Keone Pearson, fresh off his second title win at the 2024 Mr. Olympia, aims to elevate the Men’s 212 division. In a recent YouTube video shared on November 13, 2024, he called for increased prize money and advocated for the division’s inclusion at the annual Arnold Classic events.
Keone Pearson has been the face of the Men’s 212 Bodybuilding division for the past two years. In 2023, he showcased remarkable shape, aesthetics, and a tiny waist to capture his first title against former two-time champion Shaun Clarida. When they rematched a year later, ‘The Giant Killer’ gave him a tough fight, but couldn’t prevent Pearson from achieving gold.
With Arnold Schwarzenegger increasing the Men’s Open prize money for the 2025 event to $500,000 and Olympia boosting its Open winner payout to $600,000, talks about incentives for other divisions have started to gain traction. In 2024, the Arnold Classic, won by Hadi Choopan, did not feature the Men’s 212 Bodybuilding division, prompting many names in the sport such as Iris Kyle to advocate for its return alongside a host of female bodybuilding categories.
Keone Pearson Calls for Prize Money Boost in Men’s 212, Wants His Division Back at Arnold Classic
Keone Pearson maintains that the 212 division deserves a higher payout. After all, fans have witnessed some massive names emerge thanks to 212, such as former Mr. Olympia champions Derek Lunsford, and Hadi Choopan, as well as bodybuilding veteran William Bonac.
“I think we all deserve to be paid more always, you know. We all do the same work, we all do the same stuff, take the same drugs and suffer and make the same sacrifices I feel. So yeah, but it is what it is.”
“All we can do is, as me being a champ, is to make it aware that look, I want to invest more into 212. I want to push the category more and I would like to make the prize money a lot bigger.”
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Pearson revealed plans to help increase the prize money at shows such as the Pittsburgh and New York Pro.
“I actually have some plans this year. I wanted to show face more at shows like Pittsburgh Pro, New York Pro, and I would love to try to increase the money for the 212 myself and try to help out.”
However, Pearson points out that the only way to earn a higher payout is to step up and make the individuals in control of the sport acknowledge the hard work of 212 contenders.
“On this point, with the money being what it is, the only way for it to go up is people like myself and the other athletes that have a huge influence in the world to actually step up and show the people like ‘Hey, we are invested in the Classic or the Open or 212 or Men’s Physique.’
I think us stepping up, that is going to make the people above us want to step up more. So, we just gotta put the work in too. I just believe that’s where we are at right now” Pearson explained.
When discussing the Arnold Classic, Pearson expressed his interest in seeing the 212 return to the famous stage. In the past, former seven-time 212 Olympia Flex Lewis, managed to win 212 gold at the Arnold Classic.
“I do wish they could put it back because I always like to go back to if it wasn’t for 212 there’d be no Hadi or Derek, these are two Mr. Olympia’s. So, I do hope we can get 212 back in there but like I said it just, the only way I think we can do that is, people like me step and just everybody else come together and perform. We need more people in the 212 division honestly to make that happen.”
However, Keone Pearson believes that the division needs to grow which will attract the attention needed for a return to the Arnold Classic stage.
“That’s the thing, we need more people. Classic has 60-70 people in the class at the Olympia, it’s not even that many people in a regular show. Usually the regular shows is like maybe 30 or so.
At the Olympia, it’s like 60, so like, we need more people from Classic who can probably come to 212 and we can up these numbers and maybe they’ll start wanting to put us in the show but right now I don’t feel like we have enough people.”
Pearson has faith that eventually the Men’s 212 will return, noting that the category is worthy of the Arnold Classic without a doubt.
“But I do think the standard is changing, even this year, and the level of competition is coming up, I think it very worthy of the Arnold for sure.”
This isn’t the first time that Pearson has expressed his interest in elevating the Men’s 212 division. Shortly after his win at the 2024 Mr. Olympia, Keone Pearson emphasized that the category was not dead. Instead, he shut down any rumors surrounding his move to the Men’s Open and doubled down on his goal to expand the 212 division.
Time will tell if Keone Pearson can elevate the popularity of the 212 category so that it returns to the Arnold Classic. In the meantime, he plans to represent the division and continue dominating at the 212 Olympia, constantly improving upon his already complete physique.
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