by Christian Duque
Former 212 Mr. Olympia Shaun Clarida simply received the 2025 IFBB Professional League Japan Professional. Reigning 212 Mr. Olympia Keone Pearson can also be competing in open. Former 212 Mr. O Derek Lunsford has received 2 open Olympia titles. Former 212 nice Hadi Choopan has received the open Olympia as nicely. Each Choopan and Lunsford have received open Arnold Traditional titles. It’s additionally been lengthy mentioned that if the G.O.A.T. of The 212, The Welsh Dragon, James “Flex” Lewis had ever crossed over, he may have been the primary 212 man to win the open Olympia. The truth is, for years the followers toyed with the concept all around the message boards, Fb Teams, and sub-Reddits. Again then everybody wished Flex Lewis and Phil Heath to battle it out. And most followers couldn’t say which man would emerge victorious proper off the bat. Many different 212 guys have crossed over and accomplished very for themselves as nicely. Guys like Jose Raymond and David Henry are only a couple that come to thoughts.
So if 212 guys can compete with the open guys and never simply place nicely, however win huge titles, then why is there a 212 division? That’s a degree being pushed arduous by legendary bodybuilder Lee Priest. Priest, who positioned as excessive as High 6 within the open Olympia, sees no foundation for the second bodybuilding division and he was in a position to try this throughout an arguably way more aggressive period. I imply let’s not neglect that Priest was competing towards giants that will are available in extraordinarily shredded. Nonetheless, what he gave up in top and weight he made up for with super-dense muscle and wonderful posing. This additional makes his level, however let’s take a look at extra angles.
Many critics take a look at The 212 as having some lodging for smaller bodybuilders. It was thought {that a} man that was underneath 200lbs simply couldn’t stand with among the monsters within the open class. After all, when historians would level to legends like Frank Zane and Lee Labrada, the rebuttal was all the time that the mass monsters of the late 90’s and early 2000’s dwarfed even the massive measurement of men like Lee Haney and Mike Christian. After some time, it appeared like a whole lot of whining, if I’m being completely sincere. That mentioned, earlier than The 212 got here into existence, there was the 202. That was the division dominated by Kevin English. And for that run, sure, lots of the guys have been noticeably smaller than their open counterparts. Nonetheless, it was thrilling as a result of it was a brand new division and on the finish of the day it was nonetheless bodybuilding.
As is all the time the case with bodybuilding, nevertheless, opponents wished to develop extra. Many opponents discovered the 202 weight-cap to be very limiting. For a quick interval, the 202 and The 212 each existed, however finally, the previous gave option to the latter. The added measurement allowed for a brand new crew of champions to emerge and lots of the guys that excelled within the 202 vanished. The 202 actually appeared like a munchkin division and plenty of followers have been left not figuring out what to do with it.
The followers obtained bored; you possibly can solely think about what it should have been like for promoters and complement corporations. The trade didn’t know tips on how to work with these guys as a result of their quantity of followers was all the time in query. What number of followers have been truly shopping for magazines or DVDs for guys that have been primarily midgets with muscle? When you possibly can have your choose of who to observe, whether or not it was a mass big or any individual that hardly weighed 200 lb, who was actually brief, and was competing with different actually brief and light-weight guys, it simply didn’t have the specified impact. A variety of complement corporations didn’t need to work with a much less aggressive division. The 202 and The 212 have been and are much less aggressive divisions. And in lots of circumstances, promoters felt obligated to incorporate them, although it was in all probability not making them any cash. What it was doing was making reveals longer and forcing the followers to sit down by means of it. There was quite a lot of advertising that additionally went into the components. For instance, it’s by no means been the 202 Olympia or The 212 Olympia, it’s The 212 Olympia Showdown. It’s a very completely different contest. It might be a bodybuilding division and it could be a part of the Olympia weekend, however while you win it, you’re not a Mr. O. I do know that the media carried the vibe and the Federation has larger fish to fry that correcting them, however when you win The 212 Olympia Showdown, you’re The 212 Olympia Showdown champion – you aren’t The 212 Mr. Olympia.
