Arnold Classic 2018 - Finals Report

Arnold Classic 2018 Contest Report

By Domenic Mauro

What began as a pro bodybuilding competition in 1989, has grown into the world’s largest multi-sport fitness weekend! An event with four days of sports competitions, demonstrations, seminars, entertainment and the latest fitness and sports nutrition products. Muscle Insider has been in Columbus, Ohio to cover the Arnold Sports Festival every year since we laucnhed our magazine in 2010. Every year as Muscle Insider grows, so does the Arnold Sports Festival of course! The festival barring 7 time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name now features 14 Olympic sports, 9 IFBB Pro League contests, the Arnold Amateur contest and the Arnold Strongman Classic. Below is the Finals Report for the 9 IFBB Pro League contests. Before we get knee deep into the results, we would like to give a HUGE shout out to ALLMAX NUTRITION for sponsoring our contest coverage for this year’s event. 

 

Bodybuilding

William “The Conqueror” Bonac wins the 30th Anniversary Arnold Classic! A Ghana native now living in the Netherlands, won in his first professional appearance on the famed Arnold Classic stage and took home $130,000.

Bonac, who first made a name for himself in bodybuilding when he finished third in the heavyweight division at the 2011 Arnold Amateur, dominated all three rounds of judging to achieve his first professional victory at a major IFBB Pro show. This was the fourth IFBB Pro win for Bonac, who was third at the 2017 Mr. Olympia.

The never aging Dexter Jackson (now 47) took 2nd and a cheque for $75,000 defeating last year’s winner Cedric McMillan who finished in 3rd spot and is $50,000 richer. Jackson is the winningest bodybuilder of all time with 28 career wins. Five of them being the Arnold Classic. When asked when he was going to retire, he replied, “When I stop finishing in the top 5!”

Roelly Winklaar of the Netherlands stunned the crowd with his enormous proportions taking fourth spot and a cheque for $30,000.

Allmax sponsored athlete Steve Kuclo took 5th coming in massive yet completely shredded in his Arnold Classic debut! This is the absolute best shape we’ve ever seen him in and we can’t wait to see what his physique looks like at his next competition. With Allmax and Amanda Latona by his side, we’ve confident he’ll be on the Olympia stag this fall.

Lionel Beyeke of France, competing in Columbus for the fourth time, brought some noticeable gains to the stage. This is the biggest we’ve seen in competition. He finished 6th.

Honourable mention goes to Dennis “The Big Bad” Wolf on his comeback debut. Dennis suffered a neck injury back in 2016 which eventually needed surgery. All considering, he looked diced, but did lack the size and proportions we’re all used to seeing on him. It’s going to be interesting to see how he grows as the completion season progresses.

Also competing and finishing seventh through 13th, respectively, were Justin Rodriquez (New York, New York), Jonathan De La Rosa (White Plains, New York), Lukas Osladil (Czech Republic), Hidetada Yamagishi (Japan), Fred Smalls (Townsend, Delaware), Dennis Wolf (Germany) and Maxx Charles (Huntington, New York). Paul Poloczek of Germany also competed but did not finish.

Bikini

Current Ms. Olympia Angelica Teixeira won the Bikini International for the second straight year and took home the cheque for $7,000. This was Teixeira’s 5th straight win and it looks like there is no stopping her as she explodes into the 2018 season! In 2nd place was Janet Layug who is consistently finishing in the top and always a contender to win. She took home the cheque for $3,000. The 3rd place spot and a cheque for $2,000 went to Casey Samsel. 4th place and a cheque for $1,000 went to Romina Basauldo of Argentina. The 2017 Ms. Olympia runner up and ALLMAX sponsored athlete, Jennifer Ronzitti took 5th place and a $1,000. Ronzitti has finished in the top five and won 3 of her last seven shows. Rounding up the top six is Breena Martinez who also took home a $1,000.

