in my it's my opinion, if you want to give Andrew all three of those shots, I'm with you. But I don't think he beats either one of them in any of the side or back shots. What do you think, Kensen?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Well, I think you gotta give Andrew the front lat spread. It's it's tough to not give him that one, you know. 100%.

SPEAKER_04 8:37

Yeah, the front like the front shots. I could give him all day long.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Yeah, yeah, but not the side shots, and certainly, most definitely, nobody was defeating Nick Walker from the back on that fucking Earnal Classic 2026 stage. It wasn't happening. Nick wasn't just doing well from the back, Nick was destroying everybody. It wasn't even close, yeah, it was ridiculous. Ian, what do you think?

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Yeah, I would say Nick. Okay, so if you put the shots, Nick wins basically the back and sides because of just the thickness and the density and the maturity of the muscle by far. Andrew, like you said, the most muscle from the front is Mr. O. Oh yeah, right. Like he said, yeah, yeah. Andrew from the front is Mr. O. Like you say, if you you see him, he's a statue, he's the front, he's Mr. O. Once he starts turning to the side of the back, it's over.

SPEAKER_04 9:31

Yeah, I I I fully agree. Ian, you always have a line.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

But that's Nick's shots, too.

SPEAKER_04 9:38

Say that again.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

That's Nick's, that's Nick's his those are his bad poses or his front shots.

SPEAKER_04 9:45

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, no question. His front putt was his that's his Achilles heel. His Achilles heel is his wide, is his wide mix midsection. If he had, you know, if his midsection was an inch or two, you know, nobody'd be beating him ever, right? But that's his front shots are his Achilles heel. And I think what was funny is that I had Mac truck on it, and we were watching Nick work out, and he was doing uh leg uh presses, but he was doing them very wide and very far apart. And I said, Mac, what why do you think he's doing this? And he said he's he's actually doing this for his his adductors, his hamstrings from the back, because he's trying to make his strong points even stronger, so it makes it even more difficult to deny him because he knows he has that waist problem, and there's really not much he could do about the structure. But if he makes his best shots even better, which he obviously accomplished, and everybody thought that he he took home the W. Um, and it just but it just didn't didn't work. Uh did the the judging and Andrew went now. I don't listen. Andrew is nothing but class, and he does, and congratulations to Andrew Jacked. Um, the guy just fucking is nothing but class. He is never bitched, he doesn't moan, he just fucking goes back to work and he hits the gym and he hits it hard. So I don't want to take anything away from the guy. Um, but this is this was the one of the more controversial calls in a while. The other thing that I want I want to bring up about the call is Nick Nick Walker, his professionalism in class is undeniable at this point. Like you could see why he's everybody's favorite bodybuilder. So, what I mean by that is when they called Hottie in third, you know Nick thought he was winning. Right? He's like, you know, he thought he was winning. Everybody thought he was winning when they called Hody in third. It's like, oh shit, this is Nick's show. And then they called Andrew winning and him in second. That has to be uh like a uh a punch to the gut, and he still handled it with professionalism and class and respect, and even said, and even said that Andrew gave Andrew all the respect in the world. Kensen, what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 12:14

No, it was uh it was very easy, I will say, to uh really look like you've got a bit of class or uh you know self-control for that matter, compared to what Martin displayed on stage. So that helped that right now, yeah. Yeah, for sure. No, look, Nick did uh Nick did exactly what is expected of a professional athlete at this level that's been around the block, you know, at the highest level. Nick handled it very well. And let's not kid ourselves. Yes, Nick did not win$750,000, but Nick did win$250,000. So Nick cannot walk away angry, dude. Okay, yeah. Like he can be he he he you know, you can be like, motherfucker, like I could have had$750. Well, you're still going home with$250, dude. Like, Nick's gonna be just fine, buddy. Nick is allowed to go, trust him, yeah, yeah. And I still think that Nick is going to be able to uh you know build on this, you know, right up until the Olympia, which is not necessarily the situation he was in this time last year. So Nick Walker is at the top of the bodybuilding game right now.

SPEAKER_04 13:21

Yeah, absolutely. Ian, you always you always have like the inside scoop of things. Have you heard anything from anybody from any of your sources about the actual scorecard, about why they scored it the way they did?

SPEAKER_03 13:36

Haven't heard anything yet, but like you said, Tyler Manny put out the scorecard for all us to see. And from what I've sent you on from sent you on videos, they showed it like did we see something differently than everybody else thought? Because you know, they showed it that he won, you know, Andrew won was winning everything, right?

SPEAKER_04 13:57

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

I mean, we all know as I mean, we're different, maybe because we're on we're watching from a telecast or watching from somewhere, but even people who I know, like I was you know, I was following through people who were there, and they were like, Nick is looking wild, hottie's look at this, Andrew looks good, but I no one saw him winning.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Yeah, no, this was not controversial, it was well understood. Like the opinion was pretty uniform across the bodybuilding world after pre-judging that Nick definitely won, like, not many people said Andrew, honestly.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

Yeah, yeah, and then and then I thought they were gonna give it to Hani, especially during the finals. Uh, but it is what it is. Now, last thing about Andrew Jack, Kenson, do you think that just setting a different standard now? Or they want to set the set a different standard?

SPEAKER_02 14:52

I think regardless of if that's what the judges were trying to accomplish, I think that that's definitely the public perception now. And I think that's gonna have an influence on competitors, on uh well, the viewing audience, you know, it it's gonna be a message that continues to spread. So yeah, I think there's definitely that possibility, but I got trouble buying into the whole, you know, politics thing of sitting down. Ever since I had Bob Chicarillo on, man, honestly, I think guy ruined me. Like, what is this new standard that they're all agreeing upon? Like, did everybody show up at the IFB Pro headquarters and sat down and said, Okay, from now on, we want the aesthetic guys, we don't want the fucking mass monsters anymore. Like, I think it's a natural progression more than it is uh uh uh necessarily a planned progression, you know, and it's proper. We see these things happen within bodybuilding, and bodybuilding is getting better physiques because of it. So, this is at the end of the day, I think overall it's it's a good thing for bodybuilding, it's a very good standard.

SPEAKER_04 15:54

Okay, uh I hope not because I'm a fan of the freaks. I've always been a fan of the freaks, you know. So I don't care. I mean, and they have their place.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

No, no, but that's the other thing about the Arnold Classic that I do want to say. Nick did take second, he didn't win, but I mean, the guy did take second, right? So, I mean, there is a place for there's definitely a place for the mask monster. I'm right with you, John. I am. Trust me, dude. Crizzo, Nick, these are my personal favorites, right? But it's not about my personal favorites, even though they still have a serious place at the top level of bodybuilding. 100% absolutely not going anywhere.

SPEAKER_04 16:33

All right, so let's get to the elephant in the room. Martin Fitzwater. I mean, just disgraced himself. I don't know, just absolutely disgraced himself. Um look, uh I'll just say this and I and then I'll pass it off. Um a man, a man has to be able to control his feelings. You have to be able to control your emotions. Um, otherwise, you're just a child. Uh and and controlling your emotions when you're winning is easy. Right? That's easy. Controlling your emotions when you're losing, when when you feel like the world is coming crushing down on you, that's when it's difficult. That's when you separate the men from the boys. Martin really showed, and and that's gonna, I'm gonna come down hard on him, right? But this is not an isolated incident, okay? Martin really showed who he is, his true colors. Uh, but this is not an isolated incident. He's been arrested for drugs. He's had problems with Nick in the past, he's had problems with Andrew Jack in the past, he's had problems with Giles in the past, he had problems with YouTubers in the past, he has called up Xavier and cursed him out on the phone. He's blocked me, he's blocked Xavier, he's blocked Muscle Discord, he's blocked Hostel. And the funniest part is that when you Kenton, did he block you? No, I don't think he knows who I am. So I'm good. Um, so uh the funniest part is the interview he did with Dave on RX Muscle. I mean, you want to talk about gaslighting, gaslighting the world, like basically saying that we're the ones bitching a moan, we're the ones that can't control our emotions, and it's like, wow, it's almost like dating a toxic woman, and you're just going, What the fuck are you talking about? And then they just play the victim and they tell you that you're the problem, and it was just unbelievable. Now, the thing is when you act that way, which he acted just horrible, and it's horrible for the sport. Um you you suffer consequences, and that's when I'm gonna pass it off to Ian. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

I mean, he looked like a petulant child, yeah. Basically, like, come on, you saw when they were going backstage, they show they showed a slow-down video of him saying something to Nick.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

Did anybody know he said, or I'm trying, I was trying to figure it out, but no, Nick is classy enough not to keep it. Nick is classy enough to keep it to himself. That's the thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:14

Well, you know, I've heard that apparently it was Merton saying repeatedly, um, I hate you to Nick.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

Well, guess what? Now, now, because you hate that person, now they want up you again. Right now, go cry. Now go cry your corner. Okay, firstly let's say let's just be be very nice. I hope he doesn't have any mental issues because I don't want him to do something to himself because of this.

