<\/p>\nThe fact of the matter is, he always placed well, and had a very impressive career. In 2006, he was so close to the pro card that he could taste it. A fire was lit under him and he\u2019d return the following year, even better. In 2007, he\u2019d win the Super Heavies and Overall at the NPC Nationals, earning pro status. From there, his ascent was nothing short of amazing. He was a hard worker, with a college education, and all the right contacts.<\/p>\n
Evan\u2019s star shot to the top, from how he went to pro and to his shocking the world when he won the NY Pro. The fact is everything about this pro stands out. <\/p>\n
In fact, one of the best telltale signs of what makes him different from the pack, is how long he\u2019s worked with his sponsor, Animal. Centopani\u2019s run with them has been so long and fruitful, that the two are inseparable, today. Whenever I think of Evan, I think of Animal, and vice versa.<\/p>\n
In an industry where top guys have a new sponsor almost every year, it says a lot when you have a competitor and sponsor that can say they\u2019ve worked together for years \u2013 upwards of a decade! You just don\u2019t see that in the industry anymore. That kind of loyalty is scarce. What\u2019s also rare is finding someone as well rounded as Evan, today. In many real ways, Centopani should be the blueprint for all of today\u2019s pro\u2019s and those to come. <\/p>\n
Contacts are huge, as is being a people-person. There\u2019s plenty of people who know everyone in the industry, but are they well liked? Knowing people and being well thought of, are two different things. <\/p>\n
Anytime Evan\u2019s name comes up, it\u2019s always accompanied by accolades. In my time covering the sport, I can honestly say that I haven\u2019t ever heard anyone trash the guy. Sometimes fans will say that athletes are cocky, companies might say athletes are lazy, but when you hear favorable feedback from all sectors of the industry, you know you\u2019re dealing with someone that was all about that life. When you eat, sleep, and breathe, bodybuilding, then the real people know what\u2019s up.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason why Evan has been with Animal for as long as he has been. It\u2019s also why they were so understanding during the year and change he was gone. When Evan went to Prime, no bridges were burned, and all parties remained cordial. How often does that happen? How common is it for competitors that walk, to totally trash their older sponsors or vice versa? It\u2019s not just common, I\u2019d say it\u2019s become somewhat the norm during certain eras. The fact is, the grass isn\u2019t always greener on the other side, but when you\u2019re young, you have to experience life. The fact is, when a bond is created, people are understanding. I can\u2019t speak to what happened internally between Evan and Animal, but when things didn\u2019t work out with Prime, he returned to Animal and the rest is history!! Animal is home.<\/p>\n
Evan has built a huge following, with plenty of crossover support. There\u2019s a lot to him.<\/p>\n
Competing is just one part of Centopani\u2019s public persona. Over the years, he\u2019s also been the face of sound nutrition, cooking and training videos, not to mention his extensive work in social media, print media, and public appearances.<\/p>\n
If you were to look at an average competitor, their entire interaction with the sport would depend on whether they competed or not; they\u2019re not out there doing anything else. Although Evan hasn\u2019t competed in years, he\u2019s maintained a very public profile through working tirelessly on promoting the Animal line and pursuing his own agenda with the sport. This is a guy with something to say. He\u2019s all about health and well being, but his mindset is different from the pack. He doesn\u2019t just cook meals or talk about training, it\u2019s far deeper than that.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to put into words, but I strongly encourage you to check out his content on Youtube. Whether he\u2019s training with The Boston Mass or shooting with Jeff Sygo, it really doesn\u2019t matter. His vibe is unmistakable \u2013 spanning the run of his career.<\/p>\n
In fact, I just ran into Evan a couple months ago at the Natural Body Epic Block Party. There he was, at the Animal booth, shaking hands and answering the fans\u2019 many questions. He wasn\u2019t clock-watching or figuring out what his best exit strategy was. He was right at home, having a great time. Like I said from the onset, when you eat, sleep, and breathe bodybuilding, it becomes abundantly clear what you\u2019re all about. And this is important with regards to the future. I know most of you know this, but for those who maybe don\u2019t, just because a competitor quits competing, that does not mean they\u2019re leaving bodybuilding. <\/p>\n
Evan hasn\u2019t competed in years, yet he\u2019s at events, all over social media, and is as relevant as ever. In terms of respect, though, I think the retirement announcement was fitting.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure one of the most frequently asked questions Evan gets is whether or not he\u2019s coming back. I know I asked him that in NY and we\u2019d only talked for a few minutes. LOL. No shock there! Before anything, I\u2019m a fan, and as a fan, I want to know when my favorite bodybuilders will compete.<\/p>\n
When a guy like Evan thinks so much of the fans and the press, that he prefers to kill the suspense, and not keep everyone in perpetual limbo, then an official retirement announcement makes sense. Other top tier bodybuilders never give their fans an answer. Look at Kai Greene. I\u2019m not saying he doesn\u2019t respect his fans, but you\u2019d think after six years, we\u2019d have some kind of an indication as to whether he\u2019s retired or not, but nothing. Then again, formally retiring is actually harder than keeping everyone guessing. It takes guts, but it\u2019s the right thing to do. To each their own.<\/p>\n
