Muscle Talk feat. Special Guest Ron Harris! Will Nick Walker do the Olympia this year?

Ron Harris joins John Livia to catch up on all the latest in professional bodybuilding and who may or may not compete at the Olympia this year, including Nick Walker.

#ifbb #bodybuilding #mrolympia

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

All right, seriously, bodybuilding. Got a great guest, friend, and also a podcaster, bodybuilding podcaster, Ron Harris. What's up, dude?

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hey, John. What's up, man?

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Ah, not much. It's uh I think the last time I was on your show, actually. Yeah, yeah, a couple months ago. It was me, you, and I forgot who the other gentleman's name was that was with uh with us. Big Mike Cox, maybe? Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a fun, that was a fun uh episode. But I'm glad you're on because um as much as I love Lee Priest, I could barely get through a fucking episode without uh us veering off into something else besides bodybuilding. So um uh I'm glad you're on because I could get to sit down to some nitty-gritty, and I wrote down some stuff that I really wanted uh wanted to ask you about uh 2026 bodybuilding. Okay. So the first thing I wanted to ask you is like um it seems like and and correct me if I'm wrong, it seems like a lot of these bodybuilders that are major names, Regan Grimes, Jordan Hutchinson, Joe Palacios, I mean even Nick Walker, uh, there were there were a lot of missed opportunities for to to to qualify for the Olympia. But you had the Troy, you had FIBO in Germany, and it seems the same thing. I mean, you got France coming up, I mean you have Sas, and then you have uh you have um uh Jesus Soss is doing it, and Bonac. Bonack, right? So those are the two big names, but um, it seems to be that there's there's a lot of missed opportunities for guys that aren't qualified that should be on that Olympia stage, and I and I threw some names out already. Yeah, what do you I I asked the same question to uh Kim Williams, and he had a really great answer, but it was more from an athletic standpoint. But uh I'm coming from a fan's perspective and the idea that you want to be qualified for the Olympia. What's your perspective on it? And am I accurate? I might not be accurate.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Uh well, yeah, it's like I know Jordan's doing a I think he's doing Texas again.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Yeah, Texas is starting out looking to be stacked, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

I mean the longer they wait, you know, the closer the Olympia you get, you're gonna have more and more guys piling into these shows trying to get qualified. So some people won't qualify this year because the open class, we don't have that point system anymore. We're gonna there's gonna be some names missing from the Olympic stage. Nick Walker, I really thought he was gonna do New York Pro, and that would have been his fourth New York pro win, right? But the fact that he didn't do it when he would have easily won that show, no offense to anybody. Absolutely, he would have won that show. Um, it it kind of like makes me think he's not doing the Olympia this year, and he's been quiet about that. Yeah, I wonder if he is skipping the Olympics. You know, people have their reasons, like if he's not doing the Olympia, why does he feel like he's just got no chance of winning? Does he he? I know the start the answer he gave was that he's been in prep for so long, and I get that too, but he's still super lean anyway.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah, yeah, it doesn't take him much to get in shape, yeah. So yeah, there are all rumors floating around that he's gonna do Texas, but nothing's confirmed yet.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Why would he do that? Why would he do that?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

I don't I don't know. I don't know. But you got like you guys get like you got Jordan, you got guys like Regan Grimes, you have guys like Joe. Joe is gonna be a phenomenal bodybuilder. I mean, Joe, Joe had everybody shook last year. Um, and though these are some of the names, and then here's the funny part then you have guys that are doing multiple shows and have qualified, you know, two or three times over, like Atonio and and Soss.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

So I don't the the answer Arkeem Williams gave me is he came at it from a more athlete strategic point of view, and he said you're better off doing a bigger show like uh like a New York pro or like a Pittsburgh or like a Arnold because you get noticed by the judges better at a bigger show. And he said if you do well and then qualify and you go to the Olympia, those judges usually have you fresh in their mind because you did break the top four or the top five or the top six in a larger in a larger show. That was his and I I I understand I understand where he's coming from because he's an older bodybuilder now, so he's trying to be strategic, and and I get it, you know. He is on the downside of his career. I mean, he's had a you know, hall of fame career, don't get me wrong. Um, but it just seems like there's a lot of missed opportunities. And these guys could have like even um uh the guy from Brazil, uh Brandau, he could have done the Arnold Brazil, he would have won.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

He would have won that. Well, yeah, the way he looked at the last show. That he was he was kind of a mess at the Arnold, right? But he did he did get it together a little bit better for was it uh Pittsburgh he was in, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Um he was in a New York Pro and then he was with Pittsburgh, and he looked better at each show.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Yeah, yeah. I was puzzled as to why he didn't do that too. That the thing you just relayed to me that our team said uh it maybe it is true, but I think it's ridiculous that the judges shouldn't have you shouldn't have to worry if the judges remember you or you're fresh in their mind. You're on the Olympia stage or whatever. There's 20 guys, 25 max. They should be able to pick out, okay, this guy looks great, this guy doesn't look great. Nothing else should matter, whether whether you competed this, whether you did one show or three shows or a big show or a small show, nothing should matter. Like I've heard people, I've heard people say, Well, the judges they didn't see any improvements from the last show, uh, and they don't like that. They want to see no, not nothing should matter except how you look on the day of that show on that stage against whoever you're standing next to. And everything else to me is noise, right? So I I kind of feel bad for Akeem and any other athletes that have their that anxiety, like, uh-oh, I better do a big show. So the judges are. I've even heard of guys like strategically doing certain shows because they know certain judge is going to be the head judge, and they think that judge favors whatever they have, whether it's condition more or mass or or shape. So they they try to find the sh the shows where the head judge will be someone who likes their type of physique, which again is is silly because his head judge doesn't even have a vote.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Ah, that's right. I did not even did not realize that. That's right, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

They do manage the call outs, so it's not like they're not doing anything, but I mean they they don't have a they don't have any impact on the score.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Is there any communication between the judges, including the the head judge at the table?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

I mean, you see them talking to each other, who knows what they're saying, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Right, right, right. Yeah, no, you're right, you're right, you're absolutely right. And then you have guys like Otonio or Assas that are qualified and continue to compete. So do you think that I mean you could pretty much do whatever you want? Uh let me back up. Let me back up. Do you think that these guys want to do the bigger shows because the prize money is more? Yeah, I think that's what it really comes down to. I think they want to get in, even if they come in second and third place, they're still making more money than they would at a at a small show, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:29

I mean, look at the Arnold. It was $750 for first. Was was second place $250?

