Bodybuilding great Rich Gaspari is taking a closer look at the 2025 Mr. Olympia results. On Oct. 15, he broke down the top six finishers, revealing the biggest disappointments and triumphs that shook up the sport.
Samson Dauda entered the 2025 Mr. Olympia as the reigning champion. All season long, judges requested he bring more conditioning to the stage, so that’s exactly what he did. However, he looked downsized in Vegas, which led to him placing fourth. He’s already stated that his focus on conditioning backfired, and they underestimated how long it would take to fill back up.
This Olympia was one of the closest in decades, but in the end, Lunsford pulled off the victory, defeating Hadi Choopan in the finals. The newly crowned Mr. Olympia revealed that he managed to win his second Sandow despite a pec tear he sustained four weeks before competing.
Andrew Jacked impressed en route to third place, with Martin Fitzwater cracking the top five. Nick Walker was another frontrunner but fell to sixth. He and his coach said they mistimed the peak, but promised they’ll be back better than ever. The event left us with plenty of questions, prompting Gaspari to explain exactly what happened.
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Rich Gaspari Reveals the Biggest Disappointments and Standout Performers at 2025 Mr. Olympia
In the Instagram reel, Gaspari noted that Dauda came into the Olympia downsized, leaving room for Lunsford to take his title.
“You had Samson, who was defending his title in that Mr. Olympia. I was a big fan when he won last year. He looked amazing. Then, you had Derek Lunsford, who won the Arnold Classic, beating Samson, and then winning the Pittsburgh, who looked phenomenal in those shows. We were expecting him to really put on a great show against Samson.”
“What happened is Samson ended up downsizing quite a bit, where it was a disappointment to see him look smaller, probably because he was trying to get more ripped. Not sure what he did in his prep but he definitely did not look like the Samson of last year. This made him basically place fourth.”
He thought Choopan improved drastically from prejudging, but argued it was too late by the time finals took place.
“In second place was Hadi Choopan. Hadi Choopan always looks amazing, great conditioning but in the prejudging, he was not popping. From the front, the guy is just striated, dense as hell; he didn’t look that way at the show. Unfortunately, that’s what got Derek to place higher and beat Hadi Choopan in the Olympia.
The thing is Hadi improved in the night show; he looked much better than he did, but it was too late to win the show, so he got second.”
Andrew Jacked left Gaspari astonished after he brought the best conditioning of his career. He believes the bodybuilding community wouldn’t have been disappointed had Jacked won and sees him as a future titleholder.
“Third place was Andrew Jacked. That guy is amazing. He came up much bigger, great shape, confident as ever. He was in there to win that show.
Honestly, if he would’ve won, it wouldn’t be a disappointment for people to see him win. He’s just such a massive guy. He gets his stuff together, he can definitely be Mr. Olympia.”
He advised Dauda to come in bigger, fuller, and thicker next time.
“Fourth place, of course, Samson, who downsized. He looked much smaller than he should have been. A guy like that needs to be bigger, fuller, thicker.”
As for Fitzwater, he thought his shape, conditioning, and balance stood out.
“Fifth place, Martin Fitzwater. Beautiful shape, looked great, in great condition, balanced,” said Gaspari.
Of all competitors, Gaspari said the biggest disappointment was Walker. He expressed doubts about him ever winning Olympia, pointing to his lack of aesthetics.
“The big disappointment was Nick Walker. Nick Walker, everyone was talking about him placing much higher. He’s a massive guy. He just doesn’t have the shape or aesthetics of a Mr. Olympia.
He is a freak. I give it to him, he’s such a big guy, but to win the Mr. Olympia, you need both aesthetics, mass; you need it all. Unfortunately, he was off as well; that hurt him a lot.”
The 2025 Mr. Olympia totally rearranged the Men’s Open standings moving forward. Attention has now turned to the 2026 Arnold Classic, as Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that the Open winner will take home a life-changing $750,000 purse.
Whether Lunsford or any of the top Olympia finishers enter the Arnold Classic is uncertain. However, in the weeks to come, the Arnold Sports Festival will release an official competitors list.
Relive every moment from the 2025 Mr. Olympia, including prejudging, highlights, expert analysis, and full results. Explore our Olympia hub: FitnessVolt.com/olympia. For minute-by-minute coverage, follow our Live Blog.
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