SPEAKER_04 19:46

So let me let me uh I want to get to that real quick. I don't mean to cut you off, Ian. I know I said I was gonna, but I want to make this point. Uh if you guys could see, so it's just so people don't know I'm don't think I'm talking out of my ass. If you guys could see those two degrees behind me, right? Okay, um, one of them is in psychology. Okay, so I have a bachelor's in psychology and a master's in in business. So it's not like I'm talking out of my ass. Just just just saying, but statistically, uh, when you talk about you know self-deletion, we can't say the word on YouTube, okay. Um 70% of men uh can 70% of self-deletion is is from men, and the large majority of of those uh self-deletions, they don't make a statement. Nobody knows that it's happening, they're suffering and dying inside, and then they usually use firearms and they usually just end it. Um, women attempt self-deletion more. It's that seems to be more of a cry for help. Okay. So one of the examples I'm gonna uh bring up, which was very sad, was uh help me out, Ian. The guy that was on um hostile with Fuad when they first started.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

Oh, uh Neil Curry.

SPEAKER_04 21:11

No, no, no, no, the guy who uh ended it. Yeah, Neil Curry. Luke Luke Sandow. No, Luke Sandow. Oh, Luke Sandow. Luke Sandow. Sorry, sorry, Luke Sandow. Yeah, nobody saw that coming. No, nobody saw that coming. That's usually how men do it. Men are suffering inside, and they they don't express themselves, they they they suppress their emotion, they give up, they usually give up hope and then decide it's over. Martin crying and then putting goodbye on is generally speaking, a sign of want to cry for help, uh, victimhood, uh, or attention. So it's we don't know, it's it's it's one of those, one of those three. But generally speaking, when a man wants to really end it, he just ends it. It's over, right? So I'm not really buying that he's gonna do anything like that, right? I do think he needs help. So this is gonna end this could end one of two ways, all right. And I and then I'm gonna pass off to to Kensen. This could this could end one of two ways. One, he could just basically uh go off into the sunset. We don't know what happens to him, and he could be the bodybuilder that that never was, right? The guy who never fulfilled his potential, the guy who never did, and and and who knows, hopefully he doesn't get into more and more and more problems. Or he could take some time, get some help, rebrand himself, and come back. And we've seen athletes do this. We've seen top professional athletes that suffered and then had to take some time off. George Foreman was the perfect example. George Foreman suffered a defeat from Muhammad Ali, went into a bad depression, took him 10 years, but then he came back and he was a different person, became the heavyweight champion. There is a possibility where he can uh reignite his career, but he's going to have to get some serious help and understand that only he is responsible for his emotions and his actions and his consequences. Go ahead, Kenton.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

No, look, I agree. If there is professional help that he needs to seek, then he should certainly go ahead and do that. Um, that's been the sentiment around the bodybuilding world as well. You know, there's there's been one consistent uh message, and that is if Martin does need help, then he should certainly seek it, you know, if that is the case. One thing that I actually thought about um that I haven't highlighted in uh in anything that I've put out so far is you know, if Martin was to look on the positive side of things, you know, the people around him, if they were to sit him down and say, dude, look, I know you're upset, but you did just take fourth at the Arnold Classic. I mean, that's not nothing. I mean, it's a disappointment when you're so driven and ambitious, but those are positive qualities, you know. It's just simply the uh the opurst that really uh doesn't allow him to focus on the things that he did just accomplish. Fourth place at the Arnold Classic Ohio is still pretty fucking good, dude. And it doesn't take away from exactly, it does not take away from the fact that he has defeated Samson Dowda within the last few months, really, right? So we know what he can do. There's good that he could take away from this. So if Martin is out there and he's trying to focus on something other than this extreme anger that he's feeling, dude, you just took fourth, you know. You just beat Samson a few months ago. There's still how many months until the Olympia? What, like 10 months? Like, yeah, you got plenty of time. Yeah, you got plenty of time. Fine, dude. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he has like plumble plumble says go over burger, you know, you'll feel better. I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_04 25:09

I know it's not it's not that easy. This is not an isolated incident, okay. He he is always and you know, also don't uh um there was also another issue with with Martin that I can't uh put my finger on.

SPEAKER_03 25:22

Um I know I know one.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Which one? Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 25:26

Well, there was one where he tried to go, he tried to quit before delete himself off so delete himself off of social media, and his training partner had to reconvince him to go back on.

SPEAKER_04 25:35

Oh, Brett Wilkins, yes, that's right. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm thinking of the rumor he started backstage at the Olympia with Derek.

SPEAKER_03 25:43

No, there's many of times where this guy you could definitely tell when he's and you notice when he's on, you can tell that there's a big smile on his face and everything. When he's slightly off, everything is downhill.

SPEAKER_04 25:58

Yeah, um, yeah, you can see it. It's it's listen, like I said, it's very easy to be positive when you're winning, it's when you're losing, when you even in life, when especially being a man, I and I and I really want to drive this part home. If you are a man, you are responsible for other people in your life, whether it's your kids, your girlfriend, your parents, the people around you. And you have to be strong during times when things are down. Life is hard, life is gonna hit you hard. It's easy to be fucking uplifting and motivational when you're on top and you're winning and you're being the best. That's easy. It's the times where the fucking life kicks you in the balls where you have to be able to be emotionally stable and keep on going and just keep on going. You know, in real life, in you know, in athletes, it's when you, you know, when you lose in a in a contest like this. But in real life, for example, uh, I always use this example because we're all going to go through this. Somebody close passes. You're married, you have children, and somebody close passes, and your wife and kids are a mess. You're the one that has to pick up the pieces, you're the one that has to plan everything, you're the one that has to be strong. If you can't do that as a man, then you are nothing but a child. Martin, Martin literally conducted himself like an eight-year-old girl. And the other thing is, if he doesn't start taking accountability for his actions, he'll never change. The first thing that happens when you go into Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, a drug rehabilitation center, the first thing they make you do is stand up and say, What? I am an alcoholic, I am a drug user. That's the first step. Because if you can't be accountable and it's everybody else's problems, then you're not gonna be able to take the next step to fix it. Now, he suffered big consequences. So, Ian, go ahead. Tell us what happened today.

SPEAKER_03 27:58

Well, so at first start with Elevate said we're no longer part of that, and then probably less than two hours ago, Raw dropped him. Yeah, but we all we had a film Raw was gonna drop him because C Bum was not playing with that.

SPEAKER_04 28:14

You're not trying to make this brand look good brand look bad, and if they would have kept him playing, talk about class act, C Bum is the fucking pinnacle of class, right?

SPEAKER_03 28:23

So just now just imagine if they kept if they just imagine if they kept him, you know what would have happened? Nobody would have supported Raw.

SPEAKER_04 28:30

Right, absolutely. Look, companies don't give a shit about you know, they care about the bottom line. I know I and it and if and if Martin would have stayed on Raw, I know I wouldn't have bought any raw products. I know plenty of people wouldn't have bought it because now he is literally crossed the line and he is officially the villain. And uh people don't want to support the bad guy, especially in bodybuilding, they want to support the uplifting, hardworking guys like Nick, like Andrew, like Samson. Uh, and so he's going to have to really do some serious soul searching if he wants to reignite his career. Uh, and I think the best thing for him to do is just disappear, just go away, stay off social media, don't talk to anybody, get yourself some help. And then maybe maybe a year from now you can get back on stage two years from now, and maybe you could uh reignite your career. But if he doesn't, he keeps going the way that that is going is happening. The next step is that the IFBB is gonna ban them all together, you know. Yeah, right, exactly. Right. So uh Kenton Gad, you get you get the last word on this one.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

The last word on this one. This is not going to be the last word on this topic. This is I feel like this is gonna go on for quite some time. Oh, yeah. Um, you know, I really just I really do hope the guy gets whatever help it is that that he needs or finds some sort of peace in his fucking life, dude, because you know it's so it it seems like it's more of a rarity to have that. And uh, you know, I'm glad that uh that that I do have I can actually say a decent amount of stability and uh you know enjoyment uh within my life. And I I was in places where Martin was before, not to his extreme, but uh you know, I know what it's like to go through anger and shit like that. It's not fun, it's not good for you, and it's gonna come down to him wanting to make the choice to work on himself, you know, and that's what it's gonna be. I mean, look, and we all lose. That's the other thing I wanted to say. Eventually, like you said, John, one way or another, all of us lose. We all have to handle it, learn how to handle it. You'll fucking live longer, man. And you know what?