SPEAKER_01 7:34

I believe so, yeah. I mean, and then $100 for third, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

So most of these shows it correct, uh, you correct me if I'm wrong. I did they raise the minimum to $15,000? First prize for all the open bodybuilding.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

I'm not 100% sure. I do know the New York Pro is up at 30,000.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Yeah, they can do they can go as high as they want, but there's there's always there's been a minimum minimum, and it was always 10. And I don't know if they bumped it up to 15.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

You know what? I'm not sure. You might you might be right. You might be right.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

It was 10 for like 30 years.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right, that's right. Yeah, absolutely. But a lot of the you know, uh, so yeah, I think it definitely comes down to the money aspect. I think there's some truth to Akeem. I think Akeem, especially, because like I said, he's kind of at the end of his career, so he's very strategic in where he's placing and where he's competing and so on and so forth. Now you have guys, like I said, Sas and Tonyo. Do you think that I mean you could do what you want, but is it fair to say that they are blocking another person from qualifying for the Olympia if they are already qualified and they go on to win a second or third show? Because Sas may very well win this weekend and he qualified three times.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

I think Bon Eckle beat him, but yeah, personally. No, I mean that's that's an argument we've been having when these guys they're already qualified, they already won. But you know what? This is this is their it's a short window these guys have. It's very rare that somebody has like a 20 plus year career like Dexter. Right. Most of these guys, if you follow bodybuilding, you know it's the an average pro career isn't much longer than an NFL pro career.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

That's right, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Yeah, it's a few years if you're if you're lucky, nothing happens. And most of them either quit, they give up because they're not making any money, or they get injured or health problem, whatever the case may be. Uh, this is their you know, some of them this is all they do, they don't do anything else. Maybe they coach or something, but why not keep winning? So the whole argument about oh, you just took a spot away from someone who's at the Olympia, now they can't go to the Olympia. Well, you couldn't beat if you can't beat this guy at that show, you weren't gonna beat him at the Olympia anyway. So you're gonna be one of those 10 guys that places out of the top 15 and it just says 16th on the scorecard for you. I guess if that, you know, of course, me and you, we'd love to say, yeah, I was on the Olympia stage, I competed, but right to these guys, they're at a higher level to just say I was in the Olympia. I didn't, I was in the very last call out, and judges barely even glanced at me.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Right, right, right. When you're doing, yeah, no, 100%. If you when you get to your first Olympia, like uh Dorian Haywood did the Olympia last year, and Arkeem uh saw him doing push-ups before the uh before the finals, and Arkeem was like, What are you doing, man? The show's over, and he's like, Yeah, but you've been here a million times. This is my first and only one, you know. May he said this is my first and maybe my only one. You know, so yeah, it's definitely a different, a different mindset.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

I mean, getting back to that is you see guys who qualify for Olympia and they skip it, they don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, we've seen that in the past.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

That to me is is a bad move because you never know what's going to happen in life. You never know if that might have been your only chance to ever get on the Olympia stage.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Yeah, we actually saw that when back in the off season. I don't want to prep, you know, the reasons they don't often have like a really compelling reason, like an emergency situation, right? They don't feel like they're ready yet, which I get maybe they don't want to go to the Olympia and be that guy who's in the third call out, fourth call-out. But again, what if that was your only chance? What if something happens to you a month later and you're never gonna be competing again, much less? So I would you know, if if I were to qualify for the Olympia, unless there was some emergency or health problem or something, I would do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's funny that you said that is Jason Owens, uh, his last Olympia, his wife was giving birth like in in labor while he was on the Olympia stage, you know. So yeah, it's uh it's the same thing kind of thing, but um it also comes down to sponsors. There are, you know, you know, second, third tier bodybuilders, for lack of a better term, that don't have these big money sponsors, and they have to shell out a lot of money. I have a friend who's a pro bodybuilder that works two jobs and he did the Legion a couple of years back, and I'm not gonna mention names because he doesn't want his wife to find out, but he had told me that he spent like I think it was $12,000 for everything to get ready to be on that stage. And the the bigger guys, you know, yeah, their sponsors will pay for for everything, but these smaller guys, you know, it might be a chunk of change that they can't afford to spend at that point. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 12:15

I think it's kind of I hate to use the word pathetic, but it is kind of pathetic that this is a sport where the athletes have to spend all their own money, a lot of them do. Some of them do have sponsors, but that's not the majority, right? So, like I remember hearing last year because the Masters Olympia was in Tokyo. That's right, yes. Very few people had sponsors covering their trip, so they were they were putting out a lot of money to go to freaking Tokyo for they basically had to be there for almost a week to do everything that they had to do. That's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah, and then not to mention the uh promoter didn't pay anybody right away.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

That's true, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

It took months, like I think Dorian finally got his money like like four months later or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

I don't, you know, we could there's a lot of pro professional sports, but you're more familiar with the mainstream major league baseball, right? These are these are sports where nobody would ever pay to play, they're being paid big, big money. Even the guy who sits on the bench and never actually gets on the court in a basketball game, he's getting paid uh a good chunk of money in a contract. There's an in there's a minimum salary for the league. Yeah, so none of them are not making money. They're all if they're professional athlete in those sports, they're all making money. But bodybuilding, there's a lot of bodybuilders who they just lose money. They're like you said, that guy just he dropped 12 grand. Yeah, did he make any money?

