Thread: Victor Martinez Speaks About Fight With Chris Cormier

Victor Martinez Speaks About Fight With Chris Cormier


At the largest fitness/supplement trade show in Europe, Chris Cormier fought Victor Martinez! The fight took place at the annual FIBO trade show which in Germany. When the fight broke out, tables, chairs, protein powder and nitric oxide stimulators flew and people fled the hell out of the way! Okay, no protein powder or nitric oxide stimulators flew but you get the picture! Now after such an incident, most pros would may have dodged reporters and their fans and try to just sweep it under the rug. But like a true champ, Victor Martinez issued a statement online about the situation via MuscularDeveopment.com:

“Just wanted to take this time to send my apologies to MHP, MD, Weider, Exhibitors and most of all my fans. As most of you know, this past weekend there was an incident that happened between Chris & I. It occurred at FIBO & sadly, I wished it could have been handled in in more professional way, but, it wasn’t. I’m happy to say though that Chris & I have settled our differences and look forward to the future without any problems. For those of you that are curious to know what it may have been about, lets just say it has to do with comments that was said to each other over the years. Sorry to the clowns in that they hoped that it would have been a bigger story haha. Me & Chris have known each other for far too long to let this go unresolved the way it did. The rest is history and I hope that my fans can let this go as such.”
Sincerely
Victor Martinez

I think this says a lot about Victor’s character and his willingness to be open and honest if he messes up on something. It’s also admirable that he apologized to his magazine sponsor (MD) and his supplement sponsor (MHP). Without sponsors like MD and MHP pro bodybuilders would have minimal exposure and of course minimal cash! Victor handled this one well. It should be noted also that according to Ron Harris, Chris Cormier picked the fight with Victor.

Kudos to Big Vic!

Ellington Darden of Nautilus fame had the opportunity to speak with Steve Reeves a million years ago. T-Nation, a popular online site, documented the moment in an interview with Darden:

Later that afternoon, Reeves told me that he was thoroughly burned out on the bodybuilding scene, that he wanted nothing to do with it. Casey Viator and I both could tell by looking into his eyes that he'd been disappointed numerous times by disingenuous people and probably taken advantage of too many times to remember.

But Reeves continued to hang around the Nautilus gym, which was just off my office. He interacted with some of the regular trainees who dropped by to workout that day. And he continued to chat with Viator and me. Slowly he began to open up – especially when I brought up the topic of Muscle Beach and his training time at Tanny's. Then he alluded to something that I won't forget. He said he missed those hard training sessions at Tanny's and he remembered how quickly his body had responded.

But most of all, he said that he missed those innocent times when the older bodybuilders at Tanny's offered help, sincere help, to the younger guys who had just joined. He used the word "mentoring" several times and noted that he seldom saw such behavior in the gyms he visited today.

/quote from the T-Nation site

I first met Victor Martinez when he guest posed at a bodybuilding show in Maryland. Martinez spent a generous amount of time speaking with his fans, guest posed, and then was back out in the main lobby area talking with fans some more while the staff was closing up the auditorium, stacking chairs, and preparing to leave after the show's conclusion.

I'm sure that Martinez could have bolted and that his contractual obligation had been met long before he left the venue. I was impressed by Martinez's care and genuine concern for the people he spoke with that evening.

So I wasn't surprised at all to see Martinez appear in a Jon Delarosa video discussing the subject of mentoring. See http://mdtv.musculardevelopment.com/...view/2116/240/.

During the interview, Shawn Ray asked if Martinez was training Delarosa or just working out with him.

Martinez answered, "I'd say more of a friend ... to help him, you know, kinda follow his goal in bodybuilding. Which, you know, is something I wish I would have had with somebody, so it's... if I could do it for somebody, it's like why not? You know? So it's kinda really more like a friend."

That's not from a textbook. That's conversational and heartfelt. And it's incredibly humble and almost dismisses the importance of what he's doing with this young bodybuilder. What would you pay to have that kind of guidance? Martinez has been >< close to a Sandow and is someone who has had tremendous success in the sport. Just imagine the help it would be to have the assistance of someone at that level.

Although Martinez downplays what he provided for Delarosa, he's obviously a mentor just as those older bodybuilders in Vic Tanny's Dungeon were mentors.

This is what bodybuilding is. Much respect to Victor Martinez for carrying on the tradition of mentoring in the sport.