Rubiel Mosquera is the next big thing. Coming off a whirlwind in which he qualified for the IFBB Pro League and promptly finished third in his IFBB Pro League debut behind only the guys who finished third and seventh in the recent Mr. Olympia, the Colombian mass monster known as Neckzilla is the talk of bodybuilding. Let’s get to know Rubiel Mosquera.
Where is Rubiel Mosquera from?
Colombia.
Does he speak English?
Very little. Spanish is his native language.
How old is Rubiel Mosquera?
He’s currently 28. He was born in 1995.
How tall is Rubiel Mosquera?
5’11” (180 cm.).
How much does he weigh?
In the offseason, he weighs over 300 pounds (136+ kg.). In competition, he currently weighs around 280 pounds (127 kg.).
When did he first get into bodybuilding?
He competed for the first time in 2018. In 2019, he won the super-heavyweight class of the IFBB South American Championships, announcing his arrival on the bodybuilding scene.
When and why did Rubiel Mosquera get the nickname Neckzilla?
Circa 2019 from internet commentary. The nickname references the gargantuan size of his neck and Godzilla. Mosquera has adopted it and uses it in his Instagram posts.
How big is Neckzilla’s neck?
In 2021, it was measured at 20 inches (51 cm.). It may be even bigger now.
Does Neckzilla have the biggest neck ever?
We have to qualify this with biggest muscular neck. And there are other contenders. Most were or are American football players, who train their necks to protect that area when tackling. See current Chicago Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn, for example. Most notable is former NFL linebacker Takeo Spikes, who was almost as famous for his neck as his All-Pro skills. He claimed his neck measured 21 inches (53 cm.). Spikes trained his neck a lot, saying: “I worked my ass off to get this neck.” Among bodybuilders, Jeff King, who won the AAU Mr. America in 1983, was the original Neckzilla; and he trained his neck twice weekly. Judging only by photos, King’s neck looks a little smaller than Mosquera’s. What we can say for certain is Rubiel Mosquera, Takeo Spikes, and Jeff King are three of the rare people to have muscular necks that appear larger than their heads.
Does Neckzilla train his neck?
No. Rubiel Mosquera is an extreme mesomorph. His neck simply grew once he adopted a bodybuilding program. Some bodybuilders are lucky to have huge calves (Mosquera has those too) or forearms without ever training them. Neckzilla just has a huge neck. Is he lucky? Depends. Some argue it detracts from his upper body symmetry on a bodybuilding stage. It may also make his shoulders appear narrower. However, it’s what originally made him internet famous, and, along with his legs, it’s still his calling card.
How big are his legs?
When his left thigh was measured in 2021, it was nearly 32 inches at 80.5 centimeters. His legs may be even bigger now.
Does Rubiel Mosquera have the biggest legs in bodybuilding?
We say yes. In his Olympia-winning years, Big Ramy would be right there with him when it comes to quads and hams, but, unlike Ramy, Neckzilla also has outrageously huge calves to match his thighs. He just has all-around, monster truck wheels.
How does he feel about being a viral sensation?
In a recent interview, Neckzilla answered in translated Spanish: “I like it. It’s a lot to take in. But all the comments, good or bad, motivate me to do the right thing.”
What is Rubiel Mosquera‘s contest history?
After winning the 2019 South American Championships, Mosquera competed in the IFBB Elite Pro for years. This is a different and inferior bodybuilding organization from the IFBB Pro League (which is home of the Mr. Olympia and Arnold Classic). He placed high in Elite Pro shows, including a victory at the 2021 Elite Pro South American Championships. Despite his pro status in that league, Mosquera still needed to qualify for the IFBB Pro League. He did so by winning the EVLS Prague Amateur in November 2023. Then he promptly jumped into the EVLS Prague Pro, and finished third, behind Samson Dauda (2023 Mr. Olympia, 3rd place) and Michal Krizo (2023 Mr. Olympia, 7th place) and ahead of another top pro, Nathan DeAsha.
Why did he go to the IFBB Pro League?
That’s where the best bodybuilders compete for the biggest honors and most prize money. In a recent interview, Neckzilla answered this question in translated Spanish: “I’m motivated to get qualified for the Mr. Olympia. It’s a dream to compete in the Olympia, and there are more opportunities for me in the IFBB Pro League.”
What does Chris Cormier say about him?
Bodybuilding legend Chris Cormier is Mosquera’s coach. (They’re both sponsored by Yava Labs.) After placing third against stiff competition in his IFBB Pro League debut, Cormier said, “It’s pretty amazing how he did….From the first day, he was posing every day because as soon as I got there [to Prague] we posed every single day, and we never missed a day of posing and training. He’s definitely the Rottweiler in this group [of pros in the contest]. I did like Rubiel’s abs against everybody’s. He had like cubed out abs. I tell people if you’re going to have a powerful body, there’s no way you can have flat abs and not pay attention to your abs that much. You’ve got to pay close attention to the abs….Like you see the dominance in the legs. You know what I was telling Rubiel? It’s a good thing that it’s not like super-dried out quads these days where you’re not going to look that bad out of shape, but we would like to see more cut details in his quads….I think he’s just going to get better and better. This is the worst he’s going to be right here, I think….It’s just artistically putting together the physique.”
How high can Rubiel Mosquera go in the IFBB Pro League?
It’s difficult to say. He has a very unique physique. His cartoonish lower body overwhelms his upper body, even though his upper body is pretty amazing. He looks phenomenal from the side, virtually unbeatable, but less so from the front and back. His symmetry would benefit from more shoulder and back size, and he’s young enough to make some significant changes, maybe. But pro bodybuilding success is not all about balance. Ramy wasn’t balanced when he won two Mr. Olympias. Neckzilla is a freak. He’s a mass monster. And there’s always a place for a freaky mass monster near the top of pro bodybuilding. We think he can win pro shows and place in the top 10 of the Mr. Olympia as soon as 2024. But when it comes to how high he can climb, we’ll have to see. Like 29-year-old Ramy did as a Pro League rookie a decade ago, Rubiel Mosquera has brought a buzz to bodybuilding. He’s the next big thing. How big is big? Stay tuned.
