Bodybuilding icon Jay Cutler is ready for the Mr. Olympia brand to institute some game-changing alterations to its structure. In a recent Cutler Cast Podcast released on November 16, 2023, Cutler and Milos Sarcev argued in favor of turning the Men’s Open Mr. Olympia into a one-day show instead of the current two-night system.
“But there’s a reason they cater the show time schedule and map the men around it… it’s still the Mr. Olympia right? What’s the contest called?” shares Cutler.
As a former four-time Mr. Olympia titleholder, few men have understood and dominated the Men’s Open class like Cutler has. His legacy was set in stone in 2006 by dethroning the long-standing champ and rival, Ronnie Coleman. In addition, Cutler remains the only Men’s Open Mr. Olympia to win back the coveted title, which he accomplished in 2009 against Branch Warren and Dexter Jackson.
In what has become tradition, the annual Mr. Olympia competition is now a two-day event. Earlier this month, the 59th edition of Mr. Olympia took place in Orlando, Florida. The headlining Men’s Open category was featured on Friday night for prejudging and then again on Saturday for the finals, which saw Derek Lunsford emerge victorious.
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Given the various factors that can affect an athlete’s physique, Jay Cutler and Milos Sarcev believe it would benefit the participants and fans if prejudging, finals, and awards happened all in one day.
Jay Cutler Wants 1-Day Mr. Olympia, Suggests Moving Open Prejudging to Noon: “You Wake Up Drier”
According to Cutler, Mr. Olympia should move its prejudging to noon, which he suspects will have a positive impact on competitors aiming to peak properly.
“This is what I would suggest: let’s put it on the table… let’s push them to a noon, at noon it starts, similar to the Arnold Classic so we know and let’s see what two years does about people hitting peaks.
And I guarantee — and I think all of us sitting here including a lot of our viewers and listeners and whatever else, they are gonna be in better condition! You wake up drier.”
Bodybuilding veteran Shawn Ray joined Cutler recently and also suggested changing Mr. Olympia’s timetable. As for coach Milos Sarcev, he understands why it would be beneficial for athletes.
“Shawn made a great point, you piss out water all night, you wake up, you might be flat, but you get a little bit of food in there, [slaps hands] good,” said Cutler.
“I see this as a coach all the time. They wake up in the morning, you are celebrating and then a few hours later, ‘Oh shit. We have to change this and that.’ Yeah. That’s the worst thing, now they’re flat or they’re not dry enough,” said Sarcev.
Without disrespecting the other IFBB Pro League divisions, Cutler did his best to explain why Mr. Olympia should be a one-day event.
“I’m talking Open Bodybuilding. I’m not even talking about all the other classes because it seems like now of course, you bring in Open Bodybuilding and the expectation is you’re going to bring all these other classes and the Open is going to carry them just like we talk about with the prejudging on Friday night… it’s carrying all those other divisions there with crowd response instead of just having one. They literally should have the Mr. Olympia in one day,” shared Cutler.
“They can’t say ‘Well Classic Physique,’ well Classic was at 9 in the morning. Of course, Bikini and all that went on because they took a break but push these to another space and put the men on at noon back to back with the Classic and have it Saturday night and the show is won and done in one day and we’re good to go.”
“It’s an athlete thing. We talk about, I mean I know a show is a show. But I mean, come on,” said Cutler. “I don’t want to insult, let’s not insult the other divisions. Listen, there’s a lot of fans that come to see Classic and Women’s Bikini and Women’s Bodybuilding all this stuff, I never want to disrespect. Me as an athlete, I understand that position right?
Considering the show’s prestige, Sarcev underlined the promotion’s duty to ensure quality lighting and timing.
“If it’s the biggest bodybuilding show of the year you should time it and light it properly so you can get the most out of it,” added Milos Sarcev.
“The only sporting event that’s happening at 10 at night is Formula 1 here this coming weekend, of course [and UFC],” replied Cutler.
If Men’s Open competitors could vote to make the Mr. Olympia a one-day event, Sarcev believes the tally would be a landslide.
“What I’m asking is I think it should be an option. If you asked everyone that competed this year. Let’s take the 17 guys. Let’s ask 17 guys if they want to go on at 10 at night or if they would like to push to noon. How many votes do you think you would get?” asks Cutler.
“It would be unanimous,” replied Sarcev.
In addition to timing concerns, Shawn Ray also brought up the idea of moving Mr. Olympia out of the United States. August saw the return of the 2023 Masters Olympia show in Cluj, Romania. However, Ray believes the Mr. Olympia should take place in Dubai. Given fanfare in the Middle East, Ray suspected that it would open new doors for the sport.
While it doesn’t appear bodybuilding’s ‘Super Bowl’ will return to a one-day event, fans are still counting down until 2024 Mr. Olympia. Dan Solomon revealed 2024 Mr. Olympia will take place from October 10-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Watch the full video from the Cutler Cast YouTube channel below:
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