Gustavo – arrogant or confident?

It was broth to my attention by several people how Gustavo acted very arrogant at the press conference!
They say – he should NEVER challenge Ronnie to a posedown and that he was very disrespectful to 7 (now eight) time Olympia champion.

Well, what happened at the last (2004) press conference?
Ronnie stepped up on the table and challenged Gunter and Jay.
They eventually finished with the posedown and audience truly enjoyed it (photographers and magazines were delighted).
Besides, athletes were instructed that they should make some show – to spike up the contest.
So, Gustavo only wanted to start what was expected to happen – a posedown!

Now, let’s talk about something else.
Last year when Gustavo was finnaly given a chance (EARNED THAT CHANCE) to stand next to Ronnie in the last callout of the second round – after only two poses (in which Gustavo IMO was VERY competitive with Ronnie) judges moved him away from Ronnie and put him next to Dexter.
Interestingly – this year when there was more than obvious that he deserves that comparison IFBB judges (maybe instructed by someone?) did not allow him AGAIN to stand next to Ronnie?
In first and second round Gustavo was not even called to be compared with Ronnie and Jay?
Than CHALENGE round happens – and NEW JUDGES (previous Mr. Olympia winners – would they know something about bodybuilding?) proclaimed Gustavo BETTER than Ronnie!
They gave him direct posedown victory over Ronnie (after the tiebreak). Also they gave him a triceps pose in direct comparison!

What happens next?
Again – Gustavo accidentally stands next to Ronnie for the top five comparison and AGAIN they move him away from him?!
So, when you consider all this do you think there was a reason WHY Gustavo wanted that challenge at the press conference?
He knew that judges would NOT GIVE HIM THAT CHANCE during the contest!

Unfortunately – he was right…(I guess he learned something from me about IFBB and judging…)

So, to answer the question – there is the fine line between arrogance and confidence.
Gustavo was respectfully asking a champ for a challenge and even after disrespectful answer from Ronnie he didn’t respond with an insult and instead he just posed for the audience – as they were all waiting for that!