Evan is a stand-up guy for making his position clear. Could he have gone on competing into his 40\u2019s? Sure, why not? <\/p>\n
Although he\u2019s had some injuries and he\u2019s been away from the stage for a bit, I have no doubt that Evan could have given 110%, focused everything on a comeback, and done quite well for himself. But at 40yrs of age, what\u2019s in it for him? What could possibly make it worth it? He\u2019s had a great career, winning key titles, getting as high as 3rd at the Arnold Classic, and being on the cover of countless magazines, ad campaigns, and social media efforts. Wherever he goes, he\u2019s known \u2013 he\u2019s respected and he\u2019s appreciated. That\u2019s true success.<\/p>\n
In many ways, Evan\u2019s retirement announcement is essentially making the status quo a reality, but nothing changes as far as I\u2019m concerned. If anything, now he can really move forward with other projects. The comeback questions will still come and maybe, even, at the same frequency, but it\u2019s a lot less stressful when you can simply respond with, \u201cI\u2019m retired.\u201d You don\u2019t have to deliberate each time you\u2019re asked and wrestle with what to say. You\u2019re retired and that\u2019s that. Then, perhaps, one day, if ever, you can shock the world and make a comeback \u2013 on your own terms!! That\u2019s the way to go. And if you never make a comeback, that\u2019s fine, as well. <\/p>\n
I would like to take this opportunity to wish Evan the absolute best. He\u2019s not going anywhere, meaning, bodybuilding is home for him, but he\u2019s no longer going to be competing on stage. I think retiring at 40 is smart, he ensures he\u2019ll have good health for years to come, and he can focus on a variety of different roles in and outside the fitness industry. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Christian Duque The news that IFBB Pro Evan Centopani officially retired made the rounds very quickly throughout the fitness industry. Although he hadn\u2019t competed in quite some time, there were credible reports that he was in full prep for the 2020 NY Pro; however, when it moved to Florida, that no longer made it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":3068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n
Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Christian Duque The news that IFBB Pro Evan Centopani officially retired made the rounds very quickly throughout the fitness industry. Although he hadn\u2019t competed in quite some time, there were credible reports that he was in full prep for the 2020 NY Pro; however, when it moved to Florida, that no longer made it […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-05T12:49:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f41d4f531b6dff6c6125ef0eb586c2aa\"},\"headline\":\"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-05T12:49:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067\"},\"wordCount\":1458,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067\",\"name\":\"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog - World Bodybuilding News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-05T12:49:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f41d4f531b6dff6c6125ef0eb586c2aa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":530},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=3067#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Bodybuilding News\",\"description\":\"Data, Rankings, Results.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f41d4f531b6dff6c6125ef0eb586c2aa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?author=23\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog - World Bodybuilding News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog - World Bodybuilding News","og_description":"by Christian Duque The news that IFBB Pro Evan Centopani officially retired made the rounds very quickly throughout the fitness industry. Although he hadn\u2019t competed in quite some time, there were credible reports that he was in full prep for the 2020 NY Pro; however, when it moved to Florida, that no longer made it […]","og_url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067","og_site_name":"World Bodybuilding News","article_published_time":"2026-01-05T12:49:32+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f41d4f531b6dff6c6125ef0eb586c2aa"},"headline":"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog","datePublished":"2026-01-05T12:49:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067"},"wordCount":1458,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067","name":"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog - World Bodybuilding News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-01-05T12:49:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f41d4f531b6dff6c6125ef0eb586c2aa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg","width":1000,"height":530},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3067#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Evan Centopani Officially Retires \u2013 IronMag Bodybuilding & Fitness Blog"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/","name":"World Bodybuilding News","description":"Data, Rankings, Results.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f41d4f531b6dff6c6125ef0eb586c2aa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?author=23"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ironmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Evan-Centopani.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n