To many it seems like Phil will coast to his dream of 10 straight Sandows. With Kai no longer competing at the O and Rhoden a distant second in the back poses his only up and coming legitimate contender seems to be "Big Ramy". And Ramy seems to be a year or two off getting the condition needed to hang with Heath.
I think Heath will get 8 but wont get 9. I think by that time the combination of Ramy being at his peak and Phil being at his worse will allow Ramy to overtake him at first. This is of course contingent that neither is injured. See the video below it's Heath 2011 vs. Heath 2016. One thing I noticed this year was the way Phil was hitting his front double-bicep appeared very weird compared to how he used to do it. Don't know what that's all about. Also, he's definitely has a wider waist and bigger gut. Even this year. On a positive note for him is that he's in better condition now vs. 2011 which was his best. He no longer looks "bloofy" but he also not longer looks as round. I just don't see his body holding up to winning 9 because you can argue this year that Ramy beat him in several poses.
Now, with all that said, I don't like the prospect of him beating the record but there's not a damn thing I can do about it. I think people will assume that because he has the most Mr. Os, he's the best of all time and that's nowhere near the case when you consider the era he competes in and comparing him to his peers such as Coleman, Haney and Yates. But there's nothing Phil can do about the era he's competing in. You can only compare him to others considered the greatest and Coleman beats him and so does Yates.
I don't see his body holding up for 9. Ramy will beat him by that time.
