Mohammad “Moe” Bannout failed to return to the finals portion of the Phoenix Pro Show. That wouldn’t be much of a story if he was sick or injured, but he wasn’t. He was disappointed with his placing, thinking not getting back onstage was a good way to demonstrate his disgust. Not smart. To add to that, he did actually return to the show, but only to watch. Since only 15 men were allowed to pose that night, and Moe opted not to tell anyone he was not returning, some poor guy who could have posed did not get to.
Moe Bannout is the cousin of former Mr. Olympia, Samir Bannout. He made his pro debut in 2009 at the Ironman Pro in California. He placed seventh beating Marcus Haley, Troy Alves, and Johnnie Jackson. Since then, he’s competed four more times, placing better than his debut only once; sixth in Dallas earlier this month. He has been known for two things: Sick conditioning and Synthol. His conditioning is among the best in bodybuilding today, but that gets offset by strange structure and suspicious looking site injections, mainly in his calves. Last year he made the wise decision of having the suspicious swollen lumps removed from his calves. His trainer George Farah talks about the surgery in a recent video. George also talks about Moe needing to go back and have the other abnormalities surgically removed from his triceps and delts, which was the main issue holding him back in Phoenix this past weekend. This is what George said in the video, "He got spanked because in the past he put some oil in his calves. Even though he had the surgery to remove it, you can still see it there. He was young, he didn't know what he was doing. I mean… All the judges, they told me, 'George, he would have won the show based on conditioning, but we can't reward that.' You know, he just needs to go back and have another surgery." I definitely agree with Farah. The synthol has to go if he wants to place higher.
I was told in detail about some of the hysterics George pulled this past weekend. Literally throwing a fit in the press pit, George was heard telling everyone in earshot “My guy! He was robbed!”. Even questioning judges on how this could happen to “my guy”. George has been around a long time now, even as passionate as he can be, I was surprised to hear about this. His guy not returning to the show not only looked bad on Moe, but because of George’s vehement objections to the callouts, it looked bad on him too.
Where does this leave Moe and George? Well, George is a fixture in the industry, and while this is a black eye of sorts for him, he’ll be fine. For Moe on the other hand, he knows now that he must do something about his past synthol use... and he better hope he doesn’t get suspended, but I think it maybe too late, and it’s already in the works. That would typically be the repercussions for skipping the night show without legitimate reason. Personally, I respect the hell out of Moe for coming in with such jaw dropping condition, and I hope we see him back on stage sooner than later, and without the lumps and bumps. When those are gone, and he brings in his trademark freaky conditioning, he will definitely qualify for the Olympia.
If you have any feedback, gossip, tips, news, or just wanna drop me a line, email me at [email protected]!
*Edited by the beautiful Darielle Gaines.
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