The 2026 Arnold Classic UK is set for March 27-29 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Ahead of the event on March 26, judge Terrick El Guindy offered Martin Fitzwater advice before stepping onstage. In addition, bodybuilding veteran Dennis James discussed his sponsor fallout after the Arnold Classic in Ohio.
Martin Fitzwater‘s been on fire in the IFBB Pro League. At the 2025 Mr. Olympia, he earned fifth place right behind Samson Dauda. They rematched at the Prague Pro, where Fitzwater brought arguably his all-time best look. After securing gold, he carried that momentum into the Arnold Classic Ohio.
However, Fitzwater ultimately took fourth place. Meanwhile, his rival, Nick Walker, placed second, and that didn’t sit well for “The Martian.” He refused to shake Walker’s hand and celebrated his loss to Chinedu Andrew “Jacked” Obiekea. As a result of his bad sportsmanship, Fitzwater was dropped by all of his sponsors. With his next contest approaching, El Guindy and James gave their opinions on the shakeup.
Terrick El Guindy, Dennis James Give Martin Fitzwater 2026 Arnold Classic UK Advice, Discuss Sponsors Dropping Him
In the Prime Time Muscle podcast, El Guindy told Fitzwater that he has to understand and tolerate that he can’t always bring his best to the stage.
“I let him know the internet is a fictional, deceptive world. People write stuff there that they don’t mean. He is going to come back from this, but what I want from Martin is for him to understand that he’s going to have a showing that’s not his best, and he needs to be okay with it,” shared Terrick El Guindy.
Dennis James believes cancel culture led to Fitzwater being dropped by his sponsors. He stressed that the inability to earn income is ‘probably the worst thing that can happen to a person.’
“I hate cancel culture. Everybody makes mistakes. To take someone’s livelihood away, basically, the chance to make money and pay your bills… for me, that’s probably the worst thing that can happen to a person, which is definitely not helping. If you think someone has issues, mental problems, and you just cancel everything, what do you think you’re going to do? What do you expect him to do? Oh, thanks for letting me go. What am I going to do now?”
He added that sponsors could have waited longer before making the rash decision:
“I think that was a little fast, even for the sponsors. They could have waited. We all know whatever happens on the internet will die down in two weeks. Nobody is going to speak about it no more, and you should have a talk with him before you drop a person.”
El Guindy and James aren’t the only popular names in the sport to discuss the Fitzwater drama. Former seven-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath recently shared that he doesn’t want to see Fitzwater’s career destroyed. To blow off some steam, Jacked offered to pay for him to go on a vacation.
Fitzwater has a huge opportunity in front of him. If he manages to win or push Jacked, he’ll regain some much-needed momentum in the busy Men’s Open division.
Watch the full video from the OlympiaTV YouTube channel below:
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