Lee Priest has made it official.  He'll skip the 2009 Arnold Classic and, instead, compete the following week at the IFBB Australian Pro (on Saturday) and New Zealand Pro (on Sunday).  When asked why he chose to forgo the prestigious Arnold for his return to the IFBB, Priest was rather practical:  "I don't want to fly all the way to the U.S. to do the Arnold only to have to turn around and come right back 6 days later."  Since there's no Under 202 Class at either the Aussie or New Zealand Pro, Priest will need to place top 3 in the open class to grab 1 of 3 Olympia qualification spots. It's interesting to not that by the time Lee steps onto an IFBB Pro stage again, he will have been out of competition for almost 3 years.  One can only wonder whether he's looking to launch his comeback with strong win in him homeland of Australia?