SPEAKER_01 13:36

No, he came in ninth, I believe.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Uh, had he won, uh, I don't even know what the first if it was 15 grand, he would have barely have broken even. He would have broken a couple, but if it was 10 grand, he would still be out a couple couple grand.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yeah, Phil was uh Phil Clahar was another guy, you know, it's all coming out of his pocket. And if he doesn't come in first place, it's a loss for him. You know, we we talked about that, you know, a couple of years ago or last year, whenever it was. But um, yeah, has there ever been any kind of discussion between you know, uh, guys, uh the man in the manions, uh, Weinberger, um, Chicarello, about uh about if that will ever be addressed or if they could even afford to do it, because you know, the IFBB is not the MLB, and it's not certainly not the NFL, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:20

They don't have that kind of money, and they are making good money, there's no doubt. There's no absolute because I mean they're making uh a ton of money off the amateur shows, off like the national shows.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

That's their that's their cash cow, is the the amateur shows. The N the NPC IFBB is like if you talk to promoters, pro promoters who just put on pro shows typically don't make a lot of money. They that's why they tack on an NPC show that sort of supports the pro show. Uh the pro show, you gotta pay out you gotta pay out these guys prize money, you have to pay a lot of money to uh IFBB pro league for the sanction fees for every division, open being the most expensive, and that goes down. That's why we see so many uh bikini and men's physique shows like tacked on. There's a ton of shows every weekend. There's a pro show, yeah. Every weekend, sometimes some weekends there's like five, five, six, seven pro shows, but it'll be like bikini and men's physique, uh, maybe classic swim, because those are less expensive sanctioned fees the promoter has to come up with, right? Um, but yeah, I mean I don't know the finances and all that, but I can't ever see a day when the athletes would have like a base salary, and that's never gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yeah, it is, it is. Yeah, no, I agree. I think, like you said, they're making money, but they're not not making MLB money, NFL money, where everybody could get a base salary. That would be really, really and and and I don't care what anybody says, it is my opinion that bodybuilding is never gonna go mainstream, it's just it's just not, it's just you know think I mean World Cup's coming on, coming up.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Is this happening now? How many people in the world watch the World Cup? It's like a billion or two billion, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Okay, they say, well, bodybuilding would be more popular if we no, it wouldn't. No, yeah, no, no, you're not gonna get people to watch. I've been years ago in like a uh a sports bar when bodybuilding used to be on like ESPN or ESPN too. And if they were flipping channels and they put bodybuilding on by accident, people would go, hey, change, get that shit off. They really they did not want to watch it, they were not having it.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

No, uh a hundred percent. It's just uh it's a niche sport. Uh it's kind of gotta be in your blood, you know. You you kind of you kind of have to have bite the you know, bite the uh addiction early on in life, like me and you, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:29

I say this all the time. It's the only sport where most of the fans are like low-level participants, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Yeah, that's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

How many of these people watching World Cup? Are they playing soccer every day? Are they practicing? Yeah, all their soccer. No, of course not.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

No, you're 100% right because I it's the only sport where people like if if okay, so if you are in a hockey league, a men's hockey league, if you're in a softball league, if you're in a men's football league, and you just kind of do it on the weekends, you're on a beer league or whatever, they all know the major players in hockey and baseball and so on and so forth. You go to the average guy that goes to the gym and works out, they have no fucking idea who Mr. Olympia is, they have no clue, they have no idea. And and even the young kids, they might know the social media influences, but they don't, you know. I showed a picture to a young kid. Uh, I think it was during the Arnold. I showed a picture to uh to him of Nick Walker when he was on stage at the Arnold this year, and he and he goes, That's photoshopped. I was like, No, that's not. No, that's him. No, he's a gorilla. That's him, that's what he looks like, you know.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

The trend twins, and he knew Sam Suleck, didn't he?

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah, right, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's it's the it's the way Sam. All right, I'm I'm gonna get off on a tangent. Sam Sulik baffles me. He he baffles me. See, I understand the Trend twins, right? I even understand Larry Wheels. The Trend twins are these like unapologetic, masculine two brothers that beat the shit out of each other, want to lift weights, chase girls, you know, drive fast cars. I get the attraction. I even get the attraction of Larry Wheels, right? You know, squatting 900 pounds and all this craziness. The Sam Sulik attraction baffles me. He is the most boring, uh nothing motivational. I mean, he I I don't he, you know, he looks like a slob when he, you know, with the long hair and the hat. And it's just not I don't get the attraction of his. And then he does turn pro and kudos to him. He turns pro, gets on a pro stage, and you know, I know he's still a young guy, but he's he has not had a good uh a good career as uh a pro physique guy as of yet. Um, but that that dynamic baffles me. I don't understand that at all.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

I mean, I I I don't understand it, like I don't find it interesting, but I had to see what it was all about. So I started watching some of his videos, and they're all it's almost the same formula for all of them.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

