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Big Ramy: His Long Road to Becoming Mr. Olympia
By Ron Harris
I was in the front row for Big Ramy’s first pro show, the New York Pro in May of 2013. He was the biggest, freakiest thing any of us had seen since Ronnie, and his potential seemed limitless. Over the next few years, he became a mainstay in the Mr. Olympia contest, rising all the way to runner-up in 2017. Still, we all wanted to see finer details and deeper muscle separation, commonly referred to as “muscle maturity,” and there simply didn’t seem to be any noticeable improvement as time went by. That all changed in December of 2020 as we finally witnessed the version of Big Ramy we’d all been waiting for. This is the story of his long and circuitous path to becoming the 16th man in history to be crowned Mr. Olympia.
A New World Wonder Rises From Egypt
Mamdouh Mohammed Hassan Elssbiay was born on September 16, 1984 in the resort town of Baltim in the Kafr El Sheikh governate of Egypt, on the Nile River delta. His father was a fisherman, and this was the trade that “Ramy,” as he was nicknamed, and all six of his brothers took up as well. Seeking greater opportunities and better wages, they all left their native land for Kuwait, about the same distance as New York City to Orlando. Ramy had bigger dreams than his brothers. He had always been fascinated with bodybuilding and wanted to become a champion bodybuilder himself one day. The Oxygen Gym chain already had a reputation for being the place to train, as owner Bader Boodai had started bringing top pros like Dennis James, Dennis Wolf, and Melvin Anthony over to spend weeks lifting in his new Mecca of Muscle. After long days of fishing, Ramy would shower off the stink of salt water and fish, get a meal in, and head to Oxygen Gym to lift. Right away he knew this was the environment for him, and he asked the club manager for a job as a trainer. In Kuwait, all Oxygen Gyms have anywhere from 10-15 “trainers” who patrol the workout floor and offer a spot or any assistance the members might need. This was in 2010, and it was not the main Jabriya location, but one of the smaller gyms. Though Bader Boodai owns them all, he rarely visited this one. Ramy had been working there for six months when Bader finally got his first glimpse of the growing Egyptian immigrant. At this point, Ramy was only 200 pounds, but Bader has an eye for potential and saw what Ramy could become.
Bader gave him a new gig working the pro shop at the famous Jabriya location, as well as a room upstairs to sleep in every night. Near the end of 2011, Bader sent photos of the growing young man to Dennis James, who immediately took a special interest in him. With Bader acting as translator, James began coaching and mentoring Ramy. By now, he truly had become Big Ramy. After doing two local shows in 2012, he entered the Amateur Olympia being held that November in Kuwait. At 285 pounds, he easily swept the Super Heavyweight class and nabbed the Overall title, earning IFBB Pro status. It would only be six months before his pro debut, where the bodybuilding fans and media would get their first look at him.
2013: Kuwait Invades New York
I had heard about Big Ramy leading up to the 2013 New York Pro, but I didn’t give him much consideration. I’d seen my share of giants hailed as the next big thing simply by virtue of their elephantine bodyweight, such as Canada’s Greg Kovacs and Italy’s Daniele Seccarecci, both deceased. Neither one had the shape and proportions to go along with the size, so I was reserving any excitement over the new mass monster from the Middle East. Besides which, this contest was supposed to be a battle between three native New Yorkers of Dominican descent: Victor Martinez, Juan Morel, and Jonathan De La Rosa. Suffice to say that when Big Ramy stomped out onstage at 285 pounds in shape and made them all look small in comparison, all of us in attendance instantly knew this new guy was the real deal. He wasn’t just enormous. Ramy also had pleasing shape and structure, with the shoulder width of two average bodybuilders standing side by side, along with a surprisingly small waist and tight midsection. Being in the press pit and looking up at the man who was easily dominating the contest, I was especially struck by the sheer circumference of his quads. 30-inch thighs have long been the benchmark measurement to define truly exceptional leg mass. Ramy’s were later measured on video to end the speculation as to just how large they were: a shocking 35.5 inches! Immediately following his pro debut and decisive win, hype began to surround Ramy as the heir apparent to Phil Heath, who would be attempting to win his third Mr. Olympia title. Ramy certainly blew The Gift away on width and mass, and anticipation at seeing them directly compared escalated as the season moved on toward Las Vegas. But that first Mr. Olympia was not meant for Mr. Elssbiay to make a real impact. This was right in the middle of the Phil/Kai battle years, and the lineup was stacked. A best-ever Dennis Wolf placed third. Shawn Rhoden was fourth, with Dexter in fifth. It would be the final contest ever for four-time Mr. Olympia champ Jay Cutler, and Roelly Winklaar placed seventh in his second Olympia appearance. Big Ramy had to settle for eighth place. Nothing to be ashamed of to be sure, but he was still far from making Phil Heath nervous.