SPEAKER_04 30:57

You will get fulfillment as a man if you are the person that people could come to during tough times. You're you're right. You you will. You will have true fulfillment if people could come to you during tough times when somebody dies, when there's a terrible disease, when there's a uh a financial issue, and people could depend on you, your wife, your children, other family members. That puts you that what they're basically saying is we put you at the top of the hierarchy. You're the person we respect and go to for help. That's powerful, and that's what most men need to do. And and and we could see that that is the type of guy Nick is, that's the type of guy Andrews, that's the type of guy Samson is. Uh, obviously, Martin has a long way to go if he's ever gonna be there. But I'm gonna segue to Hartie now. If Martin didn't act the way he acted, we'd be talking about what a sole loser Hottie is right now. Because he literally said after he came in third, I'm taking my ball and going home. And then a few hours later, he's like, All right, no, I'm not. I'm I'm I'll be I'll still be around. Like he literally retired after suffering that loss, and then finally, I don't know if somebody he probably just calmed down from his emotions and was like, Okay, I'm not, I'm fine, I'm not retired, right? But he's another one who has in the past, not as bad as Martin, who has has problems dealing with losses, right? Go ahead, Ian.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

Well, I was gonna say is that he didn't mind losing to Samson at the Olympia, but he he didn't mind losing to Derek.

SPEAKER_04 32:38

Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

No, could have been a time the Evigen thing where Derek was part of that, and he they're both working with Hani at the time, maybe, but like you said, this is the same man who we saw disappear, and they're like, Oh, you're second, and he wrote, you know, just did this to Weinberg, like I don't want to talk to you, right? Don't you know? Yeah, just if you're gonna if you weren't, but they were there was a word in the camp said that he was gonna do one more show, yeah, and I think that was it, but then you he's like, Yeah, okay, I'm gonna go back. I'm already he was already on the calendar and on the on the poster for I think the Arnold UK.

SPEAKER_04 33:19

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

That's right.

SPEAKER_04 33:21

Now you could give you can give Hadi a pass this time around because of the immense stress and pressure he went through with the war in Iran, his family, his uh supporters dropping him, and he still came to fucking win. I mean, he was off maybe five to ten percent off, but he still came to win. If you want to give him a pass, but again, this is not the first time he's kind of crashed out and couldn't handle losing. Go ahead, Kenson. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 33:51

No, you're right. The guy's been through a lot, you know, there's no question. Um the fact of the matter is, though, the way that he showed up on stage was uh he he had a warranted third place. I mean, his conditioning was way off from what it was when we saw him, you know, take your pick, Art of Classic 24, Olympia 25. Up till this point, I mean, this was probably the worst of Hottie that we've seen in literally years. So that's gotta be a tough one for him as well, like you said, right? But um, is it time for him to retire? No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. Hottie still has a ridiculously long like I still think he has three good years minimum. You know, I think he could keep going. The guy's an animal. Really like the guy's a fucking animal, dude. You know, like you watched him train, John. It is crazy, right? It's insane. It's it's insane the thing that the guy at a week out of the show, he'll do strip sets on on hack squat or not hack squat on um on Smith Machine Squats, and he'll do eight eight plate rows with not great form, as everybody likes to point out. But regardless, I mean, a week out, nobody's doing that shit, you know. Yeah, he's he still and and one bad showing of um less than what we're typically or less of what we typically expect from Hottie is not a reason to retire. That is absolutely not, you know. Do it three or four times, and okay, maybe it's fallen off a bit.

SPEAKER_04 35:18

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, agreed. He's not he's at the top of his career. Do I think he's gonna make any more gains and get better? No, I think he's but I think he's at the top of his career, and he definitely has, like you said, another two, three years left in him. And he's definitely got gas in the tank left. There's no reason for him to retire. Absolutely not. Um, all right, Brandon Curry. I thought Brandon Curry should have been in fourth place. I don't think he should have been in fourth place. Same here.

SPEAKER_03 35:45

Same here.

SPEAKER_04 35:46

So again, why why do you think he was somewhat overlooked? Be especially being a former Mr. Olympia, former All-Classic champion.

SPEAKER_03 35:55

I don't know, that's a good question. I think sometimes they think, oh, yeah, this is Brandon Curry, whatever. I mean, maybe because they saw the last four the last showing of the oh, this is who it was, but I'm like, okay, Nick did beat Brandon barely at the Olympia, but still, I think he should have been fourth instead of Martin.

SPEAKER_04 36:17

Yeah, I think we all be able to do that.

SPEAKER_03 36:18

Something something and I would say anybody after 40, his legs have improved.

SPEAKER_04 36:24

Yeah, how old are much in his 40s at this point, right? I think he's 45. Let me see, he's gotta be up there, and he's still he's still placed in the top five in the Olympia and the uh and the Arnold. That's fucking good.

SPEAKER_03 36:40

He said the one thing he did say was for his legs, he said was he knew certain muscles could respond quickly, like his chest. So he said was I would he said I would train quad, I would train my chest after quads because he wanted enough stimulus in the quads to make sure they grow because he knew his chest was always developed right. He could do a little bit and get enough.

SPEAKER_04 37:01

It says he's 43. He's another guy who talked about class and respect and and hard work. Like he literally decided when he when he won Mr. Olympia, before that, he was kind of like a second-tier bodybuilder, and he decided it's gonna be all or nothing. I have a family to take care of, and he fucking went to uh Kuwait and just stayed there for I don't know how many years, made the improvements, his timing was was very good. His timing was lucky, it was it was kind of a down period with competition with the Olympia, but it didn't matter because he still pulled it off, and then he still pulled it off, wins two Mono Classics, loses the Olympia the the following year. And you gotta also remember it was COVID when he fucking won. So he wasn't even able to like travel, do guest posing, anything like that. Um, you gotta give Brandon Curry his fucking props. He is nothing but a consummate professional, he's another guy, doesn't bitch, nut, doesn't moan, just goes right back to the drawing board. People have written him off, people have written William Bonack off, and these guys just go right back to the fucking drawing board. And when you think that it's over, he comes back and it's like, oh shit, he's in the top five again. Boom. You know, these these guys, they're they're blessed athletes with the work ethic and the temperament, and that's why their careers last so long and they're so on top. So go ahead, Kensen. What was your opinion on uh Brandon Curry this weekend?

SPEAKER_02 38:31

Yeah, I mean, aside from the fact that Brandon is obviously the uh the more likable, you know, competitor uh between him and Martin, I do think he just had the better physique overall. I mean, if we're talking about aesthetics and that's why it won the show, then wouldn't it make more sense for Brandon to defeat Martin given the fact that he did have more aesthetics? Right Martin did. Good point. I I really think that uh the comparison during pre-judging is what I did want to see. Luckily, they did do that comparison between Martin and uh Brandon at pre-judging, where Martin had the uh dissatisfaction written all over his face the second he stepped off the line. It was absolutely ridiculous. But regardless, Brandon was the better physique, I feel. Even even if they were to stand next to each other at the Olympia at this point, if Martin showed up like that, I don't think it would matter, you know, especially given the fact that they are probably starting to award the real aesthetic physiques even outside of the Arnold. So he deserved fourth place, and and like you guys said, making improvements at 43 years old, especially in the legs, which is the first body part to drop off in bodybuilding, right? Unheard of, you know, absolutely unheard of. Should be rewarded. He was the better physique. He he deserved fourth place.

SPEAKER_04 39:46

Yeah, do you think he should go on and do something like the New York Pro or Pittsburgh or anything like that? Because you see, he's only been kind of doing, and not that he doesn't belong there, he clearly belongs at the Olympia and the Arnold Classic.

SPEAKER_03 39:57

Uh, do you think he should do Detroit? It's it's this week.

SPEAKER_04 40:02

Yes, yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 40:05

Up in Detroit right now, Nick should jump in Detroit right now. Why not? You're already in shape. Yeah, jump in, get qualified. Brandon's qualified for life. We never have to worry about him, right?

SPEAKER_04 40:16

That's a good thing. Nick should jump in the show right now. Um Brand, you're 100% right. Brandon should absolutely do Detroit this weekend. And and I got news for you, he would do some serious fucking damage with the way he came in if he comes in the same way. And he's gonna come in the same way. He doesn't really you never see a you never see a super off Brandon. He always makes sure he always he reminds me of Sean Clarita. Like he just he's a consummate professional. It just, you know, he always makes sure that he is fucking on, you know. Um, and then you and then and then it just then you just really have to beat him. Like you gotta beat him. He's not gonna let you take it. Uh, and and that's why I think so much like uh like Kent said, I think that's why so many people love him, and that's why so many people love guys like Nick and and uh Andrew and so on and so forth.

SPEAKER_02 41:03

Um, you know, I don't think that Brandon should do New York or Pittsburgh, though, because I think that well, it's funny now that you say um, you know, the aesthetics are being rewarded more, but my mind immediately went to the fact that Chriso is doing both of those shows, and I think that Chriso will defeat Brandon.