In the car talking on the way to the gym. Then he's at the gym, he does some heavy lifting, takes his shirt off at the end, hits some poses, gets back in the car, and he talks some more. So it's a very there are differences. He's got eating videos and stuff, but yeah, that's the formula for most of the videos that I was seeing over and over again. And I think people like that soft spoken that you could call it boring, but I think they see he's like not, they see him as relatable, like he's not arrogant, he's not someone who might beat them up like the trend twins or something. He seems like a nice, cool guy who's just humble and down to earth, and he's intelligent, he's well spoken, uh, super strong. For a regular person, it's an incredible physique, right? I you and I I know he's never gonna be top five Olympia guy at the class physical that's right genetics, he doesn't have the right shape and structure, it's just not I agree, I agree. Well, he's young. I say it doesn't matter, you know, your bones don't change, you don't your clavicles and no, that's that's it, that's what you got. But uh no, I I I was I was skeptical too. I just didn't get it, and I'm still I'm not like a fan in that sense that I don't want to watch his videos, but I do get it. Like I've talked to a lot of young guys who look up to him, and I I hear the I that's what I get from them is he just seems relatable, he seems like a a cool guy, where trend twins they're like outrageous, they're almost like doesn't mean they're screaming and slamming weights, and you know, they're they're not very bright.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Yeah, well, those are the guys if I was those are the guys I would want to hang out with, right? I mean, I mean, maybe maybe it's our generation, but I certainly want to want to hang out with Sam Zool. Like it was Samuel.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

No, it doesn't it didn't seem like he'd be a a barrel of laughs, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

I'd rather hang out with the Trend twins and go fucking, you know, if I was his age, even my age, I might try to keep up, but I'll end up in the hospital. But you know, it is what it is. Um, all right, next topic. Yeah, I'm so glad that you uh you know you're on because you were really I'm really cleaning up all stuff that I've been trying to get to for the last two weeks. Um they a lot of rumors were floating around uh can Tonyo break the top six at the Olympia? I'm a huge Tonyo fan. I think the kid, I think the guy is phenomenal. But then you have to you have to kind of throw into that equation, well, can Crizo break the top six? Because he did beat him. You know, even though it was questionable and people were going back and forth, he did he did beat him. Why the fanfare for Tonyo and not Chriso?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Um I've seen a ton fanfare for Crizzo. I mean, maybe it's me then I've been kind of critical of him because I I I like the guy's physique for the most part. He's massive. I I the arms, the legs, uh the shoulders, the detail and striations. Uh I'm just not I'm not a fan of that blocky torso. It's a block, it's not a V.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Uh you know, obliques spilling out over the tops of his trunks. He's got real thick obliques. Yes, I don't know what he's gonna do about that. So yeah. I mean, I could I wanted Tony to win. I I could have given Tonio Pittsburgh too, but I get it. I get it why they did that. So the fact that one beats one one weekend and the other beats him the next weekend goes to show you that either one of them could potentially beat the other one at the Olympia.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Not like Tonyo's way better than him or Chris O's way better, better than Tonyo. Once you get to that top six, so it's crowded. It's crowded. So unless if Nick is out of the Olympia this year, uh that opens up a spot. Martin, I thought, might skip it, but he's not. He said he's doing it. So if unless Martin completely fucks up, which I doubt he will again, he's already fucked, he'll he already fucked up at the Arnold.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

And then and then the Arnold and then the Arnold UK.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

So I don't think that's gonna happen again. So in no particular order, you already have Derek, Derek, Hottie, Andrew, Sampson, Martin. There's five. Uh that's your top, that's probably your top five.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

And if Nick decides for whatever reason, jump in, there's six.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

Nick would have to really screw up really badly to, and I don't think that's gonna happen because he he looked pretty bad at the last Olympia. I thought he did anyway, compared to what I've seen in the middle of the day.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

No, yeah, he did.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

He came in really flat. Six guys right there. Yeah. So there's there's your top six. So yeah, one of those guys is either gonna have to not show up or be off.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

And don't don't forget Brandon Curry. He could very well break right. That's right. Don't forget him. He's dropped a little bit, but he could come back. He could he could I mean he he dropped a little bit, but he only he he only prepped for three weeks to do Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yeah, do you know that you know? He wasn't supposed to do that show.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

No, he wasn't, no.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

He was he got the call.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Right. Yeah, and he was like, ah, fuck it, I'll do it, you know. But uh and my look, uh I I like when the young guys are coming up, love it. I'm still, and I want your opinion. It is my opinion that Tonyo still to break into that top five at the Olympia, he still has to put on a little bit more lean muscle.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

I agree, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

How much go ahead? Well, he's supposedly he's eight or ten pounds up from last year, yeah. Uh, and I've seen him before enough. He's definitely bigger. I notice the difference, but he's not where he needs to be yet to be standing next to. If you're gonna be a top six Olympia guy, you've got to be in that call out with Samson and Andrew and Hottie and Derek and hold your own.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Those guys are freaks, man. They really are.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

They're a little bit, they're just on a different level than you got your top five guys, then you got your sixth through tenth guys, and then it starts. You get there's levels to the Olympia. Yeah, you have your first call-out guys, your second call-out, third, fourth call-out guys, uh, you know, the very last call outs, these guys that got really lucky and won a show that didn't have a very strong lineup, but they won a show, so they got their ticket to the Olympia, right? Um, Tonyo's a level, he's not on that low level. He's he's almost at that upper echelon, but he's not quite there yet. I agree with you a little more, a little more size, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Because he's gonna have to stand next to you know, Derek and Hottie at five foot five, five foot six, they look just massive and they still have good shape and tremendous conditioning. Um, and Samson is just I mean, his last even when you watch it on Instagram, his last guest posing, you're like, what the fuck? That's insane. 350 pounds. I don't think he's six foot tall. I think he's like 5'11 or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

I remember about his height all the time. The thing I I did a video the other day because I'm I'm wondering. So he won the Olympia back in 2024, right? He was right around 300, it was like 300, 303, something like that, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Um, this last Olympia, he came in at 280.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Yeah, really too came down too hard, too much knockdown.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

