By the way, I don't care about the arms. Ronnie has bigger arms overrall, but that's only because of his enormous, disproportional biceps. Of the two main biceps poses, Dorian actully wins one, the side tris.
Ronnie Coleman is always praised for his biceps. Don't try to twist this like ND and claim Ronnie's strengths are in fact overpowering imbalances. Its stupid and transparent. No muscle is ever overdeveloped ... there are only adjacent muscles that are underdeveloped. In Ronnie's case, his forearms, deltoids, and triceps are still massive (though not quite as impressive as his show-stopping biceps) so by no means are they underdeveloped or weaknesses. You and ND have no concept of a "strength", a bodypart that stands out, and it is only penalized IF, and its a big IF, the adjacent muscles are weak, in comparison AND isolation. Claiming that Coleman's biceps are disproportional because they are the best in the sport is stupid.
Dorian's biceps ARE weak, and they would be weak on any other competitor, even an NPC amateur. Dorian wouldn't win the side triceps because Ronnie's triceps are larger with greater detail and more striations. Couple that with grossly superior hamstrings, quadriceps, chest, deltoids, and biceps (which are all evaluated in this pose) Dorian would clearly lose the side tricep.
The only, and I mean the ONLY thing Dorian has on Ronnie in the side-tricep is a genetically superior lateral head IN SHAPE ONLY. It is smaller than Ronnie's lateral head, and far less detailed, but it still has a better shape, I agree. That said, that is DEFINITELY, ABSOLUTELY not enough to win the pose and compensate for his inferior quadriceps, hamstrings, biceps, deltoids, chest, and wide waist.
Notice your statement ... "
I don't care about the arms." Thats fine. We all value different bodyparts, from a personal perspective, to a different extent. However, the judges DO care about arm development, particularly in a pose that is designed exclusively to showcase that development.
In the most muscular, it is the thickness, details and echiness of the chest, traps quads and calves which matter. Also, even though Ronnie's arms are larger overrall, Dorian compensates with better balance and hardness. Case closed.
Muscle size is the single most important variable in the most muscular.
That said, Ronnie's chest is not only larger, but considerably more detailed. When flexed, his pectorals are stacked with striations and reveal the deep layers of muscle beneath the skin.
Dorian's arms don't have better balance. You claim Ronnie's biceps overpower his arms, but I have NEVER ONCE heard this complaint from any authority in the sport. On the otherhand, Dorian's inexcusable bicep development IS is a liability and will hurt his apperance in the most muscular.
Dorian's lack of symmetry, whether its the arms, the chest, or the traps, is clearly apparent in the most muscular. In fact, his left to right imbalances are most likely what was responsible for his injuries incurred during his HIT regimen. If you look at his left biceps before the tear, it was still much different in shape and size compared to the right.
So Ronnie's arms ARE larger overall, yet with better balance since his biceps and triceps are both full, muscular, and detailed. Secondly, Dorian's triceps are only moderately impressive from the side, they are pretty much overwhelming from the anterior and posterior, so they would not factor into the most muscular assessment. Ronnie would not be penalized for his forearms since, in the most muscular, its readily apparent their circumference is larger than Dorian's and they LOOK considerably better in the pose. Not to mention they have better shred, particularly from the front when flexed.