The the greatest debate of all time has intrigued fans of nearly every individual and team sport. Bodybuilding is no exception to this. Depending on what an individual appreciates in a sport, they tend to rank athletes in a particular order of greatness. During a recent edition of the Cutler Cast podcast, jay cutler discussed who is the best Mr Olympia in history it is according to them. Cutler is one of the greatest bodybuilders in the history of the sport and has four Mr. Olympia titles to his name, along with several professional wins in the open pro division.
The discussion started when Jay Cutler recalled seeing a social media post comparing him to modern-day bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman, phil heath Y Mamdouh ‘Great Ramy’ Elssbiay in terms of greatness. Reacting to this, Jay Cutler stated that topicality bias forces everyone to forget the work of pioneering figures, saying:
“It’s crazy that when the eras get further and further apart… Arnold (Schwarzenegger) is no longer talked about as the greatest bodybuilder of all time. You realize as we get there… 20 years ago everyone was like Arnold the best.
There was no one better but obviously Coleman broke Lee Haney’s record. But as we go down the road…people lose track of the original generation.”
Jay Cutler later said that the advent of social media allowed bodybuilders of his generation to stay in front of the public even after retirement. Old time competitors like lee haney he couldn’t really maintain visibility due to a lack of technology in the past, which could be one of the reasons why the current fanbase might not be familiar with his accomplishments.
“Ronnie, Phil and I… We all took advantage… we were in that moment of transition from social media,” Jay Cutler continued.
Jay Cutler’s thoughts on the top Mr. Olympia candidates
Retired actor, politician, and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger is hailed by many as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He won the Mr. Olympia title seven times between 1970 and 1975 and in 1980. Schwarzenegger played a crucial role in popularizing the sport of bodybuilding. According to some people, including another GOAT candidate, Ronnie Coleman, Arnold is the best bodybuilder of all time. Reflecting on this consensus, Jay Cutler said:
“Because at that time it was very good, friend. To win seven (Mr. Olympia titles), you know…I mean the competition I’ve heard at the time…Arnold didn’t have to defend his title against anybody. People don’t know that. I would love for historians to weigh in on this and tell me how many Olympics Arnold won without a competitor against him.”
Continuing further down the list of consensus top bodybuilders, Jay Cutler discussed Ronnie Coleman, the champion he dethroned, and spoke Dorian Yates’ place in the argument.
“Ronnie Coleman is probably the largest specimen.”
“Dorian Yates, I would say, scared me more than Ronnie Coleman… When I saw Dorian Yates and how big his back and calves were and everything… I remember looking at him and thinking, geez! How can someone become so great?
Jay Cutler thinks not many bodybuilders could compete against Dorian Yates
Being familiar with both men, Jay Cutler argued that there were many flaws in Ronnie Coleman’s physique that did not exist in Dorian Yates’ body.
“Let’s put it this way. Ronnie had the best back, the best double biceps. I didn’t… He was… Dorian Yates was so broad. His lats were… there was nothing like it. I couldn’t believe how developed They were. If you compared their numbers, Dorian Yates’ numbers outperformed Ronnie’s in my opinion. Ronnie Coleman had more details, which is how Phil Heath did.”
Cutler further opined that even big bodybuilders like Flex Wheeler couldn’t get close to Dorian Yates due to his sheer size. He went on to say that guys like Phil Heath, whose strong point was shape and not size, couldn’t compete against Yates if they were competing against each other in their prime.
In short, the GOAT argument in most sports is more of a subjective matter than objective facts. While everyone on the GOAT consensus list has done their part to grow the sport, they can each claim the top spot in different areas rather than a fixed set of criteria.
courtesy of cutler cast YouTube channel, you can see the full video here:
