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With the Ironman Pro 4 weeks away, it is looking to be one of the best Ironman men’s bodybuilding show ever. Phil Heath, Toney Freeman, Gustavo Badell, David Henry, Silvio Samuel, Johnnie Jackson, Troy Alves, Desmond Miller, King Kamali, Paco Bautista, Omar Deckard, Moe El Moussawi, Deshaun Grimez, Ray Arde, Will Harris and many others are going to showcase the first pro show of the year. 2008 Show Flyer: For a complete competitor list and to see the larger flyer, visit: 2008 Ironman Flyer and Competitor List  

From New Zealand, Moe sent us a few pics of him getting ready for the 2008 Ironman Pro, to be held on February 16 in Los Angeles. Moe plans on getting on the stage at 225 pounds, and at 5″9″, he plans to make excellent progress in his shape since last year. It will be interesting to see Moe compared to a number of other bodybuilders, as he looks quite good at the moment. For more pics, go to Other Pics of Moe El Moussawi

Curious what Phil Heath, Jay Cutler, Silvio Samuel, Gustavo Badell and others think about Victor’s injury? Check out Flexonline.com‘s latest story to get it straight from the source. Even Bob Chic chimes in, who’da guessed?

It is official. Victor Martinez, the number 2 bodybuilder in the world, and the defending champion of the Arnold Classic, is out. According to reports, he saw the pictures of Phil Heath and just freaked out. Ok, maybe not. According to Dave Palumbo of Muscular Development, who denied the rumor yesterday, has reported it is true. Victor was injured on Wednesday, January 16th when he was doing some warm-up lunges. A visit to the hospital and a quick MRI showed that Victor will need surgery on his left knee. Here is the statement by Dave: On Wednesday January 16th, while doing a set of warm-up lunges at his home gym in New Jersey, 2007 Arnold Classic Champ Victor Martinez fell off balance and felt something “give” in his left knee. The pain wasn’t intense but it forced him to discontinue his workout. Today, he went for an MRI at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and it was determined that he’ll require surgery to repair the injury. Victor will have one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country operating on him tomorrow morning; and, if all goes as planned, he should be home by Saturday afternoon….

Whoa! Flexonline.com, courtesy of Isaac Hinds, has posted some incredible pictures of Phil Heath five weeks out from the Ironman Pro. Is it ‘game over’ for the rest of the competitors? Some say yes, some are raving over Phil and his incredible look, and when you see the pictures, it does look like the man is a cartoon character. But still, five weeks out looking awesome does not mean anything on the day of the competition. In the background watching and waiting is Toney Freeman, Silvio Samuel, and Gustavo Badell, just to name a few. They promise to make sure that Phil might not get his cake and eat it at the Ironman. Then comes the Arnold, with Victor Martinez, Dexter Jackson, Melvin Anthony, Branch Warren, and Kai Greene. With Phil being the front-runner at the Ironman, can he even make the top 3 at the Arnold? It is going to be an exciting and most interesting Ironman and Arnold this year. The electricity is in the air. To check out the pics, go to: Flexonline Phil Heath Pics

Eddie Moyzan placed 4th in the Super Heavyweight class at the 2002 National Bodybuilding & Fitness Championships. He now finds himself facing charges stemming from selling steroids to an undercover Pennsylvania State trooper. According to a pennlive.com, Moyzan laid out a steroid plan for the state trooper, including how long to take each drug. Two purchases were arranged in the Gold’s Gym parking lot. Nj.com reports: Trooper Gregory Emery, with Pennsylvania State Police at Bethlehem, joined Gold’s Gym in September 2006 to investigate complaints of illegal steroid distribution among the gym’s members, including Moyzan. Emery befriended Moyzan, who advised Emery he would want to take “d-bol,” a term for methandrostenolone, for five weeks followed by five weeks of Anavar to increase muscle mass, according to court documents. Emery allegedly purchased 200 methandrostenolone pills from Moyzan on Nov. 16, 2006, for $300. Moyzan arranged the sale in the parking lot and left the pills in a gym locker, court documents say. On Jan. 11, 2007, police allege Moyzan sold Emery 100 Anavar pills for $325. He told Emery he used to sell steroids full time but has since gotten a good job and mainly sells to friends, court documents say. Police…

Awesome. That is the word that describes the 20th anniversary of the Arnold Classic when every winner of the contest and also of the Ms. International contest will reunite for an incredible spectacle on stage. Just how many people is that. Since the contests began, there are a total of 20 competitors, 12 men and 8 women. They are, in alphabetical order, for the Arnold Classic, Mike Ashley, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, Nasser El Sonbaty, Mike Francois, Rich Gaspari, Dexter Jackson, Kevin Levrone, Victor Martinez, Shawn Ray, Vince Taylor, and Flex Wheeler. The women are, in alphabetical order, Kim Chizevsky, Laura Creavalle, Vicki Gates, Yolanda Hughes, Iris Kyle, Yaxeni Oriquen, Jackie Paisley, and Anja Schreiner. Read Press Release

Yes, the rumors are true. Flexonline.com reports that Ronnie Coleman was married December 28, 2007. One chapter closes, another one begins. With his days of dominating the Olympia stage behind him, eight-time Mr. O Ronnie Coleman recently began another stage of his life by marrying Rouaida Christine Achkar. A personal trainer, Ackhakr was born in Lebanon on July 29, 1974 and raised in Paris, France. Coleman met his new bride in Paris –- ah, l’amour — on March 22, 1998, at a Paris Sports exposition. Achkar is currently working towards a degree in sports medicine at the University of Texas at Arlington. The wedding date was December 28, 2007. According to Coleman, “the big party will be held in Lebanon,” on July 26, 2008. Please join us in wishing the couple a long and happy life together. > > Read more and see photos here.

