They ’ ll say that more about Arnold in his era , that he was the baddest dude . The guy had ridiculous arms and chest , and his back was ridiculous , too — that made no sense . And he knew how to pose for it . In his era , he killed those guys .
The only way I ’ ll be the GOAT is by winning nine Olympias , but it ’ s also going to be about how I do it in the next two or three years . I ’ m the Social Media Mr . Olympia . I ’ m the first . And I was the only bodybuilder who people would scrutinize over a body part , or even my frame with clavicle structure or whatever , and I still overcame all of those critiques . No one else in the history of our sport has done that . Name one glaring weakness on any other bodybuilder and tell me that they improved on it in the middle of their career while winning the Olympia . You can ’ t . Not one guy . Whenever a judge or critic has said , “ Phil doesn ’ t have this or that ,” I ’ ve come back in the next 12 months with it . That ’ s called bodybuilding .
They said , “ Hey , Phil , we need your upper chest to be bigger .” OK , got that . “ You have narrow clavicles , you need to get wider in the back .” Got that . “ How did you do that ?” With more shoulders , trimmed down the arms a little bit . “ You need more legs because guys like Ramy have big legs .” OK , got that . “ Hey ,
Phil , you need to trim down your waistline .” Got that . I ’ m able to do it . If I ’ m ever considered the GOAT , it will be because if you break down what bodybuilding is and how a person ’ s body evolves , I did it best .
So , going into 2018 , will you take McGough ’ s advice and go into hiding and see us all next September ? Or is that impossible these days ? I ’ ll do a combination . I plan on doing some type of YouTube channel , because I feel the fans need to start seeing more of me in more of a casual setting . A lot of people want to see me train , and they will , but that won ’ t be the catalyst of why people follow me . I still want to keep things quiet . I won ’ t talk as much trash . I ’ ll be playing it safe with that and showing my ability to be positive . I ’ m going to take Peter ’ s advice , but I ’ m sure once a quarter I ’ ll throw some verbal jab just to remind everybody who they ’ re dealing with . [ Laughs ]
I ’ m going to choose to take the high road , just like I did this year . I enjoy watching the guys run their mouths . And anytime a guy like me feels any disrespect , I get better , and I look to destroy anyone who tries to come after me . And that ’ s what I ’ m going to do . I ’ m going to destroy them , and I ’ m going to destroy them all . And I ’ m going to do so with a smile on my face and hard work , with the experience that I ’ ve acquired . And that ’ s where bodybuilding is going to prevail . That ’ s what I am : I ’ m a bodybuilder . I ’ m a better bodybuilder than the next guy . I ’ m going to make this very exciting next year , based on my work , not my mouth .
14 FLEX | JANUARY 2018