SPEAKER_04 41:22

Oh, I could see that. Yeah, absolutely. But I think Detroit is definitely that should be on his radar. Why not? You're in shape.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

They would love to oh, I agree.

SPEAKER_04 41:32

They would love to have uh they would love to fucking have you. That's uh what Fuad show, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:38

Yes, uh, and and I just heard that Nick is not doing that show either. He he he said Nick's not doing it.

SPEAKER_04 41:44

Okay, what did you what we gonna say, Ian?

SPEAKER_03 41:47

I was gonna say because there's not too much competition. I mean, blessing isn't it now.

SPEAKER_02 41:52

Uh no, actually, he is. Fuad said that.

SPEAKER_03 41:55

Yeah, oh blessing, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:58

Okay, I think blessings in Brandon could be blessing.

SPEAKER_03 42:01

Yeah, let's say Brandon should join in. You should definitely jump in now.

SPEAKER_04 42:05

Yeah, why not? It it's it's money, you know. You'll you'll you'll get some clout and fame. You won't be on the uh oh the the the used to be great bodybuilder anymore. If you fucking win this, you know, people start talking to you, talking about you rather.

SPEAKER_03 42:19

I and I think I think Fuck gives about 25 to 30k for his show. Yeah, it's why it's 25.

SPEAKER_04 42:25

It's 25 this year, yeah. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely. He should definitely do it. All right, I would love to know. I I know I I missed this one when we talked about Martin. I would love to know why Martin hates Nick so much. What is it about Nick that he hates so much?

SPEAKER_03 42:40

Because Nick keeps whooping his ass, yeah. But everybody's whooping his head at this point, you know. But yeah, Nick's been busting his ass for at least three years, three to four years.

SPEAKER_04 42:52

Yeah, but why is yeah, uh yeah, yeah, right, right, right. Yeah, beat him at New York, beat him at Pittsburgh. Well, he didn't beat him at the Olympia at the Olympia. Yeah, he didn't beat him at the Olympia, though, right?

SPEAKER_03 43:05

More time when did Martin not this year, not this year, yeah, yeah, not this year.

SPEAKER_04 43:10

Say to to somebody, I I hate you, I hate you. And then apparently there was some shoving backstage, and then there was a girl that got in between. I heard there's some somebody, one of the tanning girls got in between them. You know, yeah, you know, yeah, that's what I heard. That's another thing. You know, if Martin decides to put his hands on the wrong guy, you know, that's not gonna end well. You know, it ended well, it ended well because Nick is in control of his emotions and he is a consummate professional and he wasn't gonna let anything you know throw him off uh that that that second place or first place victory that he thought he was gonna have. But I mean, if he does that to the wrong bodybuilder, like could you imagine? Could you imagine if he did that to the old school um who is the bodybuilder in Who was uh who was a Crip? I think he was a Crip. And uh Christian, Mike Christian.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

Yeah, Mike Christian, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:10

Yeah. I mean, it would have laid him out right there. It would have been no.

SPEAKER_03 44:14

Or Chris Corbyn would have laid him out.

SPEAKER_04 44:16

Yeah, I mean, yeah. I mean, Mike Christian had a reputation of getting arrested and getting out of jail and going right to goals to train. You know, he was a real street dude. Yep. And if he if he just, you know, he seems to. That's another thing about uh that's another thing about Martin. He seems to pick the guys that he knows won't push back. Giles. Right? Like that, that was unheard of. Giles hitting Giles' phone. There was no reason for that whatsoever. Um he's got some serious growing up to do, and he's he's got to get help, otherwise, it his career's over. All right. I want to mention one other guy, then we'll get to uh we'll get to classic.

SPEAKER_03 45:00

I'm surprised he hasn't reached out to Branch to help him out.

SPEAKER_04 45:04

Well, obviously, Branch wants nothing to do with him anymore. They tried to train together, right? And nobody knows why. Because again, Branch isn't Branch is a very private guy. And I don't think Branch, it's just my estimation. I don't know, but Branch is a very private guy, and I don't think Branch is he is all business. He's always been all business, he's always been a serious guy with serious ambition. And if you are gonna train under his wing, you're gonna train like him, he's not gonna deal with it. Um, so I'm I'm under the impression that Branch just went and said, Okay, this kid is I'm not dealing with this kid anymore. What do you think, Kensen?

SPEAKER_02 45:43

Oh, yeah, most likely, I would say. I mean, Merton has been uh burning that many bridges lately. I mean, he I I I it's unfathomable to even think that someone would consider going down this path. Literally telling everybody in front of you to basically fuck off is what the is what the perception is. I mean, I haven't seen like he told everybody to fuck off in that post that he made. Uh he ended up taking it down, but he was like, Don't even congratulate me. Like, what do you mean, dude? Like, yeah, this is this is no joke, like you said, man. It really is. It's no joke. He's he's gonna get some help.

SPEAKER_04 46:19

He does. If you can't handle being in the public spotlight, then don't. And you know what? Get out, get out, go do something else. And you know what? If that's the case, if your life is more stress-free, not being a public figure, then good for you, man. Like, go go, you know, be a personal trainer, go do something else, whatever else. If this is really gonna weigh on you and weigh on your stress this much and mental health, go do something else, right?

SPEAKER_02 46:45

Yeah, own a gym. Like, there's still other things you can do with OP and you know, uh, like a big public figure, man. Like, yeah, own a chain of gyms, you know, whatever it might be. Like, you can there's things you can do. Absolutely, there's no question about it.

SPEAKER_04 46:58

I want to get to one bodybuilder that uh nobody's talking about, and he was a huge, huge disappointment. Hastan Mustafa.

SPEAKER_03 47:11

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:12

Uh, I don't know, I don't know what I don't know what he was thinking, I don't know what show he thought he was doing, but he literally looked like he was eight weeks out, he looked like he did not fucking train, did not diet. It was unbelievable. Ian, what do you think? What the what could he possibly be thinking?

SPEAKER_03 47:31

I mean, I did what I heard he was dieting because he was going through Ramadan, and I said, He was, yeah, he didn't do anything. That's right, he's Muslim. I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_05 47:40

Yeah, he was.

SPEAKER_03 47:42

So, like, I'm looking at him like I'm looking at him like, well, why even step on stage? You should have said, Hey, let me, you know, you should have forfeited out a couple weeks ago.

SPEAKER_04 47:53

Yeah, he's starting to remind me of Myanmar. Say that again, Ian.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

I said, We could have stepped on stage and did a better job than he did.

SPEAKER_04 48:03

Yeah, yeah, we could have beat him. Yeah, no, he just showed and and he just showed up just awful, just absolutely awful. Like he put no fucking effort into this whatsoever. And you're on the biggest stage in the world. And that's again, it's lucky for him that Martin was overshadowing all this crap because nobody's talking about it, but um, he looked just absolutely awful. He just he literally looked like a fire hydrant. There was no shape, there was no symmetry, there was no conditioning. It was fucking off. Kensa, when you were watching, when you were doing the live feed, can you pick up what the audience reaction was? And what was Phil Heats and Nick Nick's from Nick Strength and Powers reaction when he came out. Do you remember?

SPEAKER_02 48:47

For for uh Nick and uh Phil, I wasn't listening to them that intently, no, but I can tell you that yeah, the uh the comments section in my live stream were really yeah, the general consensus is that nobody was surprised. We've all come to expect this from Hassan Mustafa at this point. Uh the conversation that used to take place surrounding him finally coming in shredded someday, finally nailing it. You know, if that ever happens, then he's gonna he's gonna be dangerous. Well, the guy that conversation is over. Nobody wants to have that conversation anymore. But his legs actually, to me, look worse than what they were last time. They looked even less shapely, they were starting to remind me of uh of Nexzilla's legs, you know. Like there's there's a ton of size, but there's no shape and there's no definition. His legs actually, I think, got worse, and I think his wid section actually got a little bit wider as well. So go like you said, Ian, going through Ramadan, like don't maybe shouldn't even bother, you know, pick a show that's not inside of Ramadan might be an idea, but uh yeah, whatever circumstances he had, he made the decision. And uh I don't think the Arnold will have him back. I'll put it back.

SPEAKER_04 50:01

That's another thing. Yes, good point. I don't think they're gonna invite him back after that. That was a poor, poor showing, absolutely poor showing. Another guy was an embarrassment, yeah. Another guy who we thought was gonna show up better was uh Raphael Brandau. Everybody thought he was gonna show okay at the end. Uh I didn't go ahead, Kensen.

SPEAKER_02 50:24

Yeah, see, no, look when uh Raphael Brandau has you could say the same thing uh surrounding the conversation of him finally nailing it. I think that conversation is over for me. I don't think that he's gonna make the improvements that are necessary. I think that he has the opposite problem of Hassan from a size standpoint and conditioning. He was better, you there was detail, but you certainly wouldn't say he was conditioned, you know, not by any stretch of the imagination. And it I actually think that he's getting smaller, if I'm being honest with you. Like he didn't look like he he didn't he didn't make any improvements, and we've seen him better conditioned in the past as well. So he's continuously just not not just not meeting expectations or fulfilling his potential. Um I think he's getting worse.

