“He’s a Bully”: 6x Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates Nearly Fought His Idol Lee Haney Onstage After Receiving False Information About the Legend

Having dominated the bodybuilding world for years, Dorian Yates and Lee Haney need no introduction. Not many fans are aware of the fact that Dorian and Lee were once rivals during their prime years. While the rivalry does not exist anymore, their legacy has remained immortal. During the 1980s and 1990s, Haney was a force to be reckoned with and holds eight Mr. Olympia titles. He is tied with Ronnie Coleman for the most number of Olympia titles. Yates is not far behind, with six titles to his name.

Yates’s career began when Haney’s was almost over. Recently, the former British bodybuilder took to Instagram to share an anecdote about Haney that has brought up many old memories for the bodybuilding world.

Dorian Yates pays respect to Lee Haney

Yates posted a picture with Haney, both of them posing on the Mr. Olympia stage. He captioned, “I saw Lee guest pose in England and he was an inspiration to me, big guy and a family man. I had my son Lewis, so he was an inspiration in that way as all the other guys were single… so I’m a fan basically now.” Haney was Mr. Olympia since 1984, while Yates only started training seriously in 1983. However, he realized if he wanted to turn pro, he had to compete against Haney, and not idolize him.

Read more: “Purposely Banged My Elbow Onto Him”: Dorian Yates Once Detailed His First Encounter With Bodybuilding Great Lee Haney That Might Have Resulted in a Stage Fight

Dorian Yates added, “So in my head I’m thinking, “Maybe I can beat this guy, maybe I’m better than him!” I was going over with this positive attitude and not as a fanboy. So I’m in this frame of mind where I’m totally focused, almost like quite aggressive.” Then he recalled something he got to know about Haney, “A guy in New York told me a story, that I found out later was total bs. He was like, “You gotta watch out for Haney on stage, he’s a bully.” I’m like, “What do you mean?” That person told Yates, “Oh, you know, he’ll try to intimidate you. He’ll bang into you a little bit. He might tread on your toe or something and just wants to, like, bully you on the stage.”

Then Yates went on to explain what happened the first time he and Haney came across each other. It happened during his first Mr. Olympia, and Yates recalls, “So now I’m getting all psyched up and stuff, my first Mr O… I’m psyched! I’m on stage and there’s a call out, it’s just me and Lee, so it’s obvious that this is a showdown for first and second place. So I start to walk out and Lee’s giving me a friendly smile… I gave him a stone face!” But later on, the misunderstanding between Dorian Yates and Lee Haney all got cleared up.

Yates and Haney cleared the differences

Yates then further described the experience with Haney at his first Olympia, saying, “So then I’m in the semi relaxed pose and on purpose, I proper bang my elbow into him… he must’ve thought, “What the hell…?” I did this a couple of times to let him know and then in the pose down, Lee does his crucifix post, that he was very well known for, and I was behind him. I knew he kind of had me in the corner of his eye and he clipped me with his knuckle. I think it was more like, “Okay have some back!””

This was ages ago, and sometime after, Haney and Yates got a chance to clear things up. Yates recalled, “It was years and years later that I got the chance to sit down with him. He remembered and thought I wanted to fight him! I told him the story and apologised… we had a good laugh. Lee’s very much a gentleman!” And this is how the two rivals became friends!

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