The weather is very nice here the week before the 2009 Ironman in Los Angeles.\u00a0 For the last week, we have had 80 degree weather, and it is going to be that way also until Thursday, the weekend of the contest, where the forecasts call for rain.\u00a0 Rain, in Los Angeles. Yes, it looks like that we may have a raincloud or two trying to wet itself on the convention center, where the 2009 Ironman and Fit Expo will be held.<\/p>\n
This is the 20th year at the Ironman Pro Men\u2019s bodybuilding contest, and it looks like the lineup is going to be a good one. Never mind the naysayers, who complain that some big names are not in this show. This lineup is just as good as in past years, and I, for one, am excited to see which names and surprises are going to be thrown at us this year.\u00a0 You never know, but that does not stop me from making predictions. After all, I am taken away the title from Lonnie Teper from the past two years on making this predictions on the pro show (he will disagree with me, of course), and after a nice relaxing few weeks of holidays spirit, I am ready for the year. The top 5 here at this show are qualified to compete in the 2009 Olympia.<\/p>\n
So who do we have competing this year. Here is the list that has been brought to our attention. It looks like 14 countries are being represented here. They are, in alphabetical order.<\/p>\n
Eddie Abbew (England)
\nTroy Alves (USA)
\nOliver Adzievski (Sweden)
\nMohammad Bannout (Lebanon)
\nThomas Bengali (Italy)
\nAD Cherry (USA)
\nOmar Deckard (USA)
\nConstantinos Demetriou (Australia)
\nMark Dugdale (USA)
\nTamer El-Shahat (Egypt)
\nMoe El Moussawi (New Zealand)
\nOleg Emelyanov (Russia)
\nAiman Faour (Lebanon)
\nDeShaun Grimez (USA)
\nAhmad Haidar (Lebanon)
\nMarcus Haley (USA)
\nJohnnie Jackson (USA)
\nMartin Kjellstrom (Sweden)
\nMarc LaVoie (Canada)
\nDon Long (USA)
\nDaron Lytle (USA)
\nCaesar Mendible (Venezuela)
\nEvgeny Mishin (Russia)
\nRonny Rockel (Germany)
\nSilvio Samuel (Spain)
\nDaniele Seccarecci (Italy), and
\nHidetada Yamagishi (Japan)<\/p>\n
So here goes, my top ten predictions.<\/p>\n
1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Moe El Moussawi.\u00a0 \u00a0Now Silvio is the man, the favorite in this contest, and some say that he will come in and win this show easily. I am not so sure.\u00a0 Last year, Moe stunned the Ironman crowd by defeating Silvio here, causing Silvio to shake his head.\u00a0 Silvio did come back and beat him at the Olympia, but this is a new year, and the question is, which one of these competitors can withstand the holiday season, and come back three weeks into January looking better than the other.\u00a0 I have seen some pictures of Moe. He is ten pounds heavier than last year, and looks shredded. He is determined. He just may pull it off, and defeat Silvio here again, like last year. Only this time, there is no Phil Heath to block is path to the prize. Moe is flying in from New Zealand a week before the contest and will be ready.<\/p>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Silvio Samuel.\u00a0 \u00a0Silvio is amazing. No question about it. This guy enters contest after contest and never looks like he is out of shape. I think when I talk to people, Silvio is the one that they say will beat everyone who has entered this contest. Even in the offseason, Silvio looks great, so why is he in second. I don\u2019t know. I just have this feeling that Moe might take it, and look for shredded.\u00a0 Silvio, pound for pound, is bigger, stronger and more muscular, but in terms of being shredded, well\u2026 it is going to be a battle.<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hidetada Yamagishi \u2013 Hide is hungry, coupled off the firestorm last year that derailed his career, and had him lose his contract and much more, in terms of respect from the Japanese people.\u00a0 He was a Japanese hero, and his arrest was too much for some. Never the less, this is a new year, and he is determined to show everyone that he is in shape, that he can compete in the rank, and will qualify for the 2009 Olympia on the first contest of the year. After all, he is not currently competing at the 2009 Arnold, so this is his big change to show what he has.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Johnnie Jackson \u2013\u00a0 Agreeing to compete on the last day of the deadline, Johnnie never looks bad, and is the strongest bodybuilder on stage. He knows he is in shape, his muscular and will not bore us as he should earn a trip to the 2009 Olympia.<\/p>\n
5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Troy Alves \u2013 Back look great, chest looks great, legs look good, but the hamstring and glutes. This is where placings are made, and will Troy be ready in terms of bringing the overall package this year. I think he will.\u00a0 I spoke to Troy earlier this week, and he seem like he was spot on, and is excited to be competing again at the 2009 Ironman.<\/p>\n
6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ronnie Rockel \u2013 Ronnie always comes in shape, and I know think this year won’t be different.\u00a0 Muscular, conditioned and just a good overall physique will catapult him in the top 10, but will he be able to get into the top 5 . I am not so sure, judging by the deep lineup we have now.<\/p>\n
7)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mark Dugdale \u2013 For some reason, I feel that Mark, to me, as some of the deepest respect in bodybuilding. A full time job, married with three little girls, great family values, how do you get in shape for a contest. Still, it has to be tough, and Mark usually is in that spot between being a smaller bodybuilder or trying to pack on size and lose some symmetry by being a heavier bodybuilder. I hope Mark does well here, he is one of the nicest competitors out there.<\/p>\n
8)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eddie Abbew \u2013 We always forget about Eddie, but somehow, Eddie likes the early shows, and usually comes out in the best shape of the year at them. He placed 3rd at the Ironman a few years back, so I don\u2019t doubt Eddie will be in the top 10.<\/p>\n
9)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0AD Cherry \u2013 He looked great when he won his pro card two years ago, but has not been able to look as good as he did. Still, I think this show AD will crack the top ten, and keep getting better and better.<\/p>\n
10)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Marcus Haley \u2013 Marcus is going to surprise us, and get into the top 10 in the 27 man lineup. He is a small competitor, but the way I feel, his physique is going to make the judges happy, and they will reward him.<\/p>\n
There are others who can make the top 10, including Ahmad Haidar, Omar Deckard, and DeShaun Grimez, and of course, anyone else who worked hard during the holidays, and will surprise us here. It always happens. See you at the 2009 Ironman!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The weather is very nice here the week before the 2009 Ironman in Los Angeles.\u00a0 For the last week, we have had 80 degree weather, and it is going to be that way also until Thursday, the weekend of the contest, where the forecasts call for rain.\u00a0 Rain, in Los Angeles. Yes, it looks like<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getbig.com\/headlines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}