We take a glance at all seven pro contests being held in Columbus.
By Roger “Rock” Lockridge, Managing Editor
One of the biggest fitness weekends of the year is upon us. The 2026 Arnold Sports Festival is set to be held once again in Columbus, OH on Mar. 5-8, and this is a special one for everyone connected to the annual gathering of the fitness community. Arnold Schwarzenegger is celebrating 50 years as a promoter and pursuing his “fitness crusade.”
The main event of the weekend is the Arnold Classic, which will award the largest winner’s purse in bodybuilding history, $750,000 (USD). That is part of an even bigger campaign dubbed “Million Dollar March.” If the winner of the Arnold Classic also wins the $250,000 prize for the Arnold UK later in the month, they will have accumulated $1,000,000 in less than four weeks.
For now, let’s focus on what is happening in Columbus. There are seven IFBB Pro League contests being held with Olympia qualifications on the line as well as even more prize money. Below are the lineups for each with names in alphabetical order.
Arnold Classic (Men’s Open)
That main event will feature ten of the best Men’s Open competitors in the world, and three of them know what it’s like to be called champion on this stage.
Favorites
Leading the pack of favorites is 2024 Arnold Classic winner and 2022 Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan. Choopan is coming off a runner-up finish at the 2025 Olympia and has been the subject of a lot of controversy online in recent weeks. Nonetheless, if Choopan shows up as expected, he will be tough to overtake.
The other favorite in Columbus is Andrew Jacked, who took bronze at the Olympia himself. He was automatically qualified for the 2026 Olympia, but the prize money was too good for him to pass up. If he can showcase that size with slightly better conditioning, he may hoist his first Arnold trophy at the end of Saturday night.
The next group of favorites for the first callout are the 5th, 6th, and 7th place finishers from the Olympia, and two of them are also past winners here. Nick Walker won this show in 2021, and 2019 Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry claimed gold on the Arnold stage in 2019 and 2022. Then there’s Martin Fitzwater, who has yet to win this show but beat both Walker and Brandon in Las Vegas. The only thing certain about this five-man group is that nothing is for sure.
- Rafael Brandao (Brazil)
- Hadi Choopan (Iran)
- Brandon Curry (USA)
- Martin Fitzwater (USA)
- Mohamed Foda (Egypt)
- Andrew Jacked (UAE)
- Hassan Mostafa (Egypt)
- Nick Walker (USA)
- Akim Williams (USA)
- Anthony Williams (USA)
It’s also worth noting that the Franco Columbo Most Muscular Award and Ed Corney Posing Award will be presented to competitors here. Both are expected to come with cash prizes as well.
Arnold Classic Physique
The last two winners of this contest on record are both in this lineup. Reigning champion Mike Sommerfeld will stand alongside 2024 winner Wesley Vissers. With all due respect to those men and the others in this lineup, the buzz for this one is about the pro debut of Sam Sulek. He will be the one that the fans are most anticipating seeing onstage. If he could pull off the win in his first show at the pro level, it would be one of the larger upsets in this category’s history.
- Joaquim Camps Angel (Spain)
- Vahid Badpeei (Iran)
- Ethan Gohari (USA)
- Jorge Herrera (USA)
- Paul Kanu (USA)
- Andrea Mammoli (Italy)
- Matheus Menegate Piccioli (Brazil)
- Hang Niu (China)
- Mike Sommerfeld (Germany)
- Sam Sulek (USA)
- Wesley Vissers (Netherlands)
- Gabriel Zancanelli (Brazil)
Arnold Men’s Physique
If you were to look at this contest on paper, then three-time Olympia winner Brandon Hendrickson would be the easy favorite. However, upsets have occured in this division before. Emanuel Hunter, Vitor Chaves, Andrei Deiu, and Emmanuel Costa are a few of the men that could potentially spoil Hendrickson’s chances on this stage.
- Alessandro Cavagnola (Italy)
- Vitor Chaves (Brazil)
- Emmanuel Jesus Oliveira da Costa (Brazil)
- Andrei Deiu (Romania)
- Paul Gustave (USA)
- Brandon Hendrickson (USA)
- Emanuel Hunter (USA)
- Benquil Marigny (USA)
- Burak Ozkul (Turkey)
- Nam Tran Quang (Vietnam)
- Dilson Espindola Silva (Brazil)
Arnold Pro Wheelchair
It will be strange not seeing Harold Kelley in this lineup, but new Olympia champion James Berger will look to start his own King-Kong like run by following up his Vegas win with another in Columbus.
- Will Anthony (USA)
- James Berger (USA)
- Josue Fabiano (Brazil)
- Gaylon Grigsby (USA)
- Jason Metcalf (USA)
- Jan Povýšil (Czech Republic)
Bikini International
If you’re a fan of the Bikini division, then this may be the most competitive Bikini International ever. A pair of former champions, Lauralie Chapados and Ashley Kaltwasser, will be joined by 2025 Olympia runner-up Ashlyn Little, Arnold runner-up Aimee Delgado, and seven other elite contenders for this title.
- Lauralie Chapados (Canada)
- Cynthia Chen (China)
- Aimee Delgado (USA)
- Marie-Eve Duchesneau (Canada)
- Phoebe Hagan (United Kingdom)
- Ashley Kaltwasser (USA)
- Ashlyn Little (USA)
- Reyna Perez (Mexico)
- Sharon Ramos (Colombia)
- Uliana Stadnik (USA)
- Tianna Weymouth (USA)
Wellness International
Elisa Alcantara and Rayane Fogal are the two highest Wellness Olympia finishers to enter the 2026 Wellness International. The only former champion in this show is 2023 winner Kassandra Gillis, who will try to reclaim that title against an all-star lineup of challengers.
- Elisa Alcantara (Dominican Republic)
- Marissa Andreou (Canada)
- Laysha Yireth Benitez Millan (Mexico)
- Alexis Drury (USA)
- Rayane Fogal (Brazil)
- Kassandra Gillis (Canada)
- Valquiria Telles Lopes (Brazil)
- Camile Luz (Brazil)
- Gisele Machado (Brazil)
- Raeli Pereira Dias (Brazil)
- Isamara Santos (Brazil)
- Danai Theodoropoulou (Greece)
Fitness International
2025 Fitness International champion Jaclyn Baker will be sitting this year out, guaranteeing a new champion for 2026. None of the contenders in this lineup have won this title before. 2025 runner-up Michelle Fredua-Mensah and third-place finisher Tamara Vahn appear to be the front runners going into this contest.
- Abby Bolton (Canada)
- Danielle Chikeles (USA)
- Anna Fomina (USA)
- Michelle Fredua-Mensah (United Kingdom)
- Michelle Gales (USA)
- Stephanie Jones (USA)
- Allison Kramer (USA)
- Michaela Pavleova (Slovakia)
- Amber Steffen (USA)
- Jeanine Renee Taddeo (USA)
- Aurika Tyrgale (Russia)
- Tamara Vahn (Canada)
- Jessica Zehr (Canada)
For more information on the Arnold Classic as well as the live-stream on how to watch, log on to www.arnoldsports.com . Also, stay tuned to Muscle Insider and our social media channels for recaps and interviews taking place in Columbus.
Muscle Insider’s contest coverage of the 2026 Arnold Classic is proudly sponsored by MUTANT. Check out their full lineup of high-performance supplements at mutantnation.com and on Instagram @mutantnation.
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