Many followers of The 212 wish to deal with it because the Mr. Olympia Beneath 212lbs. Sort of like again within the day when the Olympia was divided by weight courses. That’s not this. The 212 is the open Olympia’s redheaded step-sibling. The status is much much less, as is the prize cash, as is the draw for the followers. And that’s not simply me saying so, it’s sadly change into the norm. Only a few followers lose their minds for the 212 division. This actuality was highlighted by the actual fact the Arnold Traditional not provided the division as soon as the G.O.A.T. Flex Lewis retired. Even with huge champions like Hadi and Derek within the combine, they by no means introduced it again. It’s like girls’s bodybuilding and ladies’s physique. As soon as the ASC scraps a division, that’s it. However is Arnold the dangerous man or he’s the last word businessman? If a division doesn’t pay the payments, then why maintain it?
On the finish of the day, if the Olympia ever removed The 212 that will be it for the division. I imagine in a really possible way the Olympia retains it alive. They’re only a few professional reveals that provide the division as a standalone. That can also be very telling. If it was in reality a very talked-about division they might do one thing like that. They might supply an novice competitors plus a 212 professional present, however there’s only a few reveals that will ever do this as a result of there’s simply not the quantity of fan curiosity to justify placing it on as a lone skilled contest.
Moreover only a few folks even know what The 212 rankings are. I’m not even certain if there are 212 rankings. And there are solely a handful of 212 guys who command famous person standing. An analogous case might be made for open bodybuilding, however with The 212 it’s simply extra obvious. I might say that regardless of there being a whole lot, if not 1000’s, of open professional bodybuilders worldwide, I’d say that there are round 50-75 well-known bodybuilders who most severe followers may level out. On the subject of The 212, I’d say there’s perhaps 15-20 opponents who most educated followers may select. Of these 15-20, solely about 5-10 are what I’d think about first-callout materials. If you wish to slender it down additional, I’d say there’s perhaps 3-5 212 guys who may conceivably win The 212 Olympia Showdown. That makes for an in any other case boring fan expertise.
What’s additionally creating a whole lot of doubt within the division is that a whole lot of prime 212 guys are attempting their hand at open. And why shouldn’t they? There’s extra money, extra followers, and extra alternatives that change into out there to them that will not be available in the event that they stayed within the weaker bodybuilding offshoot. And The 212 has positively change into a weaker crop than open bodybuilding. For this reason when Derek received his 212 Olympia and didn’t trouble defending it. He wished to develop, get large, and win a Sandow. Whenever you win The 212 Olympia Showdown you don’t get a Sandow and also you’re actually not a Mr. Olympia. It’s mainly a second class bodybuilding division.
It has change into very troublesome to maintain 212 champions within the division as a result of the really nice ones need to compete within the open. With that being the case and with them doing so nicely with the larger guys, we return to Lee Priest’s authentic level of why does the division even exist? It’s a very good division and it has the potential to carry its personal in sure contests, however there are such a lot of issues working towards it that it virtually doesn’t make sense to maintain having it anymore.
I’ve to be sincere in that this isn’t a place that I’ve held for a very long time, however somewhat a place that I’m beginning to come round to as a result of I actually don’t see the profit anymore. When guys like Derek, Hadi, Shaun – I imply even Shaun who’s on the smaller finish of The 212 – can win open reveals like Reno and Japan, why do we have to have a 212 in any respect? If the lightest man in The 212 can win open titles, then it actually doesn’t make any sense. However on the similar time it has change into a part of physique-based sports activities. It’s been round for fairly a very long time so to eliminate it could even be considerably drastic for my part. I feel all of it comes right down to the Olympia. If the Olympia retains it on its roster then the division will survive, but when Olympia removes it, I don’t see it occurring past that. As a result of then it could be the Olympia and the Arnold chopping it. What can be left at that time? The New York Professional, Tampa, perhaps another smaller reveals? I don’t assume the division would survive. I don’t assume it’s actually surviving proper now both – I feel it’s being allowed to outlive. I feel proper now it could be extra of a ache within the ass to eliminate it than it’s to maintain it alive on a subsistence stage.
In conclusion, so far as I’m involved, I agree with Lee Priest. I don’t see the necessity for The 212. That’s not a place I held as just lately as a 12 months in the past but it surely’s a place that’s rising on me increasingly. As all the time, I like to depart the ultimate phrase to you, the loyal readers of IronMag. So what say you? I look ahead to studying your suggestions within the feedback. Please you should definitely copy and paste a hyperlink to this text on all of your social media feeds. It’s sure to generate energetic dialog.
