Your basket is currently empty!
by Christian Duque
This is a very interesting article that I’ve wanted to write for quite some time and I have to give credit to Ivan Bodybuilding for covering it because if he did not do that I probably would not have written this article. What I mean by that is that he weighed in on Derek’s recent podcast where he touched upon the issue of competing against Hadi and why out of all the competitors in the past Mr Olympia beating Hadi was the most important and the most special.
But he also talked about a different angle that I had suspicions about for much of 2025. If you recall both Derek and Hadi had the same coach. Hany was the coach in question. He was one of the most sought after coaches in the bodybuilding industry and considered to be the coach that worked with the top tier. This was the same coach that worked with Phil Heath, eight time Mr Olympia. This is also the same coach that worked with Chris Bumstead. When you’re talking about coaches and the packing order in the sport of bodybuilding and physique-based sports you can’t get any more prestigious than Hany Rambod.
And everything was working just fine. Derek had won the Olympia, Hadi had won the Olympia, and Hany was training them both. But then something happened. Something that really has never happened before. Out of nowhere Hany decided that he was going to stop coaching competitors. The explanation that was given to the world was that Hany wanted to focus on family, and friends, and having a life outside of the sport. and the fact is working with the biggest names in the industry took too much time away from him with his friends and family as well as with his company. And his company being Evogen, which is a highly successful supplement line that caters to the most successful athletes in the industry. It’s by no means cheap, I wouldn’t even call it affordable, but it is a very sought-after brand.
People have a right to change gears. Some coaches train competitors and lifestyle clients, other coaches just train lifestyle clients only, while other coaches do other things.
A lifestyle client is simply a person that wants to stay in shape, watch their diet, but have no intention of getting on stage. For many coaches, lifestyle clients provide their main source of income. Also lifestyle clients are far less demanding because they don’t have to compete. They don’t have to peak for the stage and they don’t have to have the pressures of active competitors. But then again, Hany didn’t really need to coach at all. He already has all the money that he needs and he generates income from his company. In fact, he could step away from coaching altogether and that’s sort of what the writing on the wall was.
Once Hany cut all of his star clients, we started seeing Hadi tagging Hany on a lot of his Instagram content for the 2025 Olympia. This created a little bit of interest because Derek totally cut ties with Hany once Hany moved on, really every athlete that worked with Hany did the same as Derek. The only exception of course was Hadi. Hadi continued tagging Hany and Hany continued liking Hadi’s posts and being active on Hadi’s social media. Now both Hadi and Hany are Iranian and both speak Farsi and both have a lot of cultural similarities. It could also be argued that Hadi and Hany were friends while Hany may not have been friends with his other competitors. Perhaps with the other competitors it was more of a professional relationship, but even still it did look a little strange that the relationship between Hadi and Hany didn’t really change at all.
Then people started speculating as to whether or not Hany was actually training Hadi – prepping him for the Olympia. If that were the case, it would have certainly raised an eyebrow because it would have meant that Hany didn’t in fact stop coaching, rather, got rid of all his clients so that he could focus on Hadi. When you look at it from that perspective how could a guy like Derek not be offended? I mean Hany took him all the way to the Olympia. Derek won the Olympia and now Derek had won the Arnold Classic (2025) and the Pittsburgh Pro (2025) and he was on his way to reclaiming the Olympia title. How do you think that would have made Derek feel if in fact the whole thing about Hany taking a step back from coaching was just a way to get rid of all the athletes so he could focus on Hadi? I mean that is pretty wild if you ask me.
I think what sealed the deal was when Hadi arrived in the United States and was seen with Hany pretty much everywhere. Then it became more abundantly clear that those guys were actually working together. While that has not been officially confirmed, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck – it’s a duck!! There really isn’t much more to talk about right? Well actually there is.
On Derek’s recent podcast he was asked if there was anybody in particular that he really enjoyed beating at this past Olympia. And Derek was very clear that the most important person that he defeated was Hadi. That’s because there’s a rivalry there. Hadi’s fans have gained a lot of notoriety over the years for their level of fanaticism. How they go after people that they feel defeated Hadi when Hadi should not have been defeated. In fact, Hadi’s fans have come close to posting what could be construed as death threats and other very aggressive type posts and messages. They take the results quite personally and they generally lash out at whoever places better than Hadi. So there’s that as well.
Between what may have been a betrayal from Hany, between the rivalry between Derek and Hadi, and then all of the toxicity of Hadi’s fans, it seems that defeating Hadi was the cherry on top for Derek’s reclaiming of his Olympia title. As Ivan Bodybuilding pointed out, this is the most unfiltered version of Derek that we have ever seen.
As many of you know, I work as a full-time attorney and I don’t have the time to watch our long podcasts of bodybuilders talking into a phone or into a camera or even with a full studio setup each week. There are so many podcasts now that it’s even hard to keep count, let alone to watch and listen to them in their entirety. So I depend on bodybuilding commentaries like Ivan Bodybuilding, like Nick’s Strength And Power, Muscle Discord and others to provide me with what is breaking news in the sport of bodybuilding. They watch the podcasts they listen to the talking heads and they hang around the water cooler long enough each day as to where they can make entire shows out of it. I will watch bits and pieces of those shows and then do my due diligence and study the story before publishing an article. I do appreciate their leg work in listening to all of these podcasts. I mean you have to figure Derek was probably talking about all sorts of things over the course of an hour but it’s this small nugget of drama buried in that podcast somewhere that is incredibly newsworthy. Because for the longest time Derek has marketed himself as being this sort of non-drama, very good sportsman-like, very kind-hearted type of person. And he may be all of those things, most of the time, but if he feels that Hany burned him and if he feels that Hadi has disrespected him, then beating Hadi at the Olympia most definitely was the most enjoyable part of that whole contest.
It speaks to the fact that there is a rivalry and it speaks to the fact that not everything is peachy keen. While I don’t expect either Derek or Hadi to get into a loud and obnoxious feud on social media, It is important to know that these guys do not like each other and are very much at odds with each other. That right there is really important for bodybuilding fans to be aware of. That’s the kind of rivalry that creates more interest in the sport.
Again I would love it if it was all positive and light-hearted but it’s not. These individuals are human. And like any other human, if they feel burned and betrayed, they’re going to lash out. Now the good thing about Derek and Hadi is that they’re not going to lash out with words, they’re going to lash out with building the best physiques possible and doing to battle on stage. They’re not going to battle it out on Instagram or Facebook groups or the message boards. And that too is also a fantastic way to grow the sport.
All in all, I don’t know if Hany burned all of his athletes just so he could focus on Hadi. Maybe that was not the plan but rather the outcome. Whatever the case may be, I don’t expect a response from either Hadi or Hany, but Derek putting out his feelings like he did on his podcast is extremely telling. I suspect that the next time that Derek and Hadi do battle, it’s going to be one for the record books.
Do you think that Derek deserved the win over Hadi at this past Olympia? Do you feel that Hany burned his athletes to focus on Hadi? Whether he intended to do so from the beginning or that was just the outcome, what say you?
I do believe that Derek deserved the win, but I’m not sure if Hany intended to burn all of his athletes just to work with Hadi in the end. I think he may have intended to pull away but couldn’t with that one athlete.
As always I like to leave the final word to you. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. I also hope that you will copy and paste a link to this article on all of your social media feeds. it is guaranteed to generate lively conversation.
Leave a Reply