SPEAKER_04 51:12

Yeah, yeah. Uh one guy that didn't make improvements, just it just wasn't good enough on this level of bodybuilding was Mofuda. Uh he clearly he clearly made improvements, but I don't think he is at this top-tier level yet. I I think he is a should, I think he got another guy that should do Detroit, another guy that should do New York, another guy that should do he is doing Detroit, actually. Oh, good, good, good, good, good. Because you can clearly see he's made improvements, but uh, when you put him up against Andrew, Nick, Hottie, it's you know, those guys, it's a different world, it's a different world. What'd you think of Mofuda, Ian?

SPEAKER_03 51:56

I thought he was really good. I mean, you can definitely see that he needs a little more back thickness and width, you know, because he would he would get beat by some of the bigger boys, you know, but that he's definitely got some you know great qualities about him, but like I said, he's more of a second tier. He might be a he might be a 10,000$10,000 show guy for a little bit. I mean, until some of these other guys catch up with him. But like him for him, jumping into Detroit is a smart move. Maybe he'll win it.

SPEAKER_04 52:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh last uh last open guy I want to talk about because he's a friend, and I don't know what he's going to do when I spoke to him. He didn't really have any plans for the future, he was going to keep competing. Kenson, Akeem Williams. What do you think his plan should be from here on in?

SPEAKER_02 52:49

No, look, I think Akeem is at uh a point in his career where, to be completely honest with you, I think he can just keep doing what he's doing. I mean, I don't think there's a big expectation out there for Akeem to show up and be, you know, this mind-blowing bodybuilder again. I think that, especially for a guy that's been in the game as long as he has, to go through the things that he has, um, he still shows up and he presents a uh a very respectable physique. You know, I mean, obviously the back needs to be improved. That's always been the case with Akeem. Again, expectations are proper with Akeem at this point. I think that he's still good for bodybuilding, and I think that as long as he can still showing up with a uh you know a respectable physique, I I I think he should keep going. I there's no delusions of him, I think, making it back to the Olympia or anything like that. But in the right lineup, he can continue to place top three at these pro shows. And I don't think anybody that has the potential to place top three at any given pro show should be uh should consider retiring.

SPEAKER_04 53:50

Ian, what do you think?

SPEAKER_03 53:54

I think Akeem it seems like he wins a lot more shows during a European circuit, uh not here in the states. The states just seem like there's a lot more better competition for him. Uh and uh with that being said, the Europeans are not saying not all Europeans, but like the shows, he normally he's been winning those a lot lately.

SPEAKER_04 54:15

Right, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:16

Like he's he might just do something like that to get his qualification, then then he can do whatever he wants. But that's why I've noticed. If you think the last shows he's won, if he won the big man in Portugal, he won Spain, he won a lot of shows out there. He hasn't done too many shows to win over here, right?

SPEAKER_04 54:33

Right, right, right. And that's usually his that's been his plan for the last few years. Is you know, he jumps into a second, third tier level show, wins it, gets the qualification, does the Olympia, right?

SPEAKER_02 54:43

Um, yeah, I mean we've seen lots of guys with that strategy, though. I mean, Regan Grimes played that card for many years, right? He'd do the European circuit, he'd show up at these uh you know, Italy pro and take it home, and then you get to the Olympia. Like, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. You want to be strategic throughout the season, pick a show that you can win to make it to the Olympia, you know. You're only you don't control who shows up, you know. Like you only hear strategically who may show up. So at the end of the day, you're putting your name down, and whoever shows up shows up. And if you have to be the best bodybuilder on that day, well, guess what? You're going to the Olympia.

SPEAKER_04 55:18

Yeah, well, 100%. I I fully fully agree. All right, classic physique. Obviously, Wesley looked amazing. Like the guy, probably probably the best Wesley we ever we ever saw. And he has a beautiful classic physique. He clearly deserved the win. There's no question about it. But Mike Summerfeld, if Mike Summerfeld has this much of a problem making weight, why doesn't he just take some time and do open bodybuilding? His body obviously wants to grow. He has a beautiful frame, he has a beautiful physique. With another 10 to 15 pounds with that conditioning, he would be a force in the open. Why does he can why does he continuously just want to stay in classic when it doesn't seem to be suited for him, Ian?

SPEAKER_03 56:08

I think he might be afraid to go to open, he might get trounced on.

SPEAKER_04 56:12

Yeah, good point.

SPEAKER_03 56:13

That's you know, you know, most of those people are like they'll they'll go into one. We've seen this many a times where people try to think they can move up and they go back down, right? Think about this. Look at Sadiq, he went from men's physique, won the classic, guy that's ass whooped went back to physique. Yeah, good point. Like that, there's there's many guys who you can see them doing well, but okay, let me see you do well. And there's some guys you're like, oh no, I got my butt whooped too much, I'll stay where I belong. And he's one of those people where you can see now that new height requirement seemed like messed him up because he won the Olympia with that certain weight cap, and all of a sudden he didn't hit the height right, and now he's gotta drop down even more. So now you're like, What are you gonna do? Either you diet earlier, you know, like you know the Arnold, you know what's coming up. Everybody's gonna be looking at you, and everybody thought had you winning if you were coming in on time. And guess what? Rumor has it, he might jump into Detroit, open or classic. Classic, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:13

That's what I'm saying. He I and I you know what you I you I think you just fucking nailed it. I did not think of that. I think it I think he is a little nervous about jumping into the open, even if he takes you know six months to a year off. Kensen, what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 57:29

Uh, he really only has so many options at this point. I mean, the two obvious ones to me, or I guess the two most beneficial ones for him would be either one, go to the open, accept the fact that your body wants to grow, and do the best that you can, considering the fact that you're going up against guys that are going to, I mean, essentially probably dwarf him, or finally accept the fact that you are not at that height category that you thought you were. Continue to strive for your six to seven pounds lighter from when you showed up at the Arnold, and continue to be a serious contender for winning multiple classic physique Olympia titles and Arnold and Arnold Classic titles too, because I do still think that I agree with you, John, 100%. Wesley, as well as being one of my personal favorites in classic, what I think the classic standard should be, as long as he continues to improve on his legs. Mike is a force in classic, and I think that he would probably rather be at the top end of classic rather than I don't know what he would even do when it comes to a pro show, honestly. What would he do? Top five between fifth, seventh, somewhere where you'd see um maybe third in some of these lineups, right? He needs to stick the classic, I think. Like accept the fact that you're not that tall, dude, and hit your weight, and that's still more than enough for you to come in and win, like I said, potentially multiple Olympias and multiple Earnal Classics in the future.

SPEAKER_04 59:02

Xavier, what's up, man? We were just talking about uh Mike Sommerfeld. What's going on?

SPEAKER_00 59:10

Sorry, I'm late. I um the times on shift.

SPEAKER_04 59:13

It was uh I thought it was 1 p.m. Yeah, that's right. I keep you know, I fucking forget about that all the time. Yeah, that's right. Um, yeah, don't worry about it. We're we're gonna we're gonna get back to you when it comes when it comes to Martin. We'll recircle uh Martin. But uh Mike Sommerfeld, we were just talking about why he won't do the open. Ian made a great point that he might be just a little afraid to do the open. Um, and then Kenton said he doesn't really have too many choices at this point. He's either gotta fucking really diet down, diet harder and earlier to make the weight, or go into open. But Xavier, if he diets down too hard, will he come in flat? Will he lose muscle? Because it looks to me that he's fucking ready. I don't know if he could pull any more weight off. What do you think, uh, Xavier?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:06

Yeah, I think at this point, if he's doing classic, he has to diet away a little bit, a little bit of muscle because at the Olympia, like he made it with that new weight cap, but he had to kill himself to get down to it, which is probably pretty dangerous, and it's probably not gonna garner the best physique every time on stage, and it might be a little bit inconsistent, so he can do that and maybe atrophy a little bit of muscle. But the the other option is you know go to the open. But I think Neil Hill said that he has a bit of a health condition or he's not able to take too much in a way of gear as well, just because of his health. So I don't know, he might be pulling himself down so much though that he actually even using a smaller amount of gear, maybe being in the open would be healthier. But I I just feel like it's gonna be hard for him to win a classic physique Olympia title if that's his ultimate goal. Um staying in classic if that's his height and weight restriction each time because I mean it's he can make minor improvements maybe if he like downsizes the legs a little. But yeah, it's gonna be hard for him no matter what he does. But he's I think like 212 he could do pretty well in. I know Neil said he can't do 212 because he's too tall, but I mean his weight cap now is what, like eight pounds under the 212.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:18

