Keone Pearson – The Best 212 Olympia Ever?

Seeing Keone guest pose in Ontario, Canada, at the Pure Athletic Classic among a who’s who of physique-based competitors speaks volumes about him as a champion. It’s also interesting that the debate regarding The Prodigy’s greatness continues. There’s a growing number of fans who think he’s the best 212 Mr. Olympia in the history of the division. Is he better than Flex? Derek? Is he better than Shaun? We’ll have to talk about this at length in the article because it’s not an easy question for me to answer. I think the more you’ve seen as a fan – and a writer – the more difficult these types of questions become. If you’re new to the sport, and Keone is the only champion you’ve ever known, I totally understand how you might think he’s the best of all time. Anytime you have a reigning Olympia champion that’s out there doing the business of bodybuilding, everyone wins. Plus, we’ve heard the banter from the peanut gallery. And we’ve even heard living legends like Lee Priest say that the division doesn’t even serve a real purpose. Priest is a guy who could’ve competed at the weight class, but he opted to compete in the open, earning Top 6 against some real giants.

The 212 is really one of these divisions that really draws a lot of conversation. I’m not going to lie; I’m somebody that believes that the division has a very important role when it comes to shorter competitors. But on the flipside, I realize that it also has a bit of a difficult run because it doesn’t have an amateur wing.  Yes, it’s part of the pro league and yes once you earn a pro card in bodybuilding you could compete in The 212, but how many amateur athletes get a pro card with that journey in mind? Very few people want to compete in 212 because it’s not the lighter side of open bodybuilding like it used to be in the seventies, rather, it is in fact a separate division. It’s a division that has bodybuilding in its name, but it doesn’t look like bodybuilding in terms of prize money, recognition, or even in the amount of supporters. A lot of fans simply do not care about that division. A lot of fans would rather watch Classic Physique, for example, than they would 212.  That all changes if you have a larger-than-life champion.

Look at the case of Derek Lunsford. He won the 212 Olympia Showdown but he didn’t even defend the title for a single try. The 212 Olympia was essentially a feather in his cap in the running towards that open Olympia. As soon as he won the 212, he became more sought after for doing open bodybuilding. I think that was always the plan. Now who’s to say if he would have stuck around long enough to defend the title and maybe won a 212 Olympia he would not have been able to grow the sport like Flex Lewis did. I guess we’ll never know. At this point Derek will never compete at the 212 because of the amount of size that he’s put on. I don’t think that he would even do it if he could do it because again the 212 is not on a level playing field as open bodybuilding is. Back in the seventies when Franco won the under 200lb category he could arguably have been as popular as a guy that won the over 200lb category, which was Arnold. That ship has a long sale. The 212 has also experienced some black eyes. For example, it’s not offered at the Arnold Classic, the second biggest bodybuilding show in the world and there’s also no real plans of bringing it back. The reason that it was done away with was largely because of the retirement of James “Flex” Lewis. As soon as the Welsh Dragon decided to retire, so too did the Arnold Classic retire that division from its roster. Therefore, it would have been interesting if Derek had stuck around because if Derek had been able to bring back the lost fans from Lewis’s retirement it may have seen its way back to the Arnold. It may also have seen its way back to bigger prize money as opposed to getting the same prize money as all of the other physique-based divisions outside of bodybuilding.

Then we look at the reign of Kamal El Gargni. The Lion of Libya did everything that he could within one year of holding the title. He was able to hold the title despite the fact that he was older in years and the fact that he was unable to defend the title successfully. But he still hung around there for a minute and he was able to grow the sport through a rivalry with Shaun Clarida. Both of these guys represent a period for the division that was marked by champions who won based on merit. Perhaps they didn’t have the huge followings of Flex Lewis or Derek Lunsford, but they had the following that they earned through the tried and true method of building the best physique they could, coming in dry as nails, and posing hard. That being said the sport did not grow under their reigns as much as it did with Lunsford and especially more so with Flex. I really wouldn’t consider Derek to be much competition in the 212 for the mere fact that he only won the title once and never bothered to defend it. I see Derek as a stepping-stone champion more than anything else. And that’s not to take away from his accomplishment, but I certainly don’t think that Derek is in the running to be the best 212 Mr. Olympia in the history of the division. I would say that the man that held the title after Shaun and who continues to hold the title today, would have an argument to be made as him being the best. It’s really a two-man contest. Keone vs Flex.

