“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

Lee Haney and Dorian Yates are two prominent names in bodybuilding. While Lee shares the space with Ronnie Coleman for winning the maximum number of Mr. Olympia titles, Dorian is on less with his six consecutive wins. Dorian’s venture into bodybuilding came when Lee was gradually retreating. Having seen him like an idol, the feeling of “sharing the stage” with Lee felt surreal for Dorian.

When the realization finally hit him that he would compete against him! The budding bodybuilder started to change his mind. He made himself believe that even he could beat him up. Considering himself to be better, Dorian, when he finally shared the stage with Lee, did something unexpected. Taking everyone by surprise, as he quoted, “purposely banged my elbow onto him.” The incident was hilarious and speaks volumes about the competition the bodybuilders gave each other.

Dorian speaks on the famous fight 

All set to give his best at his debut, Mr. Olympia Dorian was all pumped up. New to the whole new professional world of bodybuilding, the budding bodybuilder had no clue about how Lee has in real life. So, when a guy from New York told him that Lee was very aggressive and when on the “he’ll try to intimidate you,” Dorian believed him.

As for Dorian himself, he was pretty aggressive on the stage. Now, with a pre-set notion about Lee and his already competitive spirit, Dorian was all set to set a benchmark in his 1992 debuted Mr. Olympia competition. As the competition progressed, two got call-out. Dorian knew this was it, and he was just an inch closer to securing his win.

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Leaving no scope for the defending champion, he was all ready for the showdown. Narrating the incident, he quoted, “I’ll start to walk out, and Lee’s give me the, you know, a friendly smile.” Instead of reciprocating with a smile, Dorian gave him a stone face. While Lee was quite unbothered and continued with the usual drill and his semi-relaxed pose, Dorian, on purpose, banged his elbow into him. Quoting Lee’s expression, Dorian says, “he must have been ‘what the hell is this crazy…?'”

What followed next in the bodybuilding stage?

Sharing more insights about the said incident with Patrick Bet-David, the 6x Mr. Olympia Champion says he deliberately banged Lee a couple of times. Though Lee was not reciprocating for a long time, when the time for the ‘pose down’ came, he could not hold himself back any further.

Lee took the opportunity. He spread his arms in a way that made Dorian appear at his back. He kind of got him and was fully aware of it. Lee clipped Dorian with his knuckle. That year Dorian, much to his dismay, could not claim the title.

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The two legends sat down and talked one-to-one after burying the hatch many years after. Apologizing for his behavior, Dorian said Lee was his long-due sorry. Speaking on the same, Dorian quoted, “well, this happened, and you know it’s kind of a BS story, and I’m young, and I’m psyched up, and I’m sorry. “