From Victor Martinez: I have decided not to compete in the Mr. Olympia contest this year. A lot of people wanted me to do the show to make a statement that despite all the hardships I went through, I still persevered and did the show. Just showing up would have been a victory was how it seems a lot of people felt. I understand that. But as the contest got closer and I was looking at how my physique was coming along, I had to be very realistic and calculating. I was looking at who I was going up against in the top six. There was going to be Phil, Kai, Branch, Wolf, Evan and a couple others who were going to be at their best. At my best, I am confident going up against any one of them. But the reality was, I didn’t have enough time to be at my best.

If the contest had been three months later or I had gotten out three months sooner, things would have been very different and I would have definitely competed. The reality was, you can’t cram 16 weeks worth of contest prep into seven or eight weeks, at least not when you’re up against the very best physiques in the world and you want to be good enough to beat them! I could have competed, but it would have been half-assed and a lot of people would have immediately seen I was nowhere near my best. I couldn’t go up onstage like that. I have my own pride, plus I would have been letting down my fans, sponsors and everyone else that believes in me. So the next time you see me onstage, you will see the best version of me yet.

Have you ever heard the saying,”If he didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all.”? It seems like that saying was specifically written for IFBB Pro Victor Martinez. Today, I was able to confirm that the former Arnold Classic Champion was seriously injured during a photo shoot in Mexico.

Multiple reliable sources have told me that Victor was in the middle of a "make-believe" arm wrestling match when his opponent thought it would be humorous to spontaneously slam Victor’s arm down; winning the match. That slam resulted in three serious breaks in Victor’s arm.

I won’t detail all of Victor’s previous misfortunes, but many of the people I have talked to think that this may be the final straw on Vic’s bodybuilding career. Personally, I doubt that. We just watched Victor transform from a skinny prisoner to a 270lb monster within a matter of weeks... And we saw Branch Warren go from a torn quad to the Arnold Classic Champion in a matter of months. I’m betting Victor overcomes adversity AGAIN, and we see him back on stage in 2013.