Not until 3 year later after moving to Arizona to futher my education did I meet J.J. Marsh, who was top 10 in the Olympia at that time. I asked J.J. to train me for the upcoming 1995 Collegiate Nationals. He took one look at me and said that I had a lot of work to do and needed to get my ass in gear. I thought I was so big, but one check from J.J. was all I needed to bust my ass for 9 month in order to win first place in the Light Heavies at the Collegiate Nationals. I lived in Arizona for 4 years till I graduated with a B.S. in Human Nutrition. It was a great time living there. The atmosphere where I trained was great. All the boys at Beauvais gym where at least 240lbs and over. It was a simple gym but that didnt matter to me, all I wanted to do was eat, sleep, and train. For work, I used to work at the Night Clubs out in Scottsdale. It was a fun time, I'll never forget that time in my life. I learned a lot living out there on my own. It was then a year after school was done I decided that in order to further myself in bodybuilding, I needed to be out in California. In 1997 I packed up and moved to the Mecca of Bodybuilding: Venice, California. I got an apartment about 5 miles away from the Gold's Gym In Venice. It was the greatest gym I had ever trained in to this day. The atmosphere there was outstanding. When I arrived on the scene there were tons of top amateurs, and pro's training there. I couldnt believe it, I was finally training in the Mecca of Bodybuilding. I arrived there at a body weight of about 225lbs soft. I trained my ass off. I didnt know anyone but I really didnt care at the time, all I was there for was to make in impact, and in a matter of 1 year I did. At first I gained a little weight and went up to like 240lbs then I met a photographer Jerry Fredrick. He said if I dieted down and looked good that he would take pics for Ironman Magazine. I was ecstatic. At the time I was dieting it was around the time for the USA's and people were asking me if I was dieting for that show, my response was "No, Im just dieting for pictures". They thought I was crazy. Now that I think about it, I should have done that show, I was in great shape for the photo shoot. After the photo shoot I took a little break and rebounded to a body weight of like 230lbs. It was then that I started my offseason program. This was when I went from a body weight of 230lbs to about roughly 270lbs in a matter of 3 1/2 months. People at the gym were like " what the hell are you doing"? Kent Kuen, a bodybuilder back in the Arnold days, used to get on the mic for the gym and would annouce, "Abbas, your pizza has arrived, come pick it up at the counter". Yes, I was bloated, but I was big. That was when I decided to chill out a little and reduce my weight a little to a more reasonable appearance.

In 1998 I decided that I had put on enough size to compete at the national level. I qualified for the Nationals by winning the Sacramento Bodybuilding Competition as a heavyweight. I went from there to the 1998 Nationals and got 11th out of 35 competitors. I was not happy with my placing, which just motivated me to push harder and come back better. Then in 1999 I decided to contact Jon Lindsay and ask what was the next show I should do. He recommended the California State. That is what I did next, I trained like there was no tomorrow, ate, slept, trained, tanned, grocery shopping- that was all I did. At the end it paid off - it was my best shape to date. I won the overall as a heavyweight. At that point I knew that I would make it in bodybuilding. The California State show is, in my opinion, the hardest state show to win. I took a year off after that show to improve for the 2000 USA. At that show I took 4th my first time out. I was very happy with my placing. I was now competing with guys who had been competing nationally for years. At this point I had decided that the USA is what I wanted to win. I took another year off and trained for the 2001 USA in which Jay Cutler helped me diet down. I guess I didnt hit my mark at that show, as I came in 5th place. This really got to me and made me go over what went wrong. After doing photo shoots for the magazines I took that year to improve on what needed to be done. I started to get ready again for the 2002 USA and had Jay help me out again. This time I was more determined than ever to win that show. I came into that show with a great package which placed me 3rd, only one point behing 2nd place. Troy Alves won that class and recieved his procard that year. I was on a high at that point in my life. I decided to go to the Nationals 3 months later thinking that I would get my pro card there, well I guess it was just too much dieting, I came into that show hard but I was flat, and just looked drained. I got 7th there. That really touched a nerve. The judges kept telling me that I needed to be a super heavy, that my frame can hold that size, and that I would look better. I took their advice and put on the size that year but when It came down to the 2003 USA I sucked it down to a barely 225lbs, to be in the heavyweight class again. This time I was hard, but again flat, since I wasnt able to carb up fully, since I had sucked my weight down in order to make weight. I got 5th place. That was the last time I made that mistake.

That whole year (from after the 2003 USA till 12 weeks before the 2004 USA), I busted my ass and got back up to 270lbs. I trained twice a day and ate 8 times a day that whole year. It paid off. For years I was saying I was going to be a super heavy but each time I would weigh in as a heavy. People started saying I would never be a super heavy. I made it a point to not only be above 225lbs but a good amount over. I came into the 2004 USA a solid 237lbs. That was a whole 12 lbs of muscle I had put on in one year. That is unheard of at that level. I got top 5 at that show, I was happy but at the same time I wasnt satisfied with my conditioning. So I decided to keep dieting and do the 2004 IFBB North American which was held in Cleveland, 7 weeks later. I was so determined get my pro card. After flying into Cleveland I weighed in at 240lbs. I was 3 lbs heavier and even harder than the USA 7 weeks prior. It paid off I won the Super Heavy Class and came so close to winning my pro card. I lost the over all by one point. I was drained at that point in my life- I had just dieted for 21 weeks. I was burnt out. I took like a month off, went and traveled and saw friends. After coming back I started training again but I was still tired. I decided then to get a few surgeries, that I need to get done. One was a deviated septum, which is correcting the inside of my nose in order to breath right. I had broken my nose when I was wrestling and I guess I never knew it. The next surgery with in one week was a very small hernia above my belly button. It would show when I was dieted down and I didnt like it. It took me about 6 weeks before I could train again. It was the worst time of my life, my weight went down below my last show I had just done. It was killing me. I wanted to get back in the gym so bad. Well I did just that, I got back in as soon as the doctor allowed me. I trained my ass off but I was still tired from all the dieting and surgeries. I got my weight back up to 270lbs but I just didnt feel good at that weight this time around. I held it there till about the time I started to diet again for the 2005 North Americans.

It was then about 3 weeks into my dieting I felt for the first time ever that I was totally exhausted and drained. I had no motivation to train. I couldnt believe what was happening. I thought to myself, "I am so close to turning pro and I feel like this". Now that I think about it, I had just pushed my body too much within that one year. All the surgeries, getting the flu, not giving my body and mind a break finally caught up to me. I really started to question if I could do this show 100%. I took a week to think it out. I still trained but only once a day. Each time I trained I knew more and more that I need to take time off and really give myself a break. I knew that I couldnt give this show 100% and going to the show less than that and not winning would really kill me. It was then I decided to just diet down but not like I do for a show and still do pictures for the magazine. After a few weeks I started to feel good again and got that fire back. But It was too late at that point to get myself in top shape to compete. So I just continued to diet down and did a number of photo shoots for some training articles, two shoots for the cover of Musclemag, and then a photo shoot with David Paul. Now here I am, got my drive back and feel really good about next year 2006. I am coming back with a vengance. People need to watch out. I'm coming in shredded and bigger than ever. I am coming for my pro card.

Competitions and Placings