Is Keone a better 212 champion than Flex was? Does he have the potential to be? So, I could answer these two questions right now without any hesitation. To the first question I would say no, he is not better than Flex was. At least not now. Yes, he has won several titles and yes, he will probably win several more. I think that Keone has essentially drawn a line in the sand that very few will be able to cross. It’s not that he is genetically better, it’s the fact that he is out-working the competition and he is a little bit taller than Shaun which gives him the ability to pack on a little bit more muscle. He’s also a little bit wider than the average 212 guy. So maybe his genetics do come into play at some point, but I would say genetics take the back seat to hard work. I think that Keone has been able to separate himself enough from the competition as to where as long as he comes in at 100% – nobody’s going to be able to beat him. That makes him the undisputed champion but it does not make him a better champion than Flex. Flex had seven consecutive Olympia titles. Pearson simply can’t match that right now. As for the second question, that’s where it gets more interesting. Does Keone have the potential to be a better champion than Flex? I think that that is a little bit more plausible, but I would also be a little reluctant to sign on to that, as well. What people don’t understand is that Flex Lewis was larger than life. And the Flex Lewis continues to be larger than life. That said, Keone is on the right path.

I think the fact that I’m writing this article speaks to the very point that I’ve been making all along. And that is the key to doing the business of bodybuilding. When you have a champion who is active, who is doing guest posing appearances, who is doing media appearances, who stays on the minds of the fans throughout the year, you have a winning formula. So really to me it doesn’t really matter if he’s the best 212 Mr. Olympia, he is the Mr. Olympia that’s getting shit done – right now. I mean we’re in October 2026. We’re nowhere near the end of the year. We’re absolutely nowhere near the 2027 O, yet there is Keone, doing guest posing appearances and pounding the pavement as if his life depended on it. And it’s not his first Olympia, either. He’s doing this because it comes from his heart and he is really growing the sport so much that people are now wanting to crown him the best that ever lived. I don’t know that he is the best, I don’t know that he’s better than Flex, but I know that the fact that people are even asking the question speaks to the fact that this is how you grow the sport.

Do I think the Keone will win again in 2027? More than likely, but again that’s not the point. I guess what I’m trying to really sendoff here is that it doesn’t matter who’s the best of all time or if he’s going to win again, rather, it’s that he’s doing what needs to be done to grow bodybuilding in general. But he’s also doing what’s needed to put The 212 on the map. Because if people are asking if the division should even still be around, that means that a lot of people doubt it’s importance. The fact that it’s not offered at major bodybuilding shows further speaks to this point. So, when you have someone Keone Pearson, who holds the top title, and who is actively trying to gain new fans, then you have the makings of a division that has truly earned its spot. Talk about Flex Lewis in 2026, is somewhat yesterday’s news. Not that he is yesterday’s news, but his contributions are not going to grow the sport as much, today. What is going to grow the sports today are the people competing actively. What Keone is doing is going to grow the sport. And he continues to do it because he’s a consummate professional and because he holds his title seriously.  Being Mr. Olympia isn’t just about getting a fat paycheck and being the center of attention for a weekend in Las Vegas Nevada every year. It’s about doing the business of bodybuilding. It’s about getting out there in front of different audiences and putting on sport in the best possible light. After, all, Mr. Olympia is bodybuilding’s Ambassador to the world.

So, what’s your take on The Prodigy? Do you think he’s the best of all time? Do you think he has the potential to be the best of all time? and what do you think about his tireless efforts at putting 212 Bodybuilding on the map? As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article – here at IronMag. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It’s bound to generate lively conversation.

Author Bio:

Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.