So, my question is how much muscle mass? This is a 40, 40-year-old man we're talking about, who's already been a pro for a few years, he's already been on gear for years, right? How much actual of that when he got to 350, how much of that was new muscle tissue, how much is just like water retention, fluid? Because there's no way what there's no way he's gonna be any more than like 310, 315 max. That would be that would be incredible to see.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yeah, with the same conditioning as 2024, because I don't think he's ever, everybody's like, oh, if he gets Ronnie Coleman conditioning, that's I don't think that's ever gonna happen. Uh I don't think that's I think I think we've seen as good of conditioning that he's gonna have.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

You know, look look what happened. He tried to get that conditioning last year on it, just got smaller.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Some guys can, even Derek. Derek really can't. If he comes down too hard, he loses his legs. You know, Asido is a master at knowing exactly where you have to be. Like he, you know, what he's done with Andrew and what he's done with Derek is just phenomenal. I mean, it's just absolutely phenomenal. I was one of those guys that was saying Andrew needs to take uh, you know, a six, eight months off, you know, a year off, put some extra muscle on. But Asido and Andrew were able to, uh, and let's not, you know, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna cancel out um Algarney either. I mean, he was actually a big help, you know, even though they they had a falling out, but he was a huge help. That combination was able to continue to compete, come in better conditioning, and still add some muscle, which made him look amazing at the Arnold uh this year. And if he comes in like that this year, that's gonna be some some fucking show, man. It really is. And I do hope I do hope Nick competes in and qualifies it because I'm I'm a huge Nick fan.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

So if you're a bodybuilding fan, you want all the best guys up there, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

At their best.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

So, my here's and I want you to, I want your opinion too. Um, because uh yeah, I I told you from the beginning from when we you first came on on my old channel, how much I respected your your opinion and how much I would listen to you before I started my podcast. Um where was I going with this? I have a fucking Jesus Christ, I just had a brain fart. Holy shit. Um right, okay. My two favorite bodybuilders are Samson and Nick because I'm just a fan of the freaks. That's just me. I I'm a I'm a 90s guy, you know. I'm just a fan of the freaks, you know, Ronnie uh Gunter, uh Marcus Rule. I was always a fan of the freaks. So those are my two favorites, yeah. But the guys that I find myself cheering for a lot too are the guys that don't quit, and they just keep on going, even though you know they didn't win or they didn't break top five. And I've become, I wasn't a huge fan of um Blessing, but I've become a fan of his this year because he just doesn't seem to quit, and he's getting better with every show. Yeah, and I believe he's competing again. I'm not sure what show he's doing, but I'm pretty sure he's I know I don't think he's doing no, he's not doing this this year, this uh France, but he might be doing another one soon. I'm I'm pretty sure he is. Um, do you have the same opinion? The guys that have no quit Sas is another guy. Sass last year just was not quitting, he was getting that qualification no matter what, and he came in second or third several times before he finally won. Came a little easier this year for him, which was well deserved. But how do you base your uh likability or your fan, your fanship to the bodybuilder?

SPEAKER_00 29:31

I always respect guys that uh keep going and going. It's like last year, Sass was a great example. He did he took second place three shows in a row, yeah. Then he won two, and then he went to Olympia, so six shows in one year. Uh quint quint Beastwood, Quinton Area last year.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Oh, it's another guy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Um, because it was like it this is this is going on for months and months that they're staying on prep.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

That's brutal.

unknown 29:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

And especially he was another one who got second place a few shows.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

And that's that's gotta be the toughest thing. I mean, as an amateur, I hated second place to me was like, because you're so close, you it's you and that one guy standing, you're like, Don't call my name.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been there, I've been there.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

These guys are at a such higher level, they they're missing out on the first prize, they're missing out on the Olympic qualification. Yeah, it's a much bigger deal for them to take seconds. So for them to keep going and going. And Quent and Sass, they were both flying all over the world. Yeah, I mean, that's when when there's no quint in somebody, you gotta respect that.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Absolutely, yeah. That's and uh Quinton's doing Toronto, and I haven't seen any pay to me. His weak spot was when he turned around, especially his rear double by. Um, and that's like and the guys that he was going up against had like great rear double buys, like uh Joe Palacios, and I forgot who else who else he went up against, but um speed him at one show. Uh I forgot who else he went, but he would do last year he would turn around and do a real double buy, and it was like it just everything disappeared. So I'm hoping that he's I've of course I follow him on Instagram and he's put up a lot of progress because you could see he's put size on clearly. Um, but I'm hoping that his back is much better because if his back comes up, he's another guy that's fucking gonna be difficult for everybody. Yeah, there's a lot of good talent in the open division in this era, and I don't think this era gets enough credit yet, but there's a lot of good guys, a lot of good talented guys in the last, you know, three to four years, all the way up to now, where um I think in years to come they'll get their just due. But uh there really are some great bodybuilders and young guys coming up, and it just seems like I think it's the social media thing where it seems like these guys really continue to, you know, harp on the nonsense, and they would rather, you know, the the the fans from Instagram and social media, they would they would rather talk shit than actually say, wow, these guys are really, really talented, because they really are. I mean, I would put I would put this line up against, you know, obviously the 90s were the greatest, you know, late 90s to early 2000s, but I would put this line up up against the J. Colour era any day.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

There's some there's some guys that are out there now that would have done great in the 90s, they they would have placed very well too. Yeah, there's some guys that would not, um we got some guys with you know structure and shape, or those are the two things I always look at because those are the two things you can't change. Your bone structure is what it is, your shape, your muscle shape, it is what it is. They can get bigger, they can get leaner, but those two things are immutable. Um, but yeah, we do have some great talent. I I I'm trying to be better about not being one of those older guys who says, Oh, the 90s, these these guys suck. The 90s were way better. Yeah, everything changes, everything grows.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Yeah, and if you go back, I mean, like the guys weren't they just weren't as big. You had your freaks, don't get me wrong. But back then, if you were over 300, that was like a milestone. That was like when you heard Dorian was over 300, you were like, Wow, Jesus, three. When you heard Ronnie Como was over 300, that would be like amazing. Now they're almost all over 300, you know, or close to it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

So, do you know who John Perlow is?