What kind of health conditions have you heard?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:21

I don't know if there's a gut issue or some sort of um I know he had gut issues leading up to this one, but I remember Neil saying something like, Oh no, he's not not going to open because he would have to use you know more gear and that wouldn't be good for his health because he mentioned something. I can't remember exactly, so don't quote me on that.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:36

If that's the case, then Kenton he only has one choice, and that choice is classic, he's gonna have to stay in classic and die it down even harder and possibly lose some muscle.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:46

Because but if you notice him, he's very bottom heavy, yes, amazingly bottom heavy, yeah, which adds so much weight to your physique, too.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:57

Absolutely, yeah, you're 100% right. I just you know, I would love to see him. I would love to see him go to open because I think with his physique and his X frame and sim and symmetry, I think he would with another 10 pounds of muscle coming in that condition, I think he could really do well in an open in an open uh show. Uh, but if it's the case that he really does have some kind of uh problem, illness, health issue, man. Uh if you have a health issue, just get better. This is the wrong sport for you if you got a health issue, man. I mean it's healthy.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:36

If you get a food allergy, it's not the yeah. If you get a food allergy, it's not the right sport for you, let alone you know, uh God knows what else, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:45

Yeah, all right. Staying on classic Sam Sulik. I'm gonna give you my opinion and I'm gonna be hard on him.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:54

And then again, John, you hate Sam Sulik, man. You you do well, let me just go out and say that you're a Sam Sulik hater. You may as well just tell everyone now.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:02

Yeah, no, yeah. Let me explain why I I can't wrap my head around the the the phenom that is Sam Sulik. Sam Sulik as a as a uh fitness influencer. I don't understand the craze. He is not exciting, he is very boring, uh, there's no stigma behind him. There's nothing that would make somebody say, wow, they're crazy. Wow, that's we get why Larry Wheels is very popular, he's a fucking beast in the gym. We get why the Trent twins are popular, they're fucking nuts. I even understand why Unk and Hani are popular at Diamond, the marketing that they put behind it of this mystique of the most dangerous gym. I get it. It's like genius. I fucking get it. But with Sam Sulek, I never understood the the hype over him because he's so goddamn boring. Like Ian, how many people do we know at signature that look like Sam Sulek? Right? And it's just like they don't get any, it just blows me away. And then so I don't understand that part. Then he tries to make the and I gotta give him his his his I'll give him his props, I'll give him his just do. He tries to make the transition as an NPC, he wins a pro card, wins the Arnold Classic. Um, and then he has a year off and he goes into the Arnold Classic Pro, which was a smart move. But he, you know, after like the top three guys uh uh at the classic physique, the talent kind of fell off a little bit, right? And Sam doesn't have a classic structure at all. He doesn't have a classic structure, and I don't think he's gonna be able to put on the amount of muscle he needs to be dangerous in the open.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:00

Uh Ian, Gad, what do you think? You don't think he'll ever be able to? Ged Ian.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:05

Give me a say is that Sam is a bodybuilder trapped in a physique in a in the classic physique. He maybe just used classic physique just to get into the IFEB, and they will maybe maybe push on. Because you can see watching the Arnold, the man can't even do mandatory poses.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:22

Yeah, his posing is off too.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:24

Yeah, that's also like, come on, yeah, you've helped they teach you this. There's classes on this, yeah, there's workshops we've seen on this. You can't even do mandatories correctly.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:36

Yeah, especially at that level, you gotta, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:39

Uh I mean, you can see you can see how everybody's looking. You looking at him, you're like, bro, are you even trying? Like he looked, I mean, have at it, you did great. Hey, top eight, pretty good. Your first time doing this. But with the competition, you could definitely see from the first three guys, like you said, John. Everybody else was down because if you look at Sam, I'm like, he looked kind of small out there.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, uh, I I I'm I don't think he's gonna be able to make that that change from an Instagram bodybuilder to that top-tier guy on the on on the on the on the stage. What do you think, Xavier?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:19

Yeah, I mean it's asking a lot. I mean, he's done a fair bit, I think, from like he was an influencer and then he did the amateur show, got his pro card, which I think surprised a lot of people. It wasn't the most hotly contested uh, you know, classic physique amateur show out there to get your pro card, which you know you can only go against who he showed up against. And but I I think he made good improvements. The only thing is, yeah, like the the posing, and maybe he's reluctant to get held on that because he would be able to get all the free posing advice from probably anyone he wanted. Anybody just about oh and one what's the guy?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:58

Uh Kenny Phillips, what's the guy? Kenny uh Kenny Walling. Uh Kenny, yeah, yeah. He could have gone to him. Say here, pose like this.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah. One phone call, anybody would have helped him. I mean, go ahead, continue, Xavier. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:14

Yeah, I I just don't know why. I suppose maybe he he gets so much, he'd be getting all sorts of offers. I mean, IFBB pros, they get offers for free posing, free coaching, and stuff all the time. And he's probably like, I'm getting so many offers, let's just block them all out. I'll do my own thing, and he's probably very comfortable in that. But it's not it's not what's gonna garner the best results. But he should probably okay, after this, go, okay, my posing wasn't good, it was the worst on stage of a classic physique. Pretty clearly, he should go, okay, which posing coach do I like the look of? Go out and say, like, hey, dude, and he's got the money to pay him if he wants to just pay them as well. So I don't see why he doesn't do that. Conditioning was good, but honestly, like if we're being realistic, he did get a gift, you know. He shouldn't have placed against ahead of uh the guy who was behind him. Um, what's his name? Paul Canu, is it? Do you agree?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:03

Yeah, Paul Canu, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:05

Yeah, Kensen, go ahead. Uh structure, physique, posing. Can he make the transition to open? Can he be an elite bodybuilder? Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:16

Yeah, look, you guys are right. I mean, Sam Sulik is the one guy that could probably get Hottie uh Hani Rambotto to retirement, kind of thing, you know. But regardless of where he goes, if he stays in classic or if he goes to open, Sam needs uh two years, two years off just to train and put on size. Go back to what he was doing before, to be completely honest with you, would be just fine. Hit record, drive to the gym, work out, eat a bunch of cereal or whatever the fuck you want to do, put on the muscle, and then come back. He's proven what he can do already, but like you guys said, he's very young, and I I think with two years of growth, that uh we would know at that point whether Sam is destined to stay in classic or go to the open. Perhaps, perhaps. Like I said, he's still very young. So who knows? It might take longer, but regardless, he needs to put on the size, and he can also spend time working with the posing coach within that amount of time as well. So he can improve from many different angles of competitive bodybuilding within that two years while he's trying to put on that size. So it would only be a benefit for him. No, absolutely, you're 100% right.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:30

Look how much better Andrew Jack's posing has gotten. Uh, you know, because he's working with Asito and he's also working with um uh help me out, the 212 guys right come all, you know, and his posing be it you know was is a lot better now than it it has been in the past. Um okay, we're gonna circle back to Martin because Xavier Xavier, was that a new phone call where he cursed you out this morning, or was that yeah, that was a new one, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:04

That's a fresh one. Tell us about that. I suppose like I did that. Well, it wasn't a phone call, it was just a voice message he sent me on WhatsApp. But yeah, as soon as I saw the name pop up, it's like Martin was like ding. I'm like, okay, uh I'm like, I I don't want to open it, I want to see just like hey responds or whatever, and then I just hear ding, and I'm like, and then soon after ding, and I'm just like, oh fuck, here we go. Like, and I I just you knew you were just about to get told off.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:37

Yeah, I went to like I was like, I'm going to the grocery store, I don't really care. And then you know, he told me to block him, which I'm like, that's weird to tell me to block him. And I'm like, okay. Um, but by the time I went to block him, he'd blocked me already.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:51

But you play you played it. I I because I watched this this morning when I was driving it to work. You played it. What do you said? What keep my fucking name out of your mouth? What did he what did he say?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:59

Uh he said, Of course, you would um post something like that about him. And the only thing I posted, so to give context to it, I posted I I've been very, very kind and in my coverage over the years to Martin. I've chosen to leave things out that I might report about someone else, which I don't even like doing because I like to be unbiased and try to be very impartial regardless of like friendships, but I've left stuff out like his arrest, I didn't report on the Andrew Jack situation, that's when he's on my podcast. So naturally, it's gonna be weird if I'm like talking to him on a podcast and be like, Martin Fitzwood has said this about Andrew Jack, and there's a whole story behind the scenes about that as well. Um, so it's like I was still in my video yesterday, I'm still holding back stuff, which is what's something that people don't really realize. So I could go in way harder if I wanted to, um, but I'm choosing not to. So when I got that message from Martin, oh, I don't care, it doesn't I don't lose a wink of sleep over it. Maybe if it was me 10 years ago, I would, but I got that message saying, of course you would report on something like that. You're just like all the F other effing bodybuilding channels, you're just as bad as them, or whatever he said. And then he said, Keep my name out of your effing mouth, Xavier. And I'm just like, dude, after I I've had one one run-in with Martin in the past as well, and after what I found out in that situation, I'm like, really? Like what he needs to take accountability for his own actions, that's the problem. And I I actually feel empathy towards because it's like you got your medicine from what happened. But I think Martin needs a big like slap in the face like this to actually have the potential to make real lasting change because he's gotten grace before after the Nick Walker situation, where he basically said, I can't remember what he said exactly, so I don't I don't want to misquote, but said basically, like you're gonna drop dead or something, or you're gonna be dead before we stay.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:55