Nope. You won’t catch any of the new American Gladiators on the sauce. According to a recent article, NBC states that it tested all of the Gladiators for steroids. NBC executives may have been juiced over American Gladiators’ stellar debut, but the gladiators themselves were all natural. That’s because NBC Universal subjected the gladiators to steroid testing before they could appear on the show. The 12 cast members were tested as part of their medical examinations and then required to sign a document saying that they were clean and that they could be tested at any time. NBCU co-chairman Ben Silverman confirmed the testing but declined to comment further. NBC insiders said the testing was done more for medical reasons than anything else. > > Read the Full Article Here.

Nasser El Sonbaty has been making some news lately, not so much as anything on the bodybuilding stage, but in what he has been saying. Nasser has been doing quite a number of interviews lately, four of them so far, and telling a great deal of stories that seem to create a lot of controversy. With each interview, the bulletin boards of Getbig seem to come alive with the a multitude of discussions, from if the stories are true, to if the events are true, to his attacks on various people. Now some people may say these interviews are negative, but when asked that question, Nasser simply replied that he is just saying it as it is, and you can take it the way you want. For those of you who think that Nasser is not smart, you are wrong. Nasser speaks five languages, and his English dialect is quite well. But in these interviews, Nasser talks about many things, including Milos Sarcev, Dave Palumbo, Greg Kovacs, competitions, his parents, steroids, Joe Weider and much more. To read the interviews, courtesy of bodybuilding.com, click below. All four parts (interviews) are there. Interviews with Nasser El Sonbaty

Once in a while, I like to profile various magazines that I have seen. One which I just received is the January issue of Southern Muscle Plus Magazine, January 2008 issue.  This magazine caters to the bodybuildng, figure and fitness competition and athletes of the Southern States of the United States, and features various contests, plus los of information.This issue includees the latest NPC rule changles, Girl Talk, features and pictures on the Florida State, Louisiana State, Gulf Coast and other competition, and much more. Shannon Dey, who is the Advertising Coordinator of the magazine and also the NPC Chairperson in Florida for Figure and Fitness. Here is what the magazine looks like.

The NO-HOLDS-BARRED hit competition series returns to prime-time television, with hosts Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali!  We are looking for weekend warrior types that are BIG, bad, and athletic. If you think you have the heart, skills, and desire to COMPETE then we want to see you at THE GLADIATOR ARENA! NBC has relaunched the classic competition series “American Gladiators” and is currently auditioning CONTENDERS and GLADIATORS for NEXT SEASON! OPEN CALL: Saturday, January, 26, 2008/Time and Location: TBD Los Angeles OPEN CALL: Saturday, February 2, 2008/Time and Location: TBD Denver, CO Chicago, IL Austin, TX OPEN CALL: Saturday, February 9, 2008/Time and Location: TBD New York City, NY Scottsdale, AZ Orlando, FL For more information on how to apply to be either a contestant or a gladiator, click below http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/casting/index.shtml

“IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Hidetada Yamagishi was formally charged on January 8th in Los Angeles Superior Court with nine counts of steroid possession and distribution including five counts of “possession or purchase of controlled substance;” one count of “transport of controlled substance into state for sale;” and three counts of “possession of a prescription drug without a prescription.” His next court date will be on January 23, 2007. He will remain incarcerated at North County Correctional Facility until then under U.S. immigration hold on $180,000 bail……….” Thanks to MuscleTime for the information.

There were rumblings earlier in the month about Denis Sergovskiy competing in the IRONMAN Pro. Many people didn’t know how he had been granted pro status last year. Denis has been training for debut at the IRONMAN  however he has injured his back and will not be competing in the show. Fans will have to wait until later in the year to see how Denis fairs in the IFBB.

News just in from the crew at IRONMAN, Desmond Miller will be competing in the IRONMAN Pro. Desmond qualified for the Olympia last year but chose to sit it out. Will his time off help his chances of claiming the title? We’ll see in 37 days!

Leading bodybuilding community and e-commerce company to enhance Liberty Media web strategy

Updated for the start of 2008, the RAS statistics are the rankings the many use around the internet world to see how is their favorite pro bodybuilding is doing compared to others. Jay Cutler still leads the list, followed closely by Victor Martinez and Dexter Jackson, with Dennis Wolf right at their heels. For the complete list, click below for your enjoyement.  http://www.getbig.com/ranking/prorankm.htm

A visit to kingkamali.com and you’ll find all banners, logos and links to Muscle Tech have been removed from his sponsorship page. Does this mean we won’t see King Kamali at the Muscle Tech Booth in Columbus? Yes. A Muscle Tech representative has confirmed that King Kamali is no longer one of their sponsored athletes.  

Check out getbig’s behind the scenes coverage of NBC’s American Gladiators. Videos, photos, interviews and more!

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is a documentary by powerlifter, Christopher Bell. It will be interesting to see how the film does at one of the biggest film festivals in the world, The Sundance Film Festival. U.S.A., 2007, 105 mins, Color Screenings: Sat. January 19, 8:30pm, Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City Sun. January 20, 10:30pm, Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, SLC Tue. January 22, 2:30pm, Library Center Theatre, Park City Wed. January 23, 12:15pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City Fri. January 25, 11:45pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City From the Sundance Website: In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our athletes take performance-enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America’s win-at-all-cost philosophy by examining the way his two brothers became members of the steroid subculture in an effort to realize their American dream. Ingeniously beginning the film by harkening back to the mentality of the 1980s, where the heroes were Rambo, Conan, and Hulk Hogan, Bell recounts how these role models led him and his brothers into power lifting and dreams of becoming all-star wrestlers. Those dreams were soon shattered by the…