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Sounds familiar, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

So he was like, he owns a supplement company, he was a coach, and he was NPC chairman of Ohio. Uh, very, very, very smart guy. In the late 80s, he was predicting that we would see 300-pound bodybuilders as a normal thing. There will be tons of them. Like he said, someday they're even gonna be on stage at 300. Everybody laughed at John. So that's ridiculous. Humans can't get, there's no way all the drugs, it doesn't matter. Humans can't get that big, and here we are, 300 pounds, like you said. That used to be like, oh my god, 300. Do we got guys like five, six, five, seven now, 300 pounds?

SPEAKER_01 33:51

No, it's correct, it's ridiculous. I had Joe Palacios on last month or the six weeks ago, and he was when he was over 300 pounds, he's dieting down now, but it was when he was in full off season, 300 pounds. All you heard him was breathing. Yeah, he is an absolute freak of nature monster, you know. And somebody's got even Regan, Regan got over 300 pounds, right? But um, it's it's getting to the point where all right, there's 300, and then there's 320, 340, 30. It's getting to that point, you know, and it's like, Jesus Christ, man. I mean, are you you're like what for is 400 next?

SPEAKER_00 34:30

Holy shit. I mean, we had two. I remember when Samson was 350, we had that rushing guy, Sergey Donald. Yes, he was three, yeah. So 350s, it's not normal yet, but I I think we're headed toward that direction. Once we have guys who are 5'11, six foot in that height range. I think we'll start to see more and more of them pushing 350. Yeah, 400. I don't know, I don't know. I don't want to say never say I don't want to say it can't happen.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Yeah, yeah. And and again, uh, he's another guy, Sergey. Did he uh did he qualify? Um he win a show last year.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

I think yeah, so his show was I think a 26 Olympic qualifier. He won, or was it, or did he win this one that's in France?

SPEAKER_01 35:11

But I I want to say it was after the Olympic, or it was I think it was after the Olympia, and then you have this kid Joan uh Prudell's. Yeah, yeah. He's another great bodybuilder. Again, like we're going back to the same topic. You have all these great talented bodybuilders that you know, like like a Joan, like, did you miss your mark yet? Did you, you know, if you're gonna wait till if you're gonna wait till Dubai, or if you're gonna wait till Texas, or you're gonna wait till Tampa, uh, you know, and it's not there's not gonna be enough spots for everybody. It is what it is.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

If you look at the calendar, there's a there's all these shows in Europe, like geez, this month, June alone. We have so France is this weekend, yeah, there's Toronto, there's a show in Spain, there's one in Italy, there's another one in Portugal, uh, the weekend after that. Yeah, there's one in China that's a men's open show.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

So there's a lot of for the European guys, there's plenty of European shows.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

So there's a lot, there's a lot of shows that are opportunities for someone like a Sergei, yeah. I don't think he would have won if he came and did like Tampa or Texas or one of those shows. You know, we got guys like Palacios or Jordan Hutchinson or Quentin, somebody would have stopped him from winning, right? Right, most likely. But there are these shows all over all summer long. There's a show somewhere every weekend, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

Especially, you're right, after yeah, and a lot of them is uh are in are in Europe, so yeah, there's a lot of opportunity for the European guys to uh qualify if they haven't yet. All right, last topic.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

Yeah, but I just I want to say the American guys, I know it's a lot to travel that far, but why would you wait for a show you know is gonna be stacked and you're not sure? Like, say you want to do I'm gonna wait for Tampa, okay. Now Hunter Labrata's in Tampa. Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Are you gonna beat Hunter Labrata? Probably not.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

Yeah, right, right, right. Well, I think um, I think Jordan's doing Italy, actually.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

I think I heard that too, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Yeah, so uh he's one of those guys. Uh last topic, and then I'm gonna let you go, Ron. Um, France Pro this weekend. Um Bonac is probably gonna be the guy to beat. Uh he's another guy that you know stands the test of time. You know, he he is a guy that is still very dangerous on any given show. But I think he's I think he does the opposite of Akeem. I think his name recognition alone and his past success, uh people know who he is. So he can go into one of these smaller shows like he's doing France, he'll qualify, jump into the Olympia. And I I think that's his game plan because he could have done, I'm sure he got the invite to do Arnold, and he could have jumped into uh Pittsburgh. Uh I'm sure you know they would have loved for him to have been there because he is he is you know, he does have name recognition, he is an elite bodybuilder, he's an ornal classic champion, right? He's an auto classic champion. Top to run the Olympia.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

He was runner-up to Brandon in 2019 Olympia, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

That's right, yeah, yeah. So he's uh I think he's taking that idea. Well, I'm just gonna jump in, and I think the older guys do this. If you're a younger guy, I I it doesn't make sense to me if you do this. But I think the older guys, the guys over 40, the guys over 42, they go, okay, I ain't got much left in the tank here. Uh, I'm gonna I'm gonna do what I can with what I got left. Let me jump into a smaller show, get to qualify. People know who I am. I have a stellar career on the Olympia stage. I'm not gonna be overlooked, you know. Uh I think that's what what he's doing. Because I remember Branch Warren doing the same thing. He did some show in Atlantic City.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

One qualified did the Olympia, right? But you know, you still have Sas in this lineup, and Sas is no joke, but you're right. I think Bonack is gonna beat him.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

Most likely.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

But Soss doesn't miss the mark, man. He really doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 39:05

He doesn't, but uh Barnack doesn't. When was think about when uh do you remember ever seeing Barnack off? I've never seen that guy 20 times, he's been in great shape every time I've ever seen him.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, no, no question. There was a time where where, like they were talking about his distended stomach a little bit, and then like a year later when he competed again, it was gone. He corrected it, you know. Yeah, the other guy that's in the show that I I wanted to talk about. I mean, you got Mark Hector, I'm not a huge Mark Hector fan. He's kind of been he's kind of like your your ex-girlfriend that you go back to, you know what I mean? Like it's just he's just around.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Um, the other guy who I was at the New York Pro, and I saw him up close and personal, is this kid from Italy, Daniel Goss.

