# Victor Martinez Speaks About Fight With Chris Cormier



## Arnold (Apr 28, 2010)

*Victor Martinez Speaks About Fight With Chris Cormier*


At the largest fitness/supplement trade show in Europe, Chris Cormier  fought Victor Martinez! The fight took place at the annual FIBO trade  show which in Germany. When the fight broke out, tables, chairs, protein  powder and nitric oxide stimulators flew and people fled the hell out  of the way! Okay, no protein powder or nitric oxide stimulators flew but  you get the picture! Now after such an incident, most pros would may  have dodged reporters and their fans and try to just sweep it under the  rug. But like a true champ, Victor Martinez issued a statement online  about the situation via MuscularDeveopment.com:
_???Just wanted to take this time to send my apologies  to MHP, MD, Weider, Exhibitors and most of all my fans. As most of you  know, this past weekend there was an incident that happened between  Chris & I. It occurred at FIBO & sadly, I wished it could have  been handled in in more professional way, but, it wasn???t. I???m happy to  say though that Chris & I have settled our differences and look  forward to the future without any problems. For those of you that are  curious to know what it may have been about, lets just say it has to do  with comments that was said to each other over the years. Sorry to the  clowns in that they hoped that it would have been a bigger story haha.  Me & Chris have known each other for far too long to let this go  unresolved the way it did. The rest is history and I hope that my fans  can let this go as such.???_
_Sincerely
Victor Martinez_​ I think this says a lot about Victor???s character and his willingness  to be open and honest if he messes up on something. It???s also admirable  that he apologized to his magazine sponsor (MD) and his supplement  sponsor (MHP). Without sponsors like MD and MHP pro bodybuilders would  have minimal exposure and of course minimal cash! Victor handled this  one well. It should be noted also that according to Ron Harris, Chris  Cormier picked the fight with Victor.


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## Curt James (Apr 29, 2010)

Kudos to Big Vic!

Ellington Darden of Nautilus fame had the opportunity to speak with  Steve Reeves _a million years ago_. T-Nation, a popular online  site, documented the moment in an interview with Darden:

Later that afternoon, Reeves told me that he was thoroughly burned out  on the bodybuilding scene, that he wanted nothing to do with it. Casey  Viator and I both could tell by looking into his eyes that he'd been  disappointed numerous times by disingenuous people and probably taken  advantage of too many times to remember.

But Reeves continued to hang around the Nautilus gym, which was just off  my office. He interacted with some of the regular trainees who dropped  by to workout that day. And he continued to chat with Viator and me.  Slowly he began to open up ??? especially when I brought up the topic of  Muscle Beach and his training time at Tanny's. Then he alluded to  something that I won't forget. He said he missed those hard training  sessions at Tanny's and he remembered how quickly his body had  responded.  

 But most of all, he said that he missed those innocent  times when the older bodybuilders at Tanny's offered help, sincere help,  to the younger guys who had just joined. He used the word *"mentoring"  *several times and noted that he seldom saw such behavior in the  gyms he visited today.

/quote from the T-Nation site

I first met Victor Martinez when he guest posed at a bodybuilding show  in Maryland. Martinez spent a generous amount of time speaking with his  fans, guest posed, and then was back out in the main lobby area talking  with fans some more while the staff was closing up the auditorium,  stacking chairs, and preparing to leave after the show's conclusion.

I'm sure that Martinez could have bolted and that his contractual  obligation had been met long before he left the venue. I was impressed  by Martinez's care and genuine concern for the people he spoke with that  evening.

So I wasn't surprised at all to see Martinez appear in a Jon Delarosa  video discussing the subject of mentoring. See *http://mdtv.musculardevelopment.com/content/view/2116/240/*.  

During the interview, Shawn Ray asked if Martinez was training Delarosa  or _just working out with him_. 

Martinez answered, "I'd say more of a friend ... to help  him, you know, kinda follow his goal in bodybuilding. Which, you know,  is something I wish I would have had with somebody, so it's... if I  could do it for somebody, it's like why not? You know? So it's kinda  really more like a friend."

That's not from a textbook. That's conversational and heartfelt. And  it's incredibly humble and almost dismisses the importance of what he's  doing with this young bodybuilder. What would you pay to have that kind  of guidance? Martinez has been >< close to a Sandow and is someone  who has had tremendous success in the sport. Just imagine the help it  would be to have the assistance of someone _at that level._

Although Martinez downplays what he provided for Delarosa, he's  obviously a mentor just as those older bodybuilders in Vic Tanny's  Dungeon were mentors.

This is what bodybuilding is. Much respect to Victor Martinez for  carrying on the tradition of mentoring in the sport.


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