What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Truer words have never been uttered as Team MuscleTech™ Superstar and IFBB legend Dexter “The Blade” Jackson defeated reigning Mr. Olympia and Las Vegas resident Jay Cutler, ascending the throne as the planet’s greatest bodybuilder. Led by the heavily muscled line-up of Team MuscleTech™, a total of 19 of the world’s biggest professional bodybuilders descended upon Orleans Arena in Sin City to pose, turn and flex their way to an Olympia victory.

By as early as the Friday prejudging, rumors abounded that Dexter Jackson was the man to beat. After a blistering season of three first-place finishes and an equally intense hunger for a Sandow, the 2008 Arnold Classic champ promised and delivered an even heavier physique, adding pounds of shredded muscle to his ever-proportioned frame and legendary conditioning. It was a fight to the finish with both Jay and Dex going pose for pose during the final callout. When the smoke cleared, it was Dexter’s superior conditioning and crowd-pleasing aesthetics that were awarded first place over Cutler’s shadow-casting mass.

Just shy of the top five was “Marvelous” Melvin Anthony. Having taken a unanimous first-place finish at the Atlantic City Pro only two weeks prior, “The Marvelous One” came out of nowhere displaying his best physique to date, catapulting himself into a hard-earned sixth-place showing. 

Closing out the top 10 at this year’s big show was Team MuscleTech veteran Gustavo Badell. “The Freakin’ Rican” took to the stage with his signature muscularity, jaw-dropping symmetry and bone-dry conditioning. With even more size in his delts and traps, Gustavo’s imposing “most muscular” placed him firmly in 10th.

Just shy of the top 10 were two more seasoned Team MuscleTech superstars, Darrem Charles and Johnnie Jackson. “Mr. Consistency” Darrem Charles was true to his title, bringing with him classic lines of sweep and symmetry, all shrink-wrapped in his characteristic paper-thin skin. Having added even more size to his freaky split-peak biceps, complemented by the increasingly deep striations etched across his fully muscled physique, the “Sultan of Symmetry” was awarded 11th place.

Close behind Darrem was the world’s strongest bodybuilder, Johnnie Jackson. Stepping on stage with his most impressive combination of size and shred to date and an ever-increasing upper body capping off his tree-trunk quads, a very ripped Jackson securely planted himself in 12th place. 

In his first-ever Olympia appearance, and with arguably the most overlooked physique on the stage, was Team MuscleTech rookie Fouad Abiad. Displaying a debatably unmatched level of muscularity by many of his counterparts, Fouad gave the world a glimpse of the future of bodybuilding and earned himself a very respectable 17th-place finish.

Last, but certainly not least, was “The Giant Killer,” David Henry who completely dominated the 202 Showdown with his cable-like vascularity, shredded-to-the-bone conditioning and nearly perfect symmetry. Dave proved to the world, yet again, that massive physiques come in small packages, giving him an undisputed first-place finish.

All in all, it was an extremely successful Olympia outing for Team MuscleTech, with four of our eight athletes securing top-10 placings. Now, as the 2008 bodybuilding season draws to a close, we’d like to thank the industry’s finest for the their endless intensity in the gym… for the sacrifice, discipline and perseverance exercised in the kitchen… and for their unwavering commitment to excellence, proving yet again why Team MuscleTech is the best in the business.