"Someone Asked Me Who Are the Top Five Bodybuilders and Why" - Jay Cutler Shares His List

Jay Cutler, a legendary name in the bodybuilding industry, recently shared his list of top five bodybuilders of all time.

Cutler is a four-time Mr. Olympia winner, dethroning eight-time champion Ronnie Coleman in 2006. One of the primary reasons why his victory is a watershed moment in the sport’s history is because it snapped Coleman’s streak of eight consecutive wins.

Of course, Cutler's win sparked a rivalry between him and Coleman, but that never stopped Cutler from showering Coleman with praise.

More often than not, Cutler has talked about how difficult it was for him to keep up with Coleman’s work ethics. He had to put himself in an extremely uncomfortable zone to push the boundaries to eventually beat Coleman.

In a recent video, Jay Cutler spoke about the top five bodybuilders, which, of course, includes Ronnie Coleman among other legends. He said:

“Someone asked me who are the top five bodybuilders and why — of all time. Which, listen, I’m going to say (Ronnie) Coleman just because he put the body past whatever we thought. I think Dorian Yates because he changed the game. He definitely changed what it was all about. You have to put Lee Haney in there. That’s the third — he set the first record."

Cutler continued:

“So we have Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Arnold Schwarzenegger — and there’s one more that I would say — as one of the greatest bodybuilders … I would almost have to say Sergio Oliva. Sergio was way ahead of his time and that’s why."

Undoubtedly, the names Cutler took have all been influential in the world of bodybuilding. All are multi-time Mr. Olympia winners.

While Lee Haney and Coleman won the prestigious competition on eight occasions, Arnold Schwarzenneger is a seven-time winner. Dorian Yates won the Olmypia six times, while Sergio Oliva did so thrice.

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Jay Cutler has other names on the list

Jay Cutler also took a few other names who could have been in the list as well, such as Phil Heath and Dexter Jackson. Jackson dethroned Cutler in 2008, but the latter secured the Olympia in 2009.

Cutler said:

“Listen, Dexter could be in that also. Phil Heath could be in there. There’s a lot of great guys. I (don’t) want to take anything away from those two guys because I think people will question that — I’d love peoples’ opinions on it.”

Interestingly, there are three more categories currently than what used to be there at Mr. Olympia.

Names such as Cutler, Coleman, Haney, and others competed in the Open Division. This is the toughest, as the top bodybuilders compete in this division. It starts at 300 lbs and is purely mass with a minimum body fat percentage. Additionally, bodybuilders have to condition themselves as well, which is the difficult part.

Currently, Mamdouh 'Big Ramy' Elssbiay is the Open Division champion. Other bodybuilders in the division include Brandon Curry, Hunter Labrada, Nick Walker, and others.

There are currently three other divisions in Mr. Olympia:

212 Division

This is for shorter men who cannot add as much mass compared to bodybuilders in other genres. The athlete needs to be 212 lbs and must be less than 5’ 5" in height to compete in this category.

Men’s Physique

This division was introduced in 2012. Athletes in this division are judged based on their aesthetic physique. There’s not a huge muscle mass accumulation, but instead it’s broad shoulders, narrow waist, and proper development of arms, chest, back, and calves. The body fat percentages need to be less than 5%.

Currently, Brandon Hendrickson is the reigning champion in Men’s Physique.

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Classic Physique

This is the most recent division added to Mr. Olympia. This is for bodybuilders who want to go beyond Men’s Physique but not as much as the Open Division.

Ideally, bodybuilders work on an aesthetic appearance but with significant mass. Chris Bumstead is the reigning champion in the Classic Physique division.