Odd Haugen runs a three-ring circus of strength in his FitExpo contests—strongman, grip and mas wrestling—and the FitExpo in Anaheim last weekend, Haugen added a new twist to his grip contests: bodyweight classes for men.

“We would like to increase the appeal and broaden the base of participants in grip strength contests,” Haugen told IronMind. “Now, if they see that Martins (Licis) or I are entered, they know they don’t have a chance of winning, but with body weight classes that changes everything."

Eric Roussin (Canada) proved once again he’s a force to be reckoned with and that his forearms are not just for show: in addition to winning in arm wrestling at the Anaheim FitExpo, Roussin dominated the men’s -200 lb. class in grip.

In the men’s open class, John Machnik edged Jon Eklund by one point to claim the overall victory—Machnik won both the CoC (Captains of Crush) Silver Bullet Hold (with a time of 33.28 seconds, using a CoC No. 3 gripper), and the IronMind Blockbuster Pinch Grip Block (with a huge 97-lb./44-kg lift). Other event winners in the open class were: Odd Haugen - Rolling Thunder (110 kg), Carl Myerscough - Apollon's Axle (210 kg) and Riccardo Magni - Hub (31 kg)

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