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The 2026 FIBO lineup consists of roughly a half a dozen guys with only one known name, Sasan Heirati, in the lineup. Sas is a well-known Iranian bodybuilder known for his tremendous work ethic and his ability to bring a tremendous amount of muscle, coupled with impressive vascularity to the stage. It\u2019s great that the contest will have at least one somewhat popular competitor, but why not others? Sas is a pretty big deal in Persian and Arabic circles. He gets mobbed wherever he goes by screaming fans who want him to sign autographs, take selfies with them, and just talk to them. The guy is a legit heavy hitter so it\u2019s a good thing that he is going to be in the mix, but why not other guys? I mean listen folks, this contest is an IFBB Pro League show. Whoever wins it, has a qualification to the 2026 Mr Olympia so you have a big stage, an Olympia qualification, the opportunity to win some prize money and it\u2019s one of the biggest expos in the world.<\/p>\n
FIBO\u00a0 is on the same level as the Arnold Classic and the Olympia Expo. This is a really big deal yet its pro contest has only seven guys? And it\u2019s not just seven guys, there\u2019s only one guy who\u2019s a household name. This is not to throw shade at the other six guys because they are professional bodybuilders, they did prepare for the contest, and they\u2019re probably going to give it their all,\u00a0 but something is off. Something is definitely off. Because we should see a lot of big names wanting to win this title so that they can then have a road to the Olympia. This is one of the earliest opportunities to achieve that yet there\u2019s only one somewhat big name in the show? That\u2019s just plain weird. But let\u2019s break it down a little bit more because there are other shows that are also underperforming and I would say they are underperforming for different reasons.<\/p>\n
Before we delve into why this contest may or may not be underperforming, I think it\u2019s important to note that the Top 10 guys in the world are not going to compete somewhere like this for one glaring reason. When you have a show with only one or two somewhat known guys accompanied by a roster of unknowns, it looks like low hanging fruit. A competitor like Martin Fitzwater or Nick Walker is not going to throw their name into the mix even if it is an easy win just because it\u2019s not a win they want. In other words, these are guys that are banging on the door of the Mr. Olympia. These are guys that have been in the Top 6 and who command tremendous respect with have huge fan bases. It would look very weak of them to go to a show and wipe the floor with guys no one has ever heard of just to get an Olympia qualification. At the end of the day, when you are on top, everything you do is scrutinized by the media and by the fans. It would almost look like bullying on a certain level or maybe like easy money.<\/p>\n
Now easy money is money just the same, right? But to be real, if you are a serious competitor who is in contention to winning the Olympia or the Arnold Classic or the New York Pro, and you go to a crappy show and win it just to win it, you don\u2019t really inspire a tremendous amount of confidence in your abilities as an elite level professional. Top guys like to beat top guys. If top guys go after low hanging fruit, then people start to doubt whether or not they are in fact a top competitor. I know it sounds like an utter bunch of bullshit, but there\u2019s a lot of truth to this.<\/p>\n
And I hate to call FIBO low-hanging fruit but when you have seven guys, six of which no one\u2019s ever heard of, it\u2019s basically a crappy show. And that\u2019s really sad to say because of the fact that they have such a huge expo that\u2019s known all around the world and that draws pretty much everybody in the sport. There are other shows like the Detroit Pro that have a who\u2019s who of heavy hitters as promoters yet doesn\u2019t draw any top talent. It\u2019s usually one or two guys that are big names and then everybody else is just cannon fodder. That\u2019s not a good look.<\/p>\n
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