SPEAKER_00 39:50

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Really impressive man, and he's a young man, really, really impressive. What do you think of him?

SPEAKER_00 39:58

Uh great, but great potential. He's got crazy size, gets in great condition. What was he? Uh was it Detroit? What show did he just do?

SPEAKER_01 40:07

He did the New York Pro.

SPEAKER_00 40:08

He was top five, wasn't he?

SPEAKER_01 40:10

Yeah, I think he became in fourth.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

I think he was fourth. I was very impressed with him. Yeah, so he could, yeah. I mean, I I I think William, William and Sass are the top two, and I wouldn't say Sass can't possibly beat William. If William, if William is off, which you know, he's a human being, you never know what can happen, right? You could beat him, but uh, and I mark Mark's really good too. Yeah, you know, whether you like him or not, he's he's done very well.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

There no, absolutely that there are certain bodybuilders, and Mark is in this category. There are certain bodybuilders where you go, wow, that guy's gonna be good, and you don't see a lot of improvements, you see them coming in conditioning, like uh, I was a huge Kukla fan, but it was the same Kukla every year, and it's like I felt like these guys have the potential. I've and a lot of guys take their in my opinion, a lot of guys take their offseason and they either take it really serious or they take a break. And the guys that take it serious, like Antonio or Joe Palacios, or you go down the list, uh the Sergei, the Jones, you know, uh even Samson, you could see that they took the offseason serious. And then you have guys that are like they kind of just take a break and they go, I'll come back, I'm good enough, I'll come in condition um when I do the show. Uh and and Mark Hector seems to be that guy where it's like, dude, you got all I Ron, you gotta understand I'm a bodybuilding fan first. My podcast is like just something that I've done and have and it's and it's been it's been doing well, right? For for for a smaller podcast, right? Uh so people like want my opinion, but the truth of the matter is I'm a fan first. So when I see a bodybuilder that has all the potential in the world and they don't really fulfill it, it's frustrating.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

I mean, that's I I got to we talk about Quint, Quent Beastwood. Yeah, that's how I feel. I I love Quint, he's a cool guy. I love interviewing him, and I I'm always rooting for him, but I'm like waiting for I keep waiting for him to do that leap in size, like Samson did.

SPEAKER_01 42:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Like, dude, that's all he you need, the shape, the strength, everything's there. You're just not big enough to be beating those guys, right? What are you waiting for? Um it looks like it looks like he took it more was lazy, but turns out he was you know, he had that injury with the Achilles tear and all that. Yeah, starting to make improvements now, but for yeah, two years, I was like, this freaking guy's never getting any better. I'm I'm done, right?

SPEAKER_01 42:34

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The worst case, in my opinion, in modern bodybuilding in the last 10 to 15 years, the worst case of that was Lionel Becky. Um Lionel Becky had all the talent, all the genetics in the world, and for some reason, I don't know why he just let it all go.

SPEAKER_00 42:54

Uh you know, I'm not I I talked to his coach Hani at the time he was coaching him, and it didn't last too long because I guess he wasn't really committed enough. Like he wouldn't he wouldn't eat the way he was supposed to eat, he wouldn't train, he just wasn't he wasn't all in. Yeah, sometimes you know, I don't know what the extenuating circumstances were. He's had legal trouble, he got involved, unfortunately, with a a big bust with his sponsor was uh a part of, and he got dragged into it. So he was on like remember when he competed a couple years ago, he looked like ass horrible, awful being drug tested, he was on probation or something, he was being tested constantly. Awful, but yeah, I I'm with you. That was a guy that when I saw him at the Arnold one year, and he was like fourth, fifth from the front, he looked like freaking flex wheeler, just yeah, round and bubbly, unbelievable, amazing. The back wasn't as impressive, but you say, Okay, this guy, if he brings up that posterior chain, dude, he could be he could be freaking beating, he could be winning the Arnold, he could be top top three, fourth Olympian.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

It never happened. It it really it irks me as a fan, and I did a video on it after the. The Arnold Classic and the Arnold UK. Um and uh I really went after Hassan Mustafa. What's his name?

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Is it Hassan Mustafa? Is it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:15

I really went after Hassan Mustafa because here's a guy who gets the invite to go to the Arnold and he shows up just looking like he didn't diet at all.

unknown 44:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

And to me, that is a total disrespect to the sport. Like you're on the biggest one of the biggest stages in bodybuilding. You got the invite, you put your paperwork in, right? Which means you wanted to do it, you get the invite, and then you show up looking like dog shit. And it's like, what are you doing, man? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Like I and But we don't know, and you know, no one would care anyway, but what if there was a health issue? Uh we don't we don't know if there was an other reason, but it doesn't like you say, when you're when you look at these guys on stage, it doesn't matter, right? You can't say, hey judges, you know, I got really sick last week, and that's why I look like ass. Too bad. You look like ass.

SPEAKER_01 45:04

Yeah. If you if uh if you're if you're really sick or there is an injury, then I would I I mean I don't know what the penalty is to pull out.

