English Arabic Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Esperanto French German Hindi Latvian Luxembourgish Malayalam Maltese Norwegian Portuguese Russian Spanish Tajik

Mike Matarazzo Dies

Print Share this

IFBB Pro Mike Matarazzo has sadly passed away - Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike's close friends and family. 

If you remember, weeks ago we reported he was suffering from heart failure. Below was a quote from Mike at the time:  

"Oh, god, where do I begin? I'd have to say that everything that led to my heart problem began the minute I started getting serious about competitive bodybuilding. In order to get bigger, I'd eat five, six, seven pounds of red meat a day, no vegetables. And I'd stay away from fruits because of their sugar.

    Worst were the chemicals. I have so many memories of being alone in a hotel room the week, five days or two days before a contest, and doing unspeakable things to my body—steroids, growth hormones, diuretics—anything and everything that we as bodybuilders do to achieve a certain look.

    It has affected my whole life, so to all those guys who are on an eternal quest to have 21" arms and 20" calves, and who are so vain about their never-say-die attitude, I say, "Change your attitude." Worry about keeping that body of yours as healthy as possible, because it's going to have to last you not just through your next contest or to the end of your bodybuilding contract, but for a long time. And a long time for a human being is nothing. It goes by real quick, even quicker when your health is gone and you have nothing to stand live for."

About Mike Matarazzo, IFBB Pro

Mike Richard Matarazzo was born on November 8, 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts. He moved to Venice, California to pursue the bodybuilding dream. He  but did 7 Olympia contests over his career. competed for the first time in the Mr. Olympia in 1991. His best placing (out of seven Olympia competitions) was 9th, in 1998. Mike's last appearance in a bodybuilding contest was the 2001 Mr. Olympia, where he placed 21st.

Heart Problems

Mike Matarazzo had open heart surgery on December 8, 2004 as a result of clogged arteries. In 2007, he suffered a heart attack, his second cardiac-related problem since his surgery in December 2004.