The 2026 Arnold Classic shook up the Men’s Open class in a way no one saw coming. On March 10, bodybuilder Brett Wilkin discussed the fallout Martin Fitzwater has faced due to bad sportsmanship at the Arnold Classic.
Fitzwater headed into Columbus as a top favorite. However, during the event, fans could tell he wasn’t his usual self. He lacked the same detail and conditioning he displayed at the 2025 Prague Pro, where he defeated Samson Dauda. As a result, “The Martian” took fourth place.
His conduct onstage was brought into question after he aggressively celebrated Nick Walker losing to Chinedu Andrew ‘Jacked’ Obiekea in the finals. He refused to shake Walker’s hand during the awards ceremony. Then, rumors spread that he actually shoved and cursed at Walker backstage. Shortly after the show wrapped up, fans began congratulating Fitzwater on his performance.
The day after the Arnold, Fitzwater shared multiple stories on his Instagram account depicting The Joker from Batman. One commenter on Instagram told him that real men shake every competitor’s hand, to which Fitzwater replied, ‘Gfys.’ Fitzwater’s behavior has rippled through the community, with RAW and Elev8 Foods deciding to no longer work with him. In light of the ongoing drama, his closest friend and training partner, Wilkin, issued a statement.
Brett Wilkin Breaks Down Martin Fitzwater’s Bad Sportsmanship Drama, Fires Back Against Hateful Comments
In the Instagram post, Wilkin was clear that he doesn’t support Fitzwater’s actions and believes some comments were warranted.
“Although I do not support Martin’s actions these last few days, the reality is he is my brother and I care for him and at this moment it’s just solely about him getting in a better spot mentally. I’m not coming on here to make excuses for any actions or to go into a meaningless comment section interaction. A lot of the initial comments and reactions were warranted for sure.”
However, he admits the situation has escalated to the point where he is truly disgusted by messages online.
“What I AM going to say here tho is I am absolutely disgusted by the messages I have been receiving today and the hate involved. I’ve received 100s of message requests that are full of crap that honestly just shows me people reflecting their own insecurities, jealousy, hatred, and personal problems.”
He added that he’s spoken to Nick Walker, who also wants to see Fitzwater bounce back from this.
“To continue to tear a man down now when he’s at his lowest says a lot more about you than it does the individual. Even Nick Walker, who I’ve personally talked to, wants to see Martin bounce back from this… meanwhile, there are so many internet trolls that are ‘representing for Nick’ getting some kind of high I guess from messaging me hateful things.”
“If that’s what you call ‘being a fan’ then you’re twisted in the head and truly your idol you look up to in the first place doesn’t care regardless so you just look stupid in the end. I’m a pretty positive individual all together, I could never imagine taking the time out of my day to write such things to somebody I will never know nor care to ever do so. It’s a sad thing to see indeed. Be better than that,” Brett Wilkin shared.
Thus far, Fitzwater shared a post with the caption ‘Goodbye’ and has only put out a single statement since the ordeal, which you can find below:
Shawn Ray was one of the latest bodybuilding veterans to discuss the controversy. He compared Fitzwater to a ‘Craig Titus 2.0’ and said that social media is costing Fitzwater money, considering he’s already lost two high-profile sponsorships.
Fitzwater’s future in the sport looks uncertain at this time. Bodybuilding is a tough sport; fans hope he finds peace and returns better than ever.
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