Shaun Clarida has been in the news since taking 2nd at the 2024 212 Olympia Showdown and leaving longtime coach Matt Jansen. Once Clarida left, other clients followed suit. The suspense over who the 2x 212 Mr. Olympia would hire became the talk of the town. Some believed that Shaun might stay with Matt. Others toyed with the idea that GK (aka The Giant Killer) would self-prep.
Legendary bodybuilding bad boy Lee Priest made public statements reminding top, current bodybuilding champions than in yesteryear there were virtually no gurus. Priest cited to Chad Nicholls and Chris Aceto as being the only gurus of his day. What he was trying to say was that gurus weren’t necessary. Top guys know what they have to eat, how they have to train, and what supplements they need to get big, cut, and so on and forth. Interestingly, there seems to be a sea of gurus, today.
While there was some who thought Clarida might self-prep, the vast majority were narrowing down the possible coaches the NJ transplant now living in Texas might choose. One name kept coming up…
Shaun’s decision to work with Stefan (aka BossOfOutlaw on IG) wasn’t a total surprise. His clients have been steadily moving up the rankings and no one could overlook the tremendous jump Martin Fitzwater had done with the coach. The Martian went from winning the 2024 IFBB Pro League Detroit Pro and getting ROYALLY ROBBED at the 2024 IFBB Pro League NY Pro to pushing Derek Lunsford to the wire and taking an impressive 4th Place finish at his Olympia debut.
Of all of Jansen’s clients, I’d say Clarida was the most loyal. Nick Walker has left and come back. Even when RAW dropped GK, Shaun still stayed with Matt. He was able to separate their coach-client relationship from the business relationship that came to an end with RAW. And that was no easy feat, considering Jansen was/is a part-owner of the company. Nonetheless, they gelled and worked well together. I mean, one look at Clarida’s resume, and that’s pretty clear. That being said, when Jansen’s coaching was missing the mark in Clarida’s purview, it was time to make the break. It’s only when Shaun walked, that I think Matt truly appreciated the situation. It’s sad it had to come to that, but Shaun had to keep on moving. He has a family, obligations, and he’s nowhere near being done with competing. There’s still more left for him to do.
And speaking of keep of more to do, The Giant Killer and BossOfOutlaw have teamed up for GK to compete at the 2024 EVLS Prague Pro in OPEN BODYBUILDING. Not only that, but Shaun will be competing against The Martian (fresh off his 4th at the Olympia) and the G.O.A.T. of Classic Physique, Chris Bumstead, making his OPEN BODYBUILDING debut.
These are very exciting times for the #1 contender in The 212!