Moving up the Ladder
The Olympia landscape changed over the next few years. Kai never returned after taking second for the third time in a row in 2014. Dennis Wolf suffered a traumatic neck injury after landing in the top five for the seventh time in his career in 2015. Shawn Rhoden and Dexter Jackson remained in the elite upper echelon, but two men steadily climbed their way up the rankings – William Bonac and Big Ramy. Ramy’s progression has been steady and consistent each year since his debut at the show: eighth, seventh, fifth, fourth, and most recently, second. Ramy hasn’t gotten much bigger since his pro debut in the spring of 2013, but that’s irrelevant. He’s already bigger than everyone else. If it’s possible he could even get any larger, it’s questionable whether he would still be able to maintain the relatively small midsection that sets him far apart from mass monsters of the past like Ronnie, Rühl and Nasser. Ramy has improved in areas like his upper chest and muscle separation in general, and theoretically he should be showing more detail as each contest season passes. Remember that he has only been training now for eight years, less than one-third the time someone like Dexter has been at it, and even half as long as Heath. Anyone with a true eye for physiques who has been around a while knows that while it’s not unheard of to accumulate shocking levels of sheer muscle size rapidly, muscle maturity, as the name implies, takes time and can’t be rushed. It’s the final piece of the puzzle that would unlock Ramy’s full potential and quite likely make him unbeatable by any other bodybuilder alive.
Being “The People’s Champion,” a Curse?
Any longtime fan of our sport knows that along with whoever happened to be Mr. Olympia at any given time, there was always at least one “People’s Champion.” These were athletes who came painfully close to winning a Sandow on at least one occasion, and whose diehard fans felt in their hearts that their hero rightfully deserved it. Oftentimes these men were far more popular and certainly had more fan support than the reigning Mr. Olympia winners they traded poses with. A few notable People’s Champions have included Tom Platz, Rich Gaspari, Shawn Ray, Flex Wheeler, Nasser El Sonbaty, and Kevin Levrone. Some of the aforementioned men could have and probably should have won at least one Mr. Olympia title over the course of their storied careers. But none of them did. They were unable to get the judges’ nod over legends like Franco Columbu, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, and Ronnie Coleman. Big Ramy now certainly qualifies for membership in this group, given his runner-up finish at the 2017 Mr. Olympia and the chorus of boos that rang out inside the Orleans Arena when it was announced. There is a misconception that taking second place means you are “in line” for the title, and it’s only a matter of time. If that were the case, Flex, Shawn, Rich, and Kevin all would have at least one Sandow trophy on their mantles, as each of them took second at least twice – Kevin was runner up twice to Dorian and twice to Ronnie. There is never any guarantee that any man will become Mr. Olympia, no matter how good he is, because this is the contest in which a panel of judges must decide who the absolute best bodybuilder in the world is, once a year. Since the Mr. Olympia contest began in 1965, only 15 men have won the title. With bodybuilding being a subjective sport in which there are no finish lines or goal nets, there always has been a disparity between who the fans favor versus the judges. The judges had determined Big Ramy to be good enough to have won five pro shows so far in his first five seasons as a pro, and to have beaten every other pro in the world – except for Phil Heath.
2018 and the Rug Gets Pulled Out
Since Ramy had been runner-up to Phil Heath in 2017, he went into the 2018 Mr. Olympia as The Gift’s main threat. If Ramy came in a little sharper than ever, or if Phil showed up off his best in his bid to earn Olympia title number eight, the throne would be all Ramy’s. As fate would have it, Phil did indeed take to the Orleans Arena stage with a serious chink in his armor in the form of a blurry, distended midsection. The Ramy of 2017 might very well have beaten him. But the Ramy at the judging of the 2018 Mr. Olympia was not the one we had all hoped to see. Simply put, he was blurry and soft. Though he did manage to tighten up significantly by the finals Saturday evening, it was too little, too late. He dropped down to sixth place, which some even felt was generous. Meanwhile, a razor-sharp Shawn Rhoden usurped Phil’s title, the same title millions of Big Ramy fans around the world had fully expected him to take. No one was more disappointed in Ramy than himself. The following day he posted this on his social media:
“Thank you everyone, for the ultimate support you show me through emails
And msgs. I know most of you feel disappointed and angry and hate me.
