The feud between Mike Mentzer and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mentzer’s allegations thereafter is to date one of the biggest controversies in the history of bodybuilding. Mentzer has gone on record several times to say that Mr. Olympia 1980 was rigged.

In 1980, his beef with Schwarzenegger started in the competitor’s meeting itself. Mentzer once revealed that Schwarzenegger’s brash attitude didn’t sit well with him. Hence, he called him out on spot. In an interview with Bill Phillips in the early 90s, Mentzer spoke about how that incident became a turning point in his career.

Mike Mentzer talks about the infamous 1980 Mr. Olympia controversy

Talking about the contest, Mentzer told Phillips that whoever saw the contest believed that it was rigged. He added that it was then that he decided to drop out of competitive bodybuilding. Philips further questioned if it was the sole reason, or a contributing factor to Mentzer’s career-altering decision.

To this Mentzer replied that the concept of corruption which was once a figment of someone’s imagination to him became real after the contest. He said, “I came to see quite clearly that there was corruption involved. That evil was not something you just merely read about in the newspapers and novels. That it’s all around us.” He added that before 1980, he suspected foul play in these contests. However, he never saw anything solid with his own eyes.

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But the 1980 incident was as clear as things could get for him. Post that he didn’t want to associate himself with the rigged gameplay. “Prior to that, I had a glimmering of certain facts that led me to believe that something like this might be going on. But I wasn’t so certain. This brought it all into focus and I didn’t want to be involved or associated with people like that and decided to drop out,” Mentzer told Bill Phillips.

What did Mentzer do after quitting pro bodybuilding?

Despite leaving pro-bodybuilding competitions, Mentzer stayed close to the sport. In 1983, Mike Mentzer left Los Angeles where he had been working for a fitness magazine. From there, he moved to Florida to work for Arthur Johnson. He stayed there for just six months until he moved to Europe.

In Europe Mentzer performed in various exhibitions and seminars. After that for a year and a half Mentzer worked on his fitness magazine. He self-edited and self-published it. He called it a softcore bodybuilding magazine. In the late 80s, Mentzer slowly built up his personal training business.

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Though he did not have much luck with it in the beginning, eventually all his efforts paid off. What do you think about the foul play Mentzer refers to? Let us know in the comments.