Yes, that's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:56

He got grace there, he got grace with the Andrew Jack situation, he made a reputational complete comeback. Um, and then it's just repeated things. And if it was just the on-stage thing, okay, but then it's the backstage thing, and then it's the telling themselves, and then it's telling, you know, it's it's it's just one thing after the other, and he's obviously in a bad headspace, so I'm like, okay, I don't want to pile on too much at this point.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:19

Like, you know, I was like, oh, okay, well, yeah, it's sort of tough because I I I'm always like empathetic towards people, but I suppose if they've fucked you, then you're just like, well, you know, and I want to make a point, and I want to say this, you know, Xavier is the nicest guy in the world. Like, literally, Xavier wouldn't hurt a fly. He is, like he said, um, he literally would not report on things that happened even worse between Martin. I, on the other hand, did report on when he was arrested for the drug charges, and he blocked me immediately after that. He he sent me a message saying you're a fake Nick Trigilli, because this happened a couple of years ago when he was arrested. I went to go message him back and say, I don't do this Instagram by show. Yeah, yeah, I said you can come on my show, but I was blocked by that point. He was on my show before that when he had first started. Um, it was like right after the Andrew and Nick thing, like you said. Um, he owned up to that on my show. I did report on him being arrested as if as if nobody's gonna find out, you know. You were you know, I think the I think the arrest was, I think it was steroids, and it might have might have been fentanyl. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but it might have been fentanyl. Ian, do you remember that?

SPEAKER_03 1:14:41

I don't know if it was fentanyl, but I know it was definitely I I think I think I don't think fentanyl was in part of it, but it could have been. But it's maybe I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:52

But uh yeah, I think there was something else.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:55

Say say that again, Xavier. I think there was something else outside of like something rick recreational.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:01

I don't know if it was yeah, I think so too. I think so too. I don't know how we beat the George, I have no idea because it was in Texas too. So I I don't know the circumstances behind it, but you know, it is what it is. But so the reason why I say Xavier is like the nicest guy in the world and he weren't heard of fly, and he gets along with everybody is you you notice the kind of people that Xavier goes after. Like, I didn't get a fucking phone call, I'm sure Fu I didn't get a phone call, but he goes he'll he'll go after Xavier knowing that he's a nice guy, and maybe he fucking won't report it like he hasn't reported things in the past. That says something about a person's character, you know. You you you you're you're really going after uh you're you're a bully at that point. Do you know what I mean? And Xavier, I don't I hope I'm not offending you. Um it's actually all good things because you are a great human being, and I'm not just saying that I don't have people on my show who I don't think are good people. That's not never gonna happen. If you're a piece of shit, you're never getting invited back. And the three guys I have on have proved to me that they're fucking great people, right? Okay, it is what it is, but to say it to but uh it just seems like Martin is really sitting at the as the bully, the villain, lacking the accountability, and he's suffering, he's suffering the the uh the circumstances from it now, you know, and and everybody has dropped him, and you know, he's he's he's almost like it's not he's not starting over from scratch, he's starting in the red now. He's starting way behind the starting line at this point. If he if he decides that he wants to, you know, try and still be a bodybuilder. Because after this, the world is going to be against him if he just decides to jump into another show or do the Olympia again. Uh all right, one uh Xavier. If you think you could find if you if you could give Martin any advice, what would it be at this point?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:55

Man, well, he's obviously lost his contracts, so that's a financial hit to him, but I think he made probably 75k off this Arnold or something like that for his fourth place finish. So I mean uh he he put out that post saying that like you got what you wanted and stuff like that. I mean, I at this point, I if I was him, I'd be like, look, he's made pretty decent money the last couple of years. Like Fuad said he's paid him 100k, but he was only with Fuad for what was it, 12 months or something or yeah, yeah. So if he's paid him 100k US or whatever in that period of time, plus Martin made some pretty good prize money, placing well at the Olympia. He did that Detroit Pro, uh, where he got what was it, 30 odd thousand dollars, 28 grand. So he's he's made some good bank uh over the last bit. If I was him, I would be like, Okay, I'm not signing with anyone for a little bit, I'm sure he's got some money saved up unless he's blown it or something.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:46

I was gonna say all the time. If he's this irrational emotionally, you know, you don't know how he's gonna be with with money, you know. I'm not saying he's broke, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying it's a big if. But also, guys, not to interrupt.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:01

I I was gonna say not to interrupt, but he's in Texas, it's a no-state tax uh state, so he's gonna make money even more. Yeah, so if he if you're in Texas, Florida, any of those, there's no money that you're gonna get, it goes out, it goes out a much bigger price, much long way than in New York, New Jersey.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:20

Yeah, you're a hundred percent right. Uh what about with prize money? Okay, I'm sorry, Xavier, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:25

Just with prize money, uh it if he makes it in Columbus, is he still he's still taxed in Texas, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:18:32

You know what? I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:34

I don't know if they have they called they call that the entertainment tax. So I know it, I know with football players and anybody who plays pro sports, they have a thing called uh um entertainment tax. So you get taxed for both the state you play in and the state you live in. And don't don't I know that for a fact.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:54

And don't think they don't have a ton of write-offs, you know. I mean, I remember I talked to uh Jason Owens and King Kamali about it, and they they have a ton of write-offs. Because when you when you get a lump sum like that, one lump sum, it's usually in the states, generally speaking, usually getting taxed 48%. So you're coming home with half of that. But if you have a lot of write-offs, it could it could definitely uh definitely help.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:20

So I say sorry against no well the look, these guys probably have these they probably have these checks made out, not to them personally, but to whatever LLC that they have set up in whatever state they so choose, right? So I mean they may be a ways around taxes from that. Yeah, you could you could be in Florida, you could compete in Florida, but I mean whose check being made out to? Well, it's a company in Texas, okay. I don't know how it works in the United States, maybe because it was earned in Florida, it would be taxed at a Florida rate, but I I have no idea. But there's a good chance that right though. You're 100% right. Yeah, there would be an LLC set up, and that's who the check is being caught to, right? That's saying that he did that.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:04

And you know, that's uh if he has good financial advisors, if he has good accountants, that's that's saying that he did that. We don't know if he did that. Kinson's giving body boots too much credit. Yeah, um, it's very it would be very difficult. Yeah, I mean, you might be right. You might be right. I don't know. But you're you're 100% right, yeah. Oh god. All right, this was like a crazy fucking weekend, you know. Um it was just unbelievable. I it'll this'll die down, but it's gonna take probably a solid week till we get to Detroit to see what the hell is going on. So who do who's gonna be in Detroit's all for? So I think is Bonnet doing Detroit? No, no. Blessing blessing is I know.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:53

Um we just spoke about him.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:58

Umfuda is Mofuda, blessing.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:03

No, he I think he pulled no, he just pulled out.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:06

Who did?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:08

Andrew Williams.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:10

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, he did pull out, yeah. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:14

Patrick Moore. Patrick Moore is doing it. Uh Nathan Epler is coming back. Uh Aaron Golly from Canada, Ron Gordon's coming back. Um uh Leandro Perez, he's one to watch out for. Uh, he's uh he's got a really good physique. So yeah, you know, you're watching out for your blessings and your Muhammad photos. Uh you you you want to see what Patrick Moore is gonna do, of course. Leandro Perez is one to watch out for. Um yes, yeah. Patrick Moore's doing it. Yeah, he doesn't look too bad. He doesn't look too bad. He doesn't look too bad. Look, it's like we were talking about John. Proper expectations, okay? Proper expectations. Doesn't look, he doesn't look too bad.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:52

Yeah. Xavier, what's going on?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:54

Brandon Curry, I'm jumping in. Oh, yeah, 100%. Brandon's Jerry should be.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:58

Dylan, everyone's mad at you, okay?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:00

Yeah. Uh I'll tell you what's happening with Dylan. Dylan, um, Dylan, uh, Dylan's been calling uh like people's girlfriends foids, which I didn't even know that meant. And I thought he meant it means like girlfriend, but then I found out it's some like some derogatory term. I mean, I looked online, I'm like, is any way this used in a positive term? And it's like, no. But then I think Dylan has his own way of expressing his uh love for people and affection. Because my girlfriend's very supportive of Dylan and his channel and stuff like that. So I I feel like it's uh, you know, when you like someone, but you're sort of but he he said he meant it in a non-derogatory way, and he's he's been messaging me. So I've got to get back to him.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:40