SPEAKER_00 45:13

You can pull out, so that's the uh in the old days they used to get really fines and suspensions if they didn't have a valid medical reason with a doctor signing off on it. Um, you don't see too many guys pulling out of shows anymore, but uh I I've I've I've I can't remember the last time I heard of a bodybuilder getting fined or suspended. Yeah, that was the Wayne DeMillia days. Wayne used to be brutal with it. I'm sure Lee has talked about it, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He paid a lot of money in fines over the years, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:45

So if I if that was the case, like man, if it's something a health issue, uh an injury, I would rather pull out than disrespect the sport and look horrible, you know, look that bad. Because there was one picture where he's congratulating Andrew Jacked and he's turned to the side and he's relaxed, so his stomach is just hanging. And I'm just like, dude, like you're you're on the what what what I think a lot of these bodybuilders don't get, I think some get, uh, but I don't think all of them get, is that fans and guys like me, um, who have a podcast, or one of two people, you're you're a failed athlete or you're a retired athlete. I'm the first, right? I never turned pro, even though I always wanted to, it just wasn't in the cards. Yeah, and then you see a guy who has the genetics and he just moves all the way up because he's got fantastic genetics. And then when it's time to really hit the gas pedal and put the grind on, they go, Oh no, no, and you go, Jesus, I wish I had that. I wish I fucking had that, you know.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

Funny, because I think I'm I'm retired and I'm a failed because I I was uh yeah, but you turned pro. No, no, I didn't. I was you didn't second place at the universe. Oh but uh again, when I see guys like that, I'm exactly in the same wavelength as you. I'm like, motherfucker, I my genetics were not good at all. They weren't. I did, but I I worked my ass off, right? I was up at four in the morning doing cardio, I was doing it at 11 o'clock at night again. I was going zero car, I would I suffered because I knew the only way I could beat a lot of these guys was just to be shredded out of my skull, and that's I used to beat guys I had no business beating, so because I because I just I suffered and I got in a great work, but so when I see a guy like Hassan, and again, I don't know, maybe there are mitigating circumstances that we're not aware of, but let's just say someone like that has all the genetics in the world and they don't show up in shape. I'm like, dude, you had one job, one job, you knew the day of the show, it's this day. Be in shape on that day. What why didn't you do it? You know, it just it boggles my mind.

SPEAKER_01 47:58

It drives me crazy. And and what's funny is when I do spaz out on those on those videos, and I sometimes I put them on Instagram, it's sincere. Like I'm really annoyed, you know, it's not a show, and nothing about me is fake. Like if I'm pissed off, I'm coming on here pissed off, right? Um, so it is what it is, but man, so you think France Bonak's probably gonna take it? I agree, I think Bonack's gonna take it.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

I also heard from Giles that he I don't know where he heard this, but that Bonack's gonna hit multiple shows before the Olympia.

SPEAKER_01 48:27

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

Well, that's he was supposed to. The rumor was last year was gonna be his last last year competing. Clearly, he's he's gonna do it at least this, but this might be his last year, so why not go out with like three, four wins and then another a final top 10 at the Olympia?

SPEAKER_01 48:43

Yeah, right. And you're you're you're you know, and again, another Hall of Fame career, man. Yeah, another tremendous bodybuilder who you know 15-year pro career so far. That's that's stellar, that's a stellar career. That's a standing ovation if he if he goes into a bodybuilding uh you know uh contest after he retires, as far as I'm concerned, you know. But um, Ron, thank you very much, brother. I really, really appreciate you coming on, man. Um, so much love, much respect always. And how how's um how's your show doing? How's the podcast doing?

SPEAKER_00 49:17

Uh it's it's gonna it's gonna hits every now and then, but it's it's a grind, as you know, with a smaller channel. Yeah, uh, you know, I'm happy I got Blackstone. I got a sponsor, thank God. Or if I didn't have a sponsor and they weren't kicking me a little bit, I don't know if I wouldn't do any videos, put it that way.

SPEAKER_01 49:32

Well, yeah, I'm uh I'm hoping I'm hoping something pans out for me too. I have a couple of things in the works where I have to talk to a couple of people because everything comes out of my pocket. Yeah, I mean it sucks.

SPEAKER_00 49:44

It's tough when we see, like, you know, Nick, I love Nick Mill. He's a good, he's a good kid, but by the time he says, what's everybody? It's Nick, he's already got like 50,000 views. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:55

Well, I like my attitude is like I was talking to a friend of mine today. I was like, I don't even, I don't, I'm I'm gonna be 50 years old. I don't even need that. Just give me a fucking piece of the pie. Just let me make some money. If I end up with 20, 30,000 subscribers, uh, oh, I would be uh I'd be ecstatic. I'd be fun of okay, we're good. You know what I mean? Like I don't, I don't, uh of course I would love 100,000 subscribers, right? But I have to be realistic and take baby steps, right? And where my goals are. And if I can get, you know, in the next three to four years, 20,000, 30,000 subscribers and it pays off, and I got great sponsors and people are paying attention to my YouTube channel. I'm a I'm I'm happy I'm a success. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 50:41

You know, we're both fans, lifelong fans of this. And I mean, this is the the channels are just an extension of that.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 50:47

If I didn't love the sport and really have an affinity for the athletes and everything, there's no way I would do this.

SPEAKER_01 50:53

There's no way no, definitely not. Like it's already 20 after 10. And I gotta get up at five o'clock tomorrow morning. This is my this is my third podcast today. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Ron, thank you very much, man. Love and respect always. You're a good man and a good friend, brother. So I will definitely talk to you soon. Thank you for coming on.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

You're very welcome, John. Have a good night. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 51:13

All right, you too, brother.