And then there was 13. IFBB Pro Rafael Brandão won’t be competing at the 2022 Arnold Classic. Brandão has confirmed that he will sit out one of the largest shows of the year in Columbus, Ohio, from March 3-6th, 2022, at the 2022 Arnold Classic.
Brandão didn’t seem to give Arnold Sports Festival a reason for his withdrawal. However, we did see the king of Bodybuilding & B.S.; Nick Trigili’s show some DMs between the two that gave some insight into why Brandão will be skipping this contest.
WHY DID RAFAEL Brandão WITHDRAW FROM ARNOLD CLASSIC 2022?
According to the video posted on Bodybuilding & B.S., Trigili shared the reason why Brandão isn’t going to attend the Arnold Classic 2022. Here are a few reasons why Brandão might’ve withdrawn from the competition. First, he just completed a show 10 weeks ago, so he needs some time off. It’s not healthy to jump right into another prep for the Arnold.
Here’s a summary of the DMs exchanged between Trigili and Brandão:
Brandão will compete in the Arnold Brazil and Olympia this year. Brandão said,
“I need to improve and put some size on to be competitive at Olympia this year.”
Arnold Classic wasn’t the smart thing to do right now. And there you have it, straight from the sources’ mouth.
Brandão knows his body better than anyone else; we agree with Trigili that this was a good move and shows Brandão’s maturity in his decision-making. We were looking forward to seeing Brandão on stage in March, but we completely understand his decision. Brandão has one of the top physiques with tons of potential; we can’t wait to see what he brings to Olympia!
WHO IS RAFAEL Brandão?
The 28-year-old IFBB Pro, Rafael Brandão, is a native of Garça in São Paulo, Brazil. He burst onto the bodybuilding scene, where he took 8th place at the 2017 San Marino Pro in Italy.
The following year, Brandão finished 6th at the New York Pro. He then placed 3rd at the IFBB California Pro Championships behind Nathan De Asha, who took 1st, with Sasan Heirati taking 2nd.
In 2019 Brandão debuted at the Arnold Classic, where he came in 7th, then rose in the ranks to place 2nd at Arnold South America, just behind Juan Morel.
The following year, Brandão only stepped on stage once at the Europa Pro, where he finished 3rd behind Lukas Osladil and the winner James Hollingshead.
2021 was a great year for Brandão. He placed 2nd at the Prague Pro behind Samson Dauda, then walked off the stage as the champ at Romania Muscle Fest Pro. That win qualified Brandão to compete at Olympia 2022, which takes place on December 16-18th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Brandão is super popular in Brazil as the sport of bodybuilding has grown immensely in the country. He has a bright future in this sport!
CURRENT ARNOLD CLASSIC 2022 ROSTER
We’re unaware if a different athlete will replace Brandão’s spot. As it currently stands, there will be 13 competitors from 6 different countries. Listed in alphabetical order below.
- William Bonac - Netherlands
- Maxx Charles - USA
- Brandon Curry - USA
- Samson Dauda - United Kingdom
- Nathan De Asha - United Kingdom
- Regan Grimes - Canada
- Steve Kuclo - United States
- Cedric McMillan - USA
- Fabio Giga Rezende - Brazil
- Justin Rodriguez - USA
- Mohamed Shaaban - Egypt
- Brett Wilkin - USA
- Akim Williams - USA
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Brandão is a massive celebrity in his home country; we predict that his flame will continue to grow stronger over the next few years. Although many people were looking forward to him competing at the 2022 Arnold Classic, we think he made a good choice to sit this one out.
Bodybuilders have a finite amount of time to walk the stage as the sport isn’t the best for overall health and well-being due to the intensity. We hope Brandão solidifies his namesake and builds his brand now while his star is shining bright.
Kiel DiGiovanni
Author