u/Husserl_Lover

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The title of this post is part rage bait, part shit posting. But I also haven't seen a thread dedicated to Kamil's claim to natty status. Why is he so adamant on being natty? Does he get drug tested for his job as a construction worker (who operates that big machine)? He doesn't participate in WAF. Maybe he doesn't want his children to know he is taking PEDs.

He did the one event and was gone. I watched a livestream on Dexter's channel, where Drew got trolled by a superchat and his response was that he is sitting in a lamborgini and sleeps with supermodels so he doesn't care what that person thinks. The whole time the kid was talking, Dexter is just sitting there with a blank face, almost like a scowl lol. Strange.

Every comment section was absolutely brutal against Drew. He seems like he knows Hollywood, but people didn't like the arrogance and plastic surgery, Hollywood look. Maybe the fans are just slow to warm up to people. The reception was mixed overall. Lots of hate, but some people did say "give him a chance. He will grow the sport" and such.

Did Baxter and Dexter ever say why they canned him? I never saw an official statement, except for the bad comments. But then again, even Michael Todd gets tons of hate. So did Devon for a while. Or all the referees. They're not getting fired lol.

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I've seen people throw this idea out there once or twice, but I've never seen an entire thread on it. What's the verdict? Did Eddie Hall get caught up in trash talking and making a spectacle and forget his entire strategy that was making him win? (This is what they said at the time.) How does someone so steeped in high pressure competition suddenly lose his head and forget his strategy? Or... did Eddie let Brian win?

I wonder if Eddie Hall let Brian win because if Eddie won, it would have ruined Brian's entire arm wrestling career. Look at how things have gone since he lost to Leonidas, who has years and years under his belt. Imagine what a catastrophe losing to Eddie would have been. Eddie had been training for a couple of months and was way more fluid and technical at the table.

Give those two a rematch and give Eddie another few months to prepare, and he would beat Brian (again).

I feel like the 115kg category is in a weird spot.

First, the rankings are arbitrary at this point. We don't have enough matches at that weight to have a meaningful ranking.

Then, for the same reason, Ivan Matyushenko is only the on-paper champion, and it didn't make a lot of sense for Ibram Sagov or Dave Chaffee to have the title either.

And then there is the final problem that if Michael Todd, Devon, or Ermes wanted to compete in that category, they'd be the top 3 guys pretty easily. Then there are the people at 105kg who can move up, like Petrenko. Add injured athletes and it gets trickier.

It's a class that hasn't really been defined as an independently existing category, like 105 or superheavy weights. It's in this middle spot, where people can make weight any time they want, even though they are supereheavy weights. And we don't have enough data to know who is the "who's who" of the 115kg even if it can be seen as its own category at all.

What do you guys think? Is this a real problem for the 115kg -- or the 115kg title holder? And how can it be fixed? Same-day weigh ins? Or will it just take time to sort itself out?

There are a few things that changed at that time. Devon showed up as his heaviest version yet. And Devon dominated Michael when he was coming in as the underdog after his loss last time. And 2021 is when King of the Table and East vs. West started, and we got see lots of matches that were blocked by contracts in the years prior.

However, I also think 2021 marks a turning point in Devon's career. We saw him take down almost all the Europeans after years of ducking them. And he also showcased just how strong he was. The thing is, I don't know how much evidence there is that Devon is stronger now than his 2021 version, just because he had so few matches in 2021 and 2022 and we really can't know for sure. It's hard to separate the marketing and hype from the facts of how much he has really improved.

So what's different now? Is Devon that much stronger than he was in 2021 and 2022? Is it the steroids? The diet/training? Or is it none of the above -- instead it's that we are seeing just how good he was all along, but never could appreciate due to how few matches he took in 2021/2022?

He said his arm wrestling specific lifts are as good as he can complete in his super heavy weight form. That's pretty impressive. Then again, Toddzilla says that a 105kg Oleg Petrenko is in the top 10 in the world, which is crazy.

I think Michael Todd has a good chance, but then again, he has a habit of losing matches that he is supposed to win. (against Vitaly, against Kamil, and so on) Maybe without the pressure of a Levan match on the line, Michael will perform better. Some of his struggles seem to be in dealing with the pressure, sometimes yelling at the crowd midmatch.

That being said, I want to see him pull this off. He is still a legend in the sport and a tough match for anybody.

Interesting thing to consider: Oleg Petrenko has faced (a) John Breznk (b) Devon Larratt, (c) Todd Hutchings, and now (d) Michael Todd. Kind of cool that he is pulling all the best of the West (and the best of the East too).

I don't want this to turn into another hate session on Micheal Todd. I want to know:

Does he have a shot at winning? Can he actually pull this off? Are his struggles just psychological? Lack of technique? Bad matchups? Failure to adapt to the new level of arm wrestling? His age? Or is the pressure too much?

Todd Hutchings said in an interview recently that at 105kgs Petrenko is top 10 in the open weight division too, not just in the 105kg class. Tons of people in the comments agreed too.

If that's true and if Michael Todd wins, he should 100% get a shot against Levan. He deserves it.