Yeah, yeah, I gotta insult today. And I actually I he I got an insult today. Somebody called me rice bread, and I and I and I I messaged him back, and I was like, Well, what did you know? I was since I was like sincerely want to know how is what explain how that's an insult. I don't understand because he said he said something like it, because I didn't have Andrew Jack winning, and he said something to the effect of if Andrew Jack, if you don't think Andrew Jack win, just say that you're a Nick, uh uh you just you're you're you're you're a Nick fan uh rice bread. And I'm like, wow, what does that mean? Has anybody ever heard of that? I don't know what that means.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:15

No, I like that one before, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:18

Yeah, but you're definitely a rice bread.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:20

I want to eat some rice bread. I think it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:23

I listen, I know it I know what Italian is an expression. I know in Italian there's an expression, and and and the translation is you're you're a piece of bread, but that makes means that you're soft like bread. So if like you don't have a backbone, people walk all over you. I don't know if rice bread means the same thing. I never, you know, I have no idea. So I actually asked them and I'm still waiting for them to message me back. I'd really like to know.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:46

I looked up rice bread meaning, and it says rice bread is a gluten-free alternative to traditional wheat bread. That's all I get. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:55

Sounds like you can't know no idea. So you know, some of the insults are just really good. Good.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:04

No, I was gonna say when do you think the Detroit list is gonna say when do you think the Detroit list is gonna come out? Probably by Tuesday or something. Is it out? No, it's out now.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:14

Yeah, yeah, it's on my Instagram if you want to check it out.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:16

Oh, let me see. Hold on, let's see.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:18

Yeah, all right, hold on. All right, who had was saying that the chance, uh, what's his name? Mike, uh, who was talking about for Mike Summerfield? Mike Summerfield. Yeah, he's not on the list, though.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:29

Okay, yeah, he's not on the list. Here we go. Uh blessing. Uh Derek Dongner. Jesus Christ, that's a poor name if I ever heard one. Uh Nathan Epler. That's actually okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:43

That's good, man.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:44

Yeah, Mo Fuda, Irene Gawley, Ronald Gordon, Chris Jones, Abu Kinoty. I had no idea. Walter Martin, Elias McCall, Christopher Miller, Patrick Moore, uh Leandro Perez, uh, and Anthony Williams.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:04

All right, good guys in that list that don't have big names. I was gonna say Leandro Perez from Brazil is is really, really good. He's up against Good Vito, got second last year. Yeah, Kent and uh Aaron Gooley. I think he's put I think he said he put on like something crazy, like 20 pounds, and he's shredded and like six ton and really big. There's uh Nate Epler, like he's he's been a top five guy in the 212 in the past, and he always looks way bigger than he is on stage. Uh yeah, there's a bunch of guys, but I'm trying I'm trying to remember the one that you said. Oh and here's a bunch of guys that don't have a big name, but look good.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:38

Well, I like to see the new guys coming up, you know. I like to see the new guys coming up because you can really tell who who really has potential and and who doesn't. So I I I I enjoy seeing the the new guys coming up. So the guys with no names, sometimes you know, you don't know who they are because they might be from another country or they might have just turned pro or whatever, and then they show up on the scene, you're like, damn, who the fuck is that guy? Uh, but Wesley is doing the Detroit in Classic. So there's another victory for him. I don't know who else doesn't look like there's any other major names on here. I'm also not very wins in three weeks. Say that again, Ian.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:15

I said Wesley might have three wins in three weeks because he also is doing the Arnold of the UK.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:20

Yeah, and you know what? I hope he I hope he does. I I I I I've turned into a fan of, I'm not a big classic physique guy, but I've turned into a fan of Wesley because he he's another guy that you know has come from behind several times and really has made him himself into a real top elite classic physique. And he showed hard work, grit, ambition. And there were times where he came in and he was off, but he seems to have found the formula and fixed it. And you know, he never pouted, never complained, never bitched, never moaned. He just was a consummate professional and right back to the drawing board and right back to the gym and fucking did what he had to do to improve. And that's what you want to see from these guys. That's what you want to see from any competitive athlete. You don't want to see a Martin freak out, or you don't want to see a Hottie Chupin deciding he's gonna retire, and then three hours later going, Ah, all right, I I overreacted, I'm I'm not retiring. You know, you don't it is what it is, but uh, one more thing, Xavier. The best part about your your uh video that you did that I watched this morning was showing the interview with Martin and Dave Palumbo. And I brought it up before, I put it up before, and I said, talk about gaslighting. My god, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:33

Well, he's saying everyone, all of us are so sensitive. There's a like a lot of hypocrisy in what he says. Like he says, Oh, they're so sensitive, and he's wanting to get it on ESPN and what like whatnot, and saying that we don't report it right. And then, so I featured in my video all these ESPN reporters going after like athletes way harder than we go after athletes generally, like you know, well, me at least, anyway, and and same as Kensen as well, like with Kensen. And I are I think pretty measured and pretty fair pretty much all the time. And I I've had conversations with Kensen on the phone, and we've talked like Kensen's like, I don't want to buy part of a drama. Like he's I don't want to put that video out or whatever. If it plays on your mind at all, I think, then you have to just be like, nah, I'm not gonna do it. You got other people as well that will just be like hunting drama non-stop and then be like, I'm gonna sensationalize it way, way more now. You've got to do the clickbait and stuff, but there's there's a there's a line there, and I I think with Martin, it's like I think it will die down soon because like he's cops so much hate that it's like it'll simmer down. But yeah, there's a lot of hypocrisy and stuff in what Martin said there, and I'm it's like I said, Xavier, is it is it similar to having an argument with your ex-wife?

SPEAKER_04 1:28:45

Like when they just like it's like the gaslight, it's like you know, they're telling you you're the problem, and you go, What the fuck did I do? Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:55

Oh, dude, I got so much of that gaslighting, it was insane. Like to a point where because I was so surrounded by just because it was you know family life, so I was so busy, I didn't have much outside interaction outside of my bodybuilding stuff. But it was like you start to think you're going mental, and you start like they try to make you think that you're the problem, and as someone like like Kensen as well, like someone who's empathetic, you start to try to see the other person's point of view, you start to go go like that. And I think the reason why sometimes people that like Martin, I don't I don't want to say like my like Martin, like my ex. It sounds like I'm comparing a cancer fraud and someone that's like so awful to Martin, but people sometimes like that that have personality disorders, personality like that, disorders, yeah, whatever you want to say, they will come after people like me to intimidate or to try to turn the narrative or whatever. And I think that's why I got that message from Martin specifically, because I don't think you'd send it to like a Nathan Diash or a Fuard Abbyard uh Dave Plumbo or anything like that, because he knows they're not gonna fuck around. But that's why I think I needed to stand up for myself and say something, and I I couldn't contact him in any means because otherwise I'm glad you're away with that.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:09

I'm glad I'm glad you did it. I I am because you gotta there's gotta come a point where you go, uh, you know, I'm not dealing with this bullshit anymore. If you're gonna fucking if you're gonna act like this, I'm calling you out, and you have that you have a huge public platform, and just again, it just made it even worse. You know, I don't know. Does he have a girlfriend?

SPEAKER_01 1:30:28

His poor girlfriend, dear god, could you imagine what she's going through? Holy shit, she did the Arnold, she got, I think, third place in the wellness.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:35

I'm pretty sure. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_04 1:30:37

Yeah, yeah. Okay, all right, gentlemen, Ian. Thank you so much, friend. I really appreciate you coming on.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:45

Nice time, Ian, too. That's we do Xavier.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:48

Oh, yeah, you guys don't know what you guys. Oh, you guys haven't been on the podcast together. Ian has a great channel. I'm sorry, I know. Really, I'm a real asshole.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:55

He's just a he's just rice bread. That's what he's he's right. Yeah, right. That's what I mean. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:01

Right spread now we know the definition. Yeah. Um, he's got a great channel. Uh uh, Xavier. It's called Ian HEDEC. I'll send you the link. The link, you know, it's yeah, H-E-Y-D-E-C-K-E. Uh, it's just the Ian Hedeck channel, it's a fantastic channel. It does a lot of uh gym footage, going to different gyms, gym coverage, I mean supplement coverage. It's a it's a great channel. Uh Kensen, thank you for for jumping on, man. And I thank you for uh for helping me out. And Xavier, always an honor, always a pleasure, man. I appreciate you guys coming on. Great show. I mean, fantastic. Hell yeah, really smooth without Psychopath on it, isn't it? Yes. Oh, it's psycho lovely Wednesday. Oh god. All right, guys, have a good night, man. All right, later, fellas. Later, guys.