Lee Priest wonders how the sport would look under new ownership. On Jan. 26, 2026, he suggested that Mr. Olympia was sold to Jake Wood over The Rock or Patrick Bet-David to maintain control of the athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2020, the Mr. Olympia brand went up for sale. Three months before Jake Wood bought the organization, Patrick Bet-David (PBD) and Dwayne \u2018The Rock\u2019 Johnson were in potential talks to purchase it<\/a>. While they admit they were close to striking a deal, Mr. Olympia later sold to Jake Wood<\/a>, the owner of the Rising Phoenix Championship<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Six years after Wood\u2019s acquisition, doubts about whether Mr. Olympia<\/a> picked the right buyer have grown. The latest to unpack the deal was Lee Priest<\/a>, who believes the sport would have likely evolved had they picked a different owner to helm the promotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Get Fitter, Faster<\/p>\n Level Up Your Fitness: Join our \ud83d\udcaa strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!<\/p>\n Lee Priest Reveals Why Mr. Olympia Sold to Jake Wood, Says They Couldn\u2019t \u2018Control\u2019 The Rock or PBD\u00a0<\/p>\n In the IFBB AMA YouTube video, Priest underscored that had The Rock or PBD bought the Olympia, the IFBB, Manion family, and NPC wouldn\u2019t have control over the athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, Dan wouldn\u2019t sell it to The Rock or Patrick Bet-David because they would do such a good job and kick Dan out. Those guys, the way they run shit with their type of money, it\u2019s like the IFBB, the Manions, and NPC would have no control because it would actually be legit and actually start going places.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He added that if The Rock took over, Dan Solomon would likely be out of a job.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey were saying how the Rock was saying his first wife, Danny, she was his manager and they did business together even though they separated. She was still doing that.<\/p>\n He said if he bought it, she would be the one running it and stuff. You can imagine Dan thinking, \u2018Oh, fuck.\u2019 He was the CEO of AMI and running the Olympia. \u2018Well, fuck, I\u2019ll be out of a job.’\u201d<\/p>\n According to Priest, Olympia sold to Wood because they could control him, whereas the same couldn\u2019t be said for the other two potential buyers:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEven telling Patrick Bet David it\u2019s not for sale and then three months later selling it to Jake Wood. It\u2019s like come on. They can control Jake Wood, but these other two, they wouldn\u2019t have been able to control. Like you said, it would have gotten that good and that big that the athletes would have been like, \u2018We don\u2019t need the IFBB.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey were talking about putting them in movies, these bodybuilders and stuff,\u201d he adds<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Priest also shared that bodybuilders should have the right to guest pose at events outside of the IFBB Pro League or NPC.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI never got [the problem with guest posing at other events] because you\u2019re an IFBB athlete, you\u2019re like one of the best in the world, if you can go to another event and get on stage and guest pose\u2026 there\u2019s people there that are going to see you.<\/p>\n That might draw them into the IFBB. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re going to take people away from the IFBB. You could recruit people from that organization to want to go to the IFBB, and it\u2019s exposure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Years later, PBD believes Mr. Olympia made a big mistake by not selling<\/a>. He emphasized that the brand could have grown to unforeseen heights had they sold to The Rock. Looking at the sport broadly, PBD felt that Classic Physique should be represented more for a shot at mainstream opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Priest continues to speak up for bodybuilders around the world. Hindsight is 20\/20, but he maintains the sport would be in a stronger place had they sold to someone other than Jake Wood.\u00a0<\/p>\n