Questions of who will become the 2025 Men’s Physique Olympia champion are piling up. In a recent YouTube video on August 23, 2025, Dennis James and Terrick El Guindy broke down the lineup and emphasized that the title is up for grabs.
In 2023 and 2024, Ryan Terry reigned supreme as the number one talent in the Men’s Physique category. On the Olympia stage, he’s proved himself against the best in the world, including former champions Brandon Hendrickson, Erin Banks, and Jeremy Buendia.
Terry has stayed mostly under wraps for the 2025 bodybuilding season. Having watched Ali Bilal lay claim to gold at the recent Arnold Classic, the reigning champ knows he’ll need his signature diced midsection and an even bigger back to pull off the three-peat.
“There Is No Clear-Cut Winner” — Dennis James, Terrick El Guindy Talk 2025 Men’s Physique Olympia Favorites
In the video, James emphasized that picking a winner is nearly impossible. He chalked it up to a four-man race between Terry, Banks, Hendrickson, and Ali Bilal.
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“What I like in the Men’s Physique category, especially, these guys, there is no clear-cut winner. There is nobody that’s ahead of the pack; it’s so close, anyone can walk away with the win.
Erin won the Olympia before. Ryan won it two times. Ali just won the Arnold, and he got second last year, so I think this is like a three or four-man race for sure,” explained Dennis James.
James insisted that Banks’ back is superior to Terry’s. However, he noted that the sitting champion’s front shots are his biggest strength.
“Erin’s back is just out of this world. Standing there relaxed, he has the biggest lat flare and a tiny waist from the rear. If I judge him in a back double biceps, he’s got great detail in his back.
He [Terry] has got a great back, too, but he cannot stand next to Erin when they turn around. If that’s the deciding factor, Erin will beat him from the back. I think Ryan is more dangerous from the front than from the rear and like I said, I’d have Erin right here winning the back pose since it’s not a back double biceps, but Erin’s back, his lats, it’s just all the way down to the board shorts.”
El Guindy added that Buendia is the x-factor heading into the competition.
“He might be coming back, and you can never disregard somebody that has won four titles. He’s a little bit more tamed right now as a dad, he’s a dad, he’s got two kids, you know me, I love him in the past, he would win shows and fight people backstage.”
“Jeremy, if he comes back, he can be an X-factor.”
Buendia has vowed to bring his all-time best look to the 2025 Mr. Olympia event. He made it clear that this will be his final outing on the bodybuilding stage, with hopes to leave the sport on top and make history as a five-time Men’s Physique Olympia winner.
Terry will have to showcase new improvements to hold on to gold. The 2025 Mr. Olympia is set for October 9-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Watch the full video from the OlympiaTV YouTube channel below:
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