IM SORRY FOR THAT.
Some say ramy you should do this and that and they dont know how hard and painful to be up on Olympia stage! With those amazing athletes .I hear and read everything But you should know that i did my best GOD witness and the people around me know that.
It was very hard prep. I did everything i should do and follow. But from now on I will work to change everything. This will never stop me this will never happen again. God bless you all.”
Adding to the drama, Big Ramy subsequently left the only training home he had ever known, Oxygen Gym. No longer would he be under the watchful eye of The Camel Crew, who had guided his every move from day one. Rumors swirled that he had returned to his native Egypt or relocated to Dubai as his new HQ.
2019, a Year in Limbo
2019 was a strange year for Ramy and his fans. We heard he had a serious shoulder injury that required surgery. We didn’t know where he was living or training, or who, if anyone, was coaching him. He was not qualified for the Mr. Olympia, a contest he had featured prominently in for the last five years. As the spring shows came and went and Ramy was nowhere to be seen, it became a countdown of which contests were left. In the final weeks and days leading up to the last chance to qualify for the O at Tim Gardner’s Tampa Pro, excitement was running high as we expected to see a showdown between Ramy and the legendary Dexter Jackson, who had committed to competing there. Even as I flew into Tampa for the show, I was hoping to see that battle. But no! The unthinkable had happened. Ramy would miss his first Mr. Olympia contest since he debuted there in 2013. Making matters worse, both Phil and Rhoden were absent from the 2019 Mr. Olympia as well, meaning Ramy most likely missed a golden opportunity to snatch the Sandow. Surely, he was going to jump into one of the post-Olympia shows and secure his qualification for 2020? That never came to pass either, though Ramy did make several guest posing appearances from August through November, looking within striking distance of contest condition. Frustration set in. When would we see this giant ever compete again?
Early 2020 – the Return of Ramy!
When the list came out for the 2020 Arnold Classic competitors, Ramy’s name was on it. His fans rejoiced. This would be his first time competing in the Arnold Classic in Ohio, and his first competition in just about 18 months. That’s a long time for any top pro to be missing in action. Ramy would not have an easy go of it, as he would be up against not one but four previous Arnold champs, one of them, Dexter, also a former Mr. Olympia. Still, he was a heavy favorite going in. Just days before the show, we learned he had been coached by Chad Nicholls, whose roster of past champions includes names like Flex Wheeler, Ronnie Coleman, and Nasser El Sonbaty. The bodybuilding world eagerly awaited its first glimpse of Ramy in a year and a half. When he strode out early Saturday afternoon on stage at the Battelle Grand Ballroom, jaws dropped. Ramy was 300 pounds of crushing muscle mass. Though he still lacked the deep lines and details many of us had hoped to see, his conditioning was far from awful. He was moved in the middle more than once on Saturday, leading some to speculate if perhaps he was being looked at by the judges to win. In the end, Ramy was awarded the new Franco Columbu Most Muscular Award and third place behind William Bonac and Dexter Jackson. It wasn’t the outcome he, his coach, or his fans wanted, but nonetheless, Big Ramy was back.
