Devon Eberhard Larratt (born 24 April 1975) is a Canadian professional armwrestler, content creator, and a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Larratt is considered to be one of the top arm wrestlers and as of the King Of The Table 7 event, the title holder of the best arm wrestler in North America. He has helped popularize the sport.
Early life Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to a German mother, Devon learned to speak German as a child. His interest in arm wrestling began as an early teenager. Larratt's first opponent was his grandmother, a farmworker, who claimed to be "the best arm-wrestling woman in Alberta." From there, Larratt progressed to competing on the oil fields of western Canada. Larratt also competed in Judo during his youth.
Military career Larratt joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a reservist, in the Princess of Wales' Own Regiment (PWOR) at the age of 21. With PWOR he received high quality training, which inspired him to further his military career, since all his instructors were from the recently disbanded Canadian Airborne Regiment, tasked with training the new reserves. Later on, he transferred to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) and with the regiment, he served a tour in Bosnia.https://www.instagram.com/p/DM4B_bUNfHO/ In 1998, he put in a compassionate transfer to the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), to be closer to his father who had cancer. The transfer was approved and while at the unit, Devon started focusing on getting ready for Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) selection, taking part in numerous athletic opportunities, from ironman competitions, basketball, to tug of war.https://shilostag.ca/world-champ-devon-larratt-arms-shilo-soldiers-with-techniques-to-wrestle-resiliency-and-mindset-in-combat/
He was selected for training on his second try and started his service with Joint Task Force 2 on 9/11. He served in the unit for sixteen years and six months before retiring in 2016. He achieved the rank of master corporal, and was deployed seven times to Afghanistan, where he was wounded in action. Despite his deployments, Larratt managed to train and compete during his military service, and credits the experience gained at different military bases as a large part of his success.
Early career
In 1999, Larratt won the Ontario Provincial Championships in left and right handed, Larratt also competed in the Canadian Nationals in left and right handed in the 100 kg competition winning both. Larratt entered his first international competition, competing at WAF Worlds event in Japan, where he defeated Krister Jonsson and lost to John Brzenk. Larratt placed third in the left handed and right handed 100 kg competition.
In 2000, Larratt won the Ontario Provincial Championships in the left and right handed in his category. Larratt placed first at the Canadian Nationals in right handed and second in left handed.
In 2001, Larratt won the Ontario Provincial Championship in the left and right handed and also won the Canadian Nationals in left handed and right handed.
In 2002, Larratt won the "All Niagara Armwrestling Championships" as right handed at 199+ lbs competition.
In 2003, Larratt won at the Ontario Provincial Championships in the right handed at 221+ lbs and also in the Central Ontario Championships Larratt defeated Robert Graham, Garth Carlson and Mike Gould.
In 2004, Devon Larratt once again dominated the Central Ontario Championships, but lost a super match in Chehalis, Washington against John Brzenk.
In 2005, Larratt defeated Tim Bresnan 3-0 in a supermatch, at Battle in the Capital II in Ottawa, Ontario.
In 2006, after returning from a six-month deployment, Larratt defeated Ron Bath 3–1, at a Mike Gould Classic event in Ontario, Canada. At the time Ron Bath was considered the #3 ranked heavy weight in North America, behind only John Brzenk and Travis Bagent. Devon Larratt has stated that this was his favorite match, "for a number of reasons", but mostly because of the difficulties and stressors of combat, and the uncertainty of returning to a "normal life". Larratt was shot, and took shrapnel to the hand while deployed to Afghanistan. Months later, Larratt faced the Ukrainian champion Taras Ivakin at Professional Armwrestling League (PAL) Vendetta/Armfight #26 and lost, 24.
Career timeline Arm Wars & Supermatches
In 2007, Devon Larratt joined Arm Wars, again defeating Ron Bath, this time with a score of 6–0 in the Arm Wars X event at the Trafford Centre in Manchester, England in the right and left arm.
In 2008, Larratt faced Travis Bagent in Arm Wars XI in a right hand match, winning 5-1, although he lost 1-5 in the left hand match. Later that year Larratt was the first man in twenty five years to beat John Brzenk in a super-match at Arm Wars "Deep Water", on 13 September. After defeating that arm-wrestling legend, 6–0, Larratt became an internationally recognized armwrestler, and was considered the new #1 ranked right handed arm-wrestler in the world. Later Devon beat Johan Lindholm 6-0 in the same day in the right arm. In the same event, Larratt also beat Michael Todd 6-0 and Marcio Barboza 5-1 in the left hand to both.
In 2009, Devon Larratt beat super-heavyweight Dave Randall in a supermatch 2-0, at Northeast Armwrestling Challenge VII (NEAC VII).
In 2010, Devon Larratt beat Travis Bagent 4–3, Tim Bresnan 5–1, and Don Underwood 4–3, to become the #1 ranked arm-wrestler in the world (both left and right).
In 2010, Devon Larratt defeated former Arnold Classic champion and number one contender, Don Underwood, to retain the right-hand title.
In 2011, Devon Larratt beat "Monster" Michael Todd and Christophe Ladu. Devon Larratt lost his left-hand title to Travis Bagent at UAL Backyard Brawl, but beat Bagent 3-0 for the right hand title at the same event.
UAL/MLA/PAL Armfight
In 2012, after Arm Wars went into abeyance, Devon Larratt participated in UAL/MLA and PAL Armfight tournaments, where he defeated Tim Bresnan for the Major League Armwrestling (MLA) in the Toronto Pro Super Show for right hand super heavy weight title in Ontario, Canada. In the same year, Larratt defeated Andriy Pushkar at Professional Armwrestling League (PAL) Armfight #42, winning 5–1 to win the left hand world title.
