My Olympia Recap aka Thrilla in Vegas.

I'm going to talk about the whole Olympia weekend. Let's start with Mr. Olympia Top 6. This had a controversy written all over it. The Kai vs. Phil battle started in the athletes press conference where (shots were fired, street reference) Kai interrupting Phil during a question he was answering and it escalates from here to the stage. If you haven't seen this, there's video of this battle. Kai brought the best package that the people ever seen to the Olympia. Meanwhile, Phil is known for his conditioning and "3-D" look was off. During the show, Phil was fading and Kai was getting harder with each pose during the prejudging. Now, at the finals, made up some ground but I had Kai winning both prejudging and finals but the Judges gave the victory to now the 4 time champion Phil Heath. Kai may have hurt himself with being so aggressive and partial frustrated with Phil jocking for position that Kai was in Phil's face and the judges were not having that. But at the end, they gave each other a handshake and went about their business. Besides that, a lot of guys came in shape at the Olympia. Shawn Rhoden came with a mission. He was hard, full and put on some quality muscle while keeping his shape. Rhoden can beat Heath. He has better shape than Heath and with a little more size w/o sacrificing his shape, Rhoden has a shot. 4th Place Dennis Wolf came to the Olympia with momentum with winning the Arnold in March, he set himself as a huge favorite to knock off the champ. He looked good but a little flat and when his name was announced at 4th Place, lots of boos were being heard. 5th Place Dexter Jackson was top 5 material again. Despite being in his 40's, he's bringing an awesome package to every show now especially the Olympia. 6th Place Branch Warren shocked most people. Besides the Kai vs. Phil battle, this was the story that many people weren't talking about. I know he shocked many people by his trademark conditioning and Legs looked great. Way to go Branch. To me, the two biggest disappointment were Big Ramy and Roelly Winklaar. I found out that Ramy tore his hamstring 3 wks ago so I understand not being in the best condition. He's young with a ton of muscle just needs to refine and bring in the freaky conditioning and then, he'd be unstoppable. While, Roelly was the biggest shocker last year and this year, he was lackluster. I was expecting him to challenge for the 5th or 6th spot but he just didn't bring it.

Ms. Olympia was a great way for a champion to leave on top and someone will emerge to that spot next year. Iris Kyle left a little crack for someone to jump in her spot at prejudging but at the finals, it was a wrap. She closed the door and announced her retirement and she'll known for the most Olympia victories of all time with 10. 2nd place Alina Popa pushed Iris until Iris shut the door open on. She looked really good and I can her winning next years Ms. Olympia. 3rd through 5th which is Debi Laszewski, Alana Shipp & Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia will be contenders for the vacant Ms. Olympia title.

Women's Physique Showdown was one of the most competitive battles with DLB and Juilana Malacarne. You could've picked either or as the champion but the judges awarded Juilana as the new WPD champion. DLB was a gracious champ and still the ambassador for WPD. Malacarne outsized DLB and I think that's what the judges went for. Finishing the Top 5 is Tycie Coppett in 3rd, Karina Nascimento in 4th and Sabrina Taylor in 5th rounding out the top 5. All of these ladies bring it and I love this division.

Men's Physique Showdown didn't shock on having a new champion but it's who won and where did the former champ placed at that shocked me. This is one of the most competitive division out there. I couldn't judge this event. Many of these guys look awesome. Mark Anthony won this title last title last year and now he's out of the top 5. I've never seen that before in any Olympia. He placed 6th. I had Sadik Hadzovic winning this but he didn't. Jeremy Buendia brings enough and he beat Sadik by 1 pt to become the 2nd Men's Physique Showdown champion. Finish the top 5, 3rd Place Jason Potson, 4th Place Matthew Acton and 5th Place Steve Cook all brought great packages to the Olympia stage.

Fitness Olympia had a new champion and something also happened. Finally, Oksana Grishina wins the Fitness Olympia. I think she'll have this title for a long time. She just puts on a great routine. She gets beat in the physique round but destroys her competition with her routine. 8x Fitness Olympia Adela Garcia wasn't there to defend her title due to many obligations and she too announced her retirement. Regiane Da Silva got 2nd Place. She has a nice physique and put on a nice routine. Tanji Johnson who placed 3rd placed 2nd the physique round but her routine was good but not as good as Oksana. In 4th Place, Bethany Cisternino wins the physique round but loses to 4 of the Top 5 girls in the finals. In 5th Place, Myriam Capes did great and deserves her 5th Place. She was in a tough lineup.

212 Showdown was Flex Lewis vs. The Field. Flex wasn't playing around and took control of the competition. He won with straight 1's. I think this was his last 212 Olympia title. I think he's ready to go to the open class aka the Big Boys. In 2nd Place, Eduardo Correa, the most ripped guy in the lineup comes and gets straight 2's. He brought his trademark paper thin skin conditioning and some crazy looking striations. In 3rd Place, Jose Raymond had a great package with hard, grainy conditioning. He knows he doesn't have the physique like a Flex Lewis but he brings a crazy grainy freaky muscle to the stage and that's what got him into 3rd place. In 4th Place, Hidetada Yamagishi looked good and he had a great posing.routine but top 3 guys were better than him. Round out the top 5 is Baito Abbaspour brought amazing package and hit a vacuum shot (which many people don't do anymore).

Figure Olympia was the Nicole Wilkins show. She won with straight 1's. She brought a package that no.one could touch. What a beautiful physique. In 2nd Place, Candice Keene usually gives Nicole a problem but not this time. In 3rd Place, Candice Lewis brought a great package and she'll have the chance to become an Arnold Classic winner and/or Figure Olympia Champion. In 4th Place, Ann Titone brings a great package and brought her best package to this stage. She brings lots of muscle and good conditioning. The only difference from Ann and 5th Place Latorya Watts separated by 1 point. Latorya brings a hybrid physique with nice looking muscle and little tiny waist. I can see her winning an Arnold or Olympia too.

Bikini Olympia had a lot of competitive girls in this lineup. It's hard to judge the Bikini shows. Ashley Kaltwasser became the repeat champion in Bikini. Ashley brought a great package and was battling with 2nd Place finisher Janet Layug. Janet was giving Ashley a problem but she just couldn't knock out the champion. In 3rd Place, Stacey Alexander looked really good. She brought a package good enough to beat out 4th Place finisher, Yeshaira Robles. Robles beat Ashley Kaltwasser at the NY Pro and I thought she was going to win this but Ashley, Janet and Stacey were better than her this time. Round out the top 5, 5th place finisher Amanda Latona. I like her. She brings a great personality to this group with a great physique. She just beat out 6th Place finisher India Paulino by 1 point.

That's my recap.