The 2026 Arnold Classic left the community with plenty to talk about, including Martin Fitzwater‘s conduct onstage. On March 9, 2026, bodybuilding veteran Lee Priest discussed the fan backlash Fitzwater has received following the show.
From March 5-8, the 2026 Arnold Classic took over Columbus, Ohio. The Men’s Open clash was an unpredictable showdown between the mass of Nick Walker, the shape of Chinedu Andrew ‘Jacked’ Obiekea, and the conditioning of Hadi Choopan. In the end, Jacked prevailed in first place. Fitzwater, meanwhile, finished fourth.
However, upon receiving his medal, he chose to shake every competitor’s hand onstage, except Walker’s. In addition, when Walker lost in the closely-fought show against Jacked, Fitzwater was seen aggressively celebrating. It’s uncertain if he was expressing those emotions because Walker didn’t win or because he supports Jacked.
After the show wrapped up, Fitzwater made the rounds on social media for allegedly shoving and cursing at Walker backstage. Additionally, he’s allegedly cursed at fans in the comment sections of multiple posts.
You can find some of the alleged comments Fitzwater shared with fans online below, courtesy of the @_nixjrlifts_ Instagram account:
Martin Fitzwater Dropped From Sponsor, Lee Priest Discusses Fan Backlash After 2026 Arnold Classic
In a recent Instagram story post shared by Elev8 Foods, they announced that they parted ways with Fitzwater.
While speaking on Instagram, Priest noted that not everyone learns how to conduct themselves with sportsmanship.
“It’s not really a rant but everyone has been asking me my opinion on Martin. Like I said on the post on Beyond the Stage TV, look, we all have our moments and people say, oh we’re meant to learn this as a kid, sportsmanship, and that. Well, not everyone learns it the same pace as others. Some people never learn.”
Priest acknowledged that Fitzwater did show bad sportsmanship but stressed that no one knows what’s going on in his head.
“Look at people doing stuff in the world, when you think, well, they should have been taught as a kid from right and wrong, and some people do. Some people are emotional. Some people have other stuff going on in their heads. You people coming down on Martin, are you perfect? We all have our ups and our downs. Yes, what he did was bad sportsmanship, but we don’t know what’s going on in his head or anyone’s mind.”
Given how he’s acted and the current circumstances, Priest doesn’t want to see anything bad happen to Fitzwater.
“He could just be in a bad place. So, I just don’t want to see anything bad happen to him, or when people are in a bad space reading all those comments where everyone’s coming down you might do something silly, then how are you people going to feel if he does something? Oh, he deserves it, blah, blah blah. Yes, you can say he needs to grow up. Reading a lot of your comments, a lot of you people are no better. You should have learned too. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all,” he said.
“Maybe reach out, give him some support. Maybe people on his team can give him some support. No one knows what other people are going through.”
Fitzwater has made a notable Instagram post since the backlash began, and he kept it brief, saying “Goodbye.”
As it stands, it’s unclear if Fitzwater intends to just deactivate his Instagram account or stop competing altogether. He has decided to make his Instagram private for now. Previously, Fitzwater called all media ‘garbage’ and stoked fires with various figures of bodybuilding including reporter Giles ‘Tiger’ Thomas.
Martin Fitzwater’s future in bodybuilding looks a tad uncertain at this juncture. In time, perhaps he will issue a statement on the fan backlash and provide more insight into these recent events.
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