In 2013, Larratt beat Oleh Zhokh, Wilton Brock, and Eric Woelfel at Ultimate Armwrestling League 4 (UAL 4) to retain his left hand heavyweight title. He then underwent surgery on both elbows. As a result of the injury, Larratt lost his number one pound-for-pound ranking. He underwent a similar procedure on his left elbow in 2016, but was able to recover much faster, returning to win the WAL championship in the same year.
WAL & Supermatches
After recovering from elbow surgery, Devon Larratt joined the World Armwrestling League (WAL) in 2014. His first WAL event took place in January 2015, where he won the left-handed title, defeating Marcio Barboza, 2–0. At the same event, Larratt lost the right-handed title to Marcio Barboza 0–2.
Later in 2015, Larratt defeated Ron Bath left handed and right handed at WAL Southern Regionals. Larratt won the WAL Championships left-hand heavyweight title after Marcio Barboza withdrew (injury). In the right handed semi-finals, Larratt lost to American arm-wrestling legend John Brzenk. While Larratt won the first match in the straps, Brzenk displayed superior hand control and dominated the next two matches outside of the straps to win 2–1.
In 2016, Larratt defeated Matt Mask left handed and right handed at WAL Northern Regionals. Larratt returned to peak form, successfully defending his left-hand title against Matt Mask and winning the WAL right-hand title against top contenders Marcio Barboza and Ron Bath.
In 2017, Larratt retained the WAL right-hand and left-hand heavyweight titles by defeating perennial rival Matt Mask. Larratt also defended his right-hand legacy hammer against a challenge from "Big Frank" Budelewski at Buffalo Fitness Expo 2017, the event also had a charitable aspect to it, and left hand hammer against Zhao Zi Rui of China at the Super Armwrestling League (SAL) in a supermatch.
On 17 May 2018, at WAL 402, Larratt defeated American super heavyweight "Big Daddy" Jerry Cadorette, 3–2, in a right handed supermatch. At WAL 405, Larratt defeated Matt Mask 3–1. At WAL 406, Larratt lost the right-hand championship to Michael Todd. Later that year, during Armfight #50, Larratt lost a left handed super match against Russian wrestling armwrestler Denis Cyplenkov, in which Cyplenkov won 6–0. After the match, Larratt said Cyplenkov was most likely "25 to 30% stronger". Larratt subsequently rededicated himself to strength training. After these matches, Larratt sent the right handed legacy hammer to Michael Todd and the left handed legacy hammer to Denis Cyplenkov.
On 23 May 2019, at WAL 501, Devon Larratt beat Todd Hutchings 3–0. Hutchings, who typically competes in lower weight classes, performed admirably. In July 2019, at WAL 504, Larratt beat Dave Chaffee 3–1, displaying an impressive king's move and much improved strength. Later that year, at WAL 506, Larratt beat Brazilian champion Wagner Bortolato left-handed 3–1. Devon Larratt also beat the Australian champion Ryan Scott 3–0 in a AAF (Australian Armwrestling Federation) supermatch at the Arnold Classic on 26 March 2019.
In March 2021, at BAL 204, Larratt defeated Janek Kwias in a supermatch.
King of the Table
On 28 May 2021, less than five months after recovering from deep vein thrombosis, Devon Larratt agreed to meet Michael Todd at King of the Table (KOTT) in Dubai for the right-hand heavyweight title. In one of the most hyped matches of all time, Larratt avenged his 2018 loss in dramatic fashion by defeating number one ranked Michael Todd 6–0. After the match, Michael Todd stated that the 2021 version of Devon Larratt was the "strongest arm-wrestler he ever faced". Ryan "Blue" Bowen, currently ranked #3 in Australia, speculated that the 2021 version of Larratt may be the "strongest arm-wrestler the world has ever seen", noting that no arm-wrestler has ever defeated Michael Todd "so significantly".
On 11 December 2021, at King of the Table II, Devon Larratt beat John Brzenk 4-0 for the right-hand heavy weight title. Larratt was impressive throughout the match, controlling the hand and wrist of John Brzenk in three of the four rounds; when Brzenk did manage to take the hand and wrist in round 1, Larratt was able to stop the drive and make the necessary tactical adjustments. Larratt weighed in at 129.5 kilos, or 285.5 pounds.
Legacy Hammer
The Legacy Hammer, which was presented to Devon Larratt after he defeated Michael Todd at KOTT 1, has since been passed to Levan Saginashvili, who defeated him at KOTT 4. The hammer, although created by the WAL exclusively for its champions, is a symbolic representation of the world's best armwrestler, and the wielder of the legacy hammer must ensure that the hammer belongs to the person most worthy. Current hammer holders as of 21 November 2024 are Levan Saginashvili (right hand) and Artyom Morozov (left hand).
Exhibition boxing On 16 August 2021, Devon Larratt accepted a boxing match with the World's Strongest Man Champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Larratt, who had no previous boxing experience, trained for the match at Tristar Gym, owned by Firas Zahabi. The gym is notable for training a number of top mixed martial artists, including UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre. When asked why he accepted the match on short notice, Devon stated that he "knows a lot about the sport of arm-wrestling", and that "abandoning his area of expertise" to enter a "fighter dorm", with "professional fighters", is an "opportunity to grow as a human being".