March-October 2020, a Rough Patch for Ramy
After a great start to 2020, things immediately took a nosedive into the gutter for Ramy. He had planned to compete at the Arnold Classic Australia the week after Ohio. With both Bonac and Dexter bypassing the show in Melbourne, it would have likely been an easy win for Ramy – except the contest was canceled due to the new global health threat we were all becoming rapidly familiar with, COVID-19. That was just the beginning of Ramy’s troubles. Due to travel restrictions, he wound up being stranded in Dubai for five months, unable to return home to Kuwait to his wife and three daughters. Once he was finally able to return, he began the process of moving everyone back to his homeland of Egypt. The area he grew up in wasn’t an option, as there were no gyms. The capital city of Cairo had to become his new residence. While prepping for the final contest overseas to qualify for the Mr. Olympia, the Europa Pro in Alicante, Spain, Ramy had to buy a new home, a car, and register his children for school. The Spain show seemed to be a godsend, as not only the winner but the entire top three would earn a berth in the Olympia. Ramy was at the airport to make that trip, only waiting for his friend to send him his obligatory negative COVID-19 test result so he would be allowed to travel. “When my friend called me with the bad news that I had tested positive, I thought for sure he was joking,” said Ramy later. It was no joke. It was looking like Ramy was going to miss another Olympia, which would mean if he came back in 2021 it would be after a full three years away from the biggest stage in bodybuilding. Luckily, the Mr. Olympia contest has a longstanding tradition of giving out one special invitation per year to those deemed worthy. The uber-marketable Günter Schlierkamp was bestowed several of those by the late Joe Weider himself nearly 20 years ago, and it was also given to Lou Ferrigno in 1992 and Kevin Levrone in 2016. Olympia President Dan Solomon and FBB Pro League President Jim Manion both agreed that for 2020, Big Ramy deserved it. Some fans were outraged that he was given a “free pass” when everyone else had to qualify, sometimes taking 3-5 contests to accumulate enough points. But most felt that as one of the absolute best bodybuilders alive, and in light of the extenuating circumstances he’d faced, Ramy belonged in the 2020 Mr. Olympia lineup.
Mr. Olympia at Last!
Though few completely wrote off Ramy’s chances, most felt that the 2020 Mr. Olympia would come down to a tooth-and-nail battle between defending champion Brandon Curry and seven-time winner Phil Heath, who like Ramy had also missed the 2019 rendition of the big show but was on a laser-focused mission to regain his title and in the process, tie the record of eight wins held jointly by Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman. But fate would have another scenario unfold, one where the version of Big Ramy we had all been waiting for arrived at long last. At 290 pounds, the cuts were deeper, his waist was narrower, and he’d even slightly downsized his zeppelin-sized quads to improve his overall balance and proportions. He posed with supreme confidence, his sheer joy and appreciation to be doing what he was doing in that moment apparent to all who watched live in Orlando and around the world on pay-per-view. It was too much for even an improved Curry as well as Heath, and Ramy was finally crowned Mr. Olympia, the title many of us felt he was capable of but had for the most part given up hope he would ever actually achieve. “I wanted to give my fans something good to end this year with, because it has been bad for so many people,” he told me that night. “It still doesn’t feel real. This has been a dream for 10 years, and it’s hard to believe it has now come true.”
Coach Chad Nicholls on Ramy’s Breakthrough in Condition
“I think when he was in Kuwait, they didn’t want to see him suffer. They wanted him big, they wanted this monster that was bigger than anything. On top of that, they just kept feeding him and they never took him to a certain point. When he stayed with Dennis James those last three weeks, he got to a lowest point where he was just beat to shit. Not only was Dennis able to keep an eye on him so he didn’t veer off that, but was able to push him in the gym and pose him four times a day, holding each pose for 10 seconds, over and over again. Once we got through that hell point, everything was right on point. We were doing very low carbs and two hours of cardio a day, a place he’d never been before. I was happy with the outcome, of course. But looking ahead, he needs to improve on his lower lats, more quad detail higher up near the hips, maybe a little bit more upper chest, and keep that waist nice and flat. It’s just fine-tuning things and keep pushing the conditioning. I think he will probably come in heavier next time because he’ll have a longer, structured off-season. I can see him coming into the 2021 Olympia at 295.”
Complete Contest History
2012 Kuwait Golden Cup Winner
2012 Amateur Olympia Super Heavyweight and Overall
2013 New York Pro Winner
2013. Mr. Olympia Eighth Place
2014 New York Pro Winner
2014 Mr. Olympia Seventh Place
2015 Arnold Classic Brasil Winner
2015 Mr. Olympia Fifth Place
2015 Arnold Classic Europe Fourth Place
2015 Prague Pro Second Place
2016 Mr. Olympia Fourth Place
2016 Arnold Classic Europe Second Place
2016 Kuwait Pro Winner
2016 Prague Pro Second Place
2017 Mr. Olympia Second Place
2017 Arnold Classic Europe Winner
2018 Mr. Olympia Sixth Place
2020 Arnold Classic Third Place
2020 Mr. Olympia Winner
2022 Mr. Olympia Winner
Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Magazine” show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. Facebook Instagram
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