Men’s Physique

Andre Ferguson wins his first Arnold Men’s Physique Title. After finishing 2nd in both the 2017 Arnold Classic and 2017 Olympia, Andre beat 28 other competitors to win the Arnold Classic Men’s Physique for the biggest win of his career. Andre was in such good condition that we had him shoot with our Chief Photographer Dave Laus the next day! Make sure to check out the next issue to see some of the best physique images we’ve ever taken.

The remainder of the Arnold Men’s Physique top six:

2nd Raymont Edwards received $2,000

3rd Brandon Hendrickson (2016 Champion) received $1,500

4th Logan Franklin received $1,000

5th George Brown received $1,000

6th Steven Cao received $500

Arnold Classic Pro Wheelchair

Harold “King Kong” Kelley wins 3rd straight Arnold Classic Pro Wheelchair Championships. Kelley continued his dominance of the sport of professional wheelchair bodybuilding when he won the Arnold Classic Pro Wheelchair for the third straight year. Kelly earned $3,000 and a one-of-a-kind Arnold Classic Pro Wheelchair Championship Ring from event founder Nick Scott.

The remainder of the Arnold Classic Pro Wheelchair top five:

2nd Reggie Bennett (USA) earned $2,000.

3rd Gabriele Andriulli (Italy) earned $1,000.

4th Daniel Minster (Czech Republic)

5th Steve Lister (USA)

Fitness

Whitney Jones took home $25,000 and the Fitness International title! With Oksana Grishna’s retirement, the Arnold Fitness title was up for grabs and Whitney grabbed it by the horns. An inspiring win winning the title for the first time, she did so after coming back from a serious back injury.

The remainder of the Fitness International top six:

Kate Errington who turned pro at the 2017 Arnold Amateur, came back 1 year later to take 2nd place at the pro show and received $13,000 in prize money. 3rd Place went to Bethany Wagner who received $8,000

4th Regiane Da Silva received $5,000

5th Ariel Khadr received $3,000

6th Derina Wilson received $2,000

212

England’s Kamal Elgargni wins Arnold Classic 212 in Columbus debut! Kamal Elgargni, was a very accomplished amateur winning Mr. Universe and World Championship titles. Now an IFBB Pro he looks to give Flex Lewis a run for the title at the Olympia.

The remainder of the Arnold Classic 212 top six:

2nd Charles Dixon received $10,000

3rd Samir Troudi received $6,000

4th David Henry received $4,000

Jose Raymond who was just not in the shape we’re used to seeing him in and took 5th place and a cheque for $2,000.

6th Gaetano Cisternino Jr. received $1,000

Figure

Candice Lewis-Carter walked away with a $16,000 cheque as she took the Figure International title for the second year in a row! She’ll also be gracing the pages of Muscle Insider in future issues as Dave Laus captured images of her workout secrets while in Columbus.

The remainder of the Figure International top six:

2nd Cydney Gillon received $10,000

3rd Heather Dees received $8,000

4th Michele Silva received $5,000

5th Bojana Vasiljevic received $3,000

6th Maria Luisa Baeza Diaz received $2,000

Women’s Physique

Shanique Grant won the Women’s Physique International title! Not too long ago, Grant was viciously attacked by a predator on the loose causing her to pull out of the 2016 Olympia. Now having switched over from the Figure category and winning the New York Pro 2 years running, she can add $5,000 to her bank account and the 2018 Women’s Physique International title to her accomplishments.

The remainder of the Women’s Physique International top six:

2nd Natalia Coelho received $2,000

3rd Margita Zamolova received $1,500

4th Michaela Aycock received $1,000

5th Kira Neuman received $1,000

6th Priscila Cavilha received $500

Classic Physique

Mr. Olympia Breon Ansley takes home $5000 and makes history by winning the inaugural Arnold Classic Physique title! Make sure to check out Breon in the upcoming pagers of Muscle Insider as we did a cool gym shoot with him just after his historic win.

The remainder of the Arnold Classic Physique top six:

2nd Arash Rahbar received $2,000

3rd Courage Opara received $1,500

4th Danny Hester received $1,000

5th Kevin Ford received $1,000

6th Dani Younan received $500