Samson Dauda is breaking down what led to his fourth-place finish at the 2025 Mr. Olympia. On Oct. 14, he revealed that he pushed conditioning harder than ever before and underestimated how long it would take to fill back up.
Dauda marched into the Mr. Olympia as the reigning champion. He defeated Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford in the finals last year to claim the Sandow trophy. Not one for sitting out, Dauda gambled and competed at the 2025 Arnold Classic. It was a close battle, but he ultimately lost to Derek Lunsford in Columbus, Ohio.
Consistently, judges asked Dauda to come in sharper and more shredded. He listened and locked in to his Olympia prep. However, in pursuit of a drier, more conditioned physique, Dauda lost some pop when he hit the stage, especially in his back double biceps pose, which happens to be Lunsford’s most powerful shot. Already back in the gym, Dauda has had time to reflect on losing his title.
Samson Dauda Reflects on Drop to 4th at 2025 Mr. Olympia
In the video, an irritated Dauda opened up on losing his title and taking fourth at the Olympia.
“I got home and got straight to the gym. As you can obviously imagine, how I feel this morning. After all the work I did, and have that package be what I brought.
Since we got onstage, we’ve gone over everything that went wrong and what happened going into the show. It’s very irritating.”
He admitted his prep went perfectly, but said going after more conditioning backfired:
“The prep was perfect. I was so excited to show you guys the package we were bringing to the stage for this Olympia. I don’t like to do much talking about what happened, whatever.
Straight and simple: We pushed conditioning more than we ever pushed before. We went all the way deep into it. We underestimated how long it would take us to fill out.”
Tipping the scales at over 300 pounds, Dauda shared that they underestimated how long it would take to fill back out for the stage.
“Being such a big guy, I’m well over 300 pounds, and it just took a long time to fill that physique back out.
You can imagine how disappointed I fucking feel after that. It sucked, it sucks. But you know what? You learn. For now, that’s all I can say. It’s frustrating, it’s frustrating. This is bodybuilding, man,” said Samson Dauda.
Following the Olympia, Dauda has made it clear that this is not the end of his career. Anticipation continues to grow for the 2026 Arnold Classic, where a historic $750,000 purse will be awarded to the winner. Dauda won the Arnold back in 2023 and likes to compete often, so we could see him back in action soon.
Dauda has already set his sights on a dominant 2026 bodybuilding season. Time will tell if he jumps into the Arnold Classic, scheduled for March 5-8 in Columbus, Ohio.
RELATED: Derek Lunsford Reveals He Tore Chest 4 Weeks Before Reclaiming Title at 2025 Mr. Olympia
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