The 2025 Mr. Olympia was an extremely close contest, leading IFBB Pro League Vice President Tyler Manion to analyze the results. On Oct 15, he explained why Derek Lunsford defeated Hadi Choopan five poses to three onstage.
In the finals, it was a four-man showdown: Samson Dauda, Derek Lunsford, Hadi Choopan, and Andrew Jacked all squared off for the sport’s ultimate title. However, as the show progressed, Lunsford and Choopan separated themselves from the pack as the clear top two.
When the scorecards were revealed, Lunsford etched his name into history, joining Jay Cutler as only the second bodybuilder to reclaim the Mr. Olympia title after losing it. With bodybuilders naming Choopan or Jacked as the rightful winner, Manion is shedding light on Lunsford’s latest accomplishment.
Tyler Manion Breaks Down 2025 Mr. Olympia Results: Derek Lunsford vs. Hadi Choopan
Front Double Biceps: Derek Lunsford
Despite his biceps being less defined than Choopan’s, Manion justified giving this pose to Lunsford, pointing to his taper and leg width.
“In the front double biceps, for Derek, obviously, he has great taper, a nice small waist. For Derek, his legs were definitely up in size. He definitely kept his leg size for this show. You see nice deep lines in the separation throughout his legs. You see good leg width from the front, and he just held on to more volume in his legs.”
“A weakness for Derek in this pose is his inner arms don’t really have much detail, and obviously, he doesn’t really have much of a bicep peak.”
Choopan also boasts a nice taper and small waist, but Manion said his legs lacked the volume that Lunsford displayed.
“A very nice taper into a nice small waist [on Choopan], the flaring lats. Hadi is very, very conditioned. You go down to the lower body, and the legs are very conditioned, but you see the legs definitely do not have the same size as Derek.”
Front Lat Spread: Derek Lunsford
Manion gave Lunsford the front lat spread, though acknowledged that it’s not the strongest pose for either of the top-two finishers.
“For both these guys, I don’t think it’s their strongest pose,” he said. “First, with Derek, you can see the size and detail on his outer arms are much, much better than what his inner arm looks like when it’s raised up for the front double. He had good volume and cap to his delts. Chest-wise, his chest lacks some of that striation and detail.”
“Hadi’s shoulders are a little bit flat. You can see the shape of the shoulders here, it’s just not the same as Derek’s.”
Side Chest: Derek Lunsford
Manion thought Lunsford’s width and stronger shoulders led to him winning the side chest pose.
“Whenever they are in these side poses, they look very, very solid. Again, I think Derek’s shoulder is better than Hadi’s shoulder. Derek’s outer arm have more of that volume and roundness. Hadi has more of that peak to the biceps.”
Back Double Biceps: Derek Lunsford
He believes Lunsford took the back double bicep since his back has more density than Choopan’s.
“Hadi’s back itself compared to Derek, Hadi’s back has good width, doesn’t quite match Derek’s width, but the real difference here is the density to the back,” explained Manion.
Back Lat Spread: Hadi Choopan
Next, the back lat spread went to Choopan, with Manion citing his superior thickness, density, and detail over Lunsford.
“His triceps, rear delts, everything looks solid here, but the back itself, he [Lunsford] is not opening it up to display the width he obviously has. Hadi, on the other hand, does a very, very good job of opening up his back all the way so you see thickness, density, and detail throughout his back.”
Side Tricep: Derek Lunsford
In the side triceps, he had Lunsford ahead thanks to his lower body size and thickness.
“For me, in this pose, again, because of the lower body advantage and overall size and thickness and roundness, I gave his pose to Derek to make it five poses to one.”
Abdominal and Thigh: Hadi Choopan
He argued that Choopan clearly won the abdominals and thigh, which has long been one of his strongest poses.
“Overall, just the flow of the pose and the conditioning that gets brought out, especially through the midsection, I thought this was a clear pose for Hadi.”
Most Muscular: Hadi Choopan
While Lunsford has brought up this pose, Manion still thought Choopan won the most muscular comfortably.
“The overall polish and flow of this pose, it’s very hard to take it off Hadi and I thought it was a clear pose for Hadi to make it five poses to three.”
Final Score — Lunsford Defeats Choopan 5 Poses To 3
Over $2 million was awarded to competitors throughout this historic Mr. Olympia Weekend. Lunsford took home a whopping $600,000, making him the first bodybuilder to rake in over a million dollars from contest earnings in a single year.
Manion underscored that this competition was close and that there is a valid defense for Choopan winning. Do you agree with his assessment of the 2025 Mr. Olympia?
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9He deserves to be the winner
How could the absence of striations and definition in the biceps, chest and midsection be so non important? That is my question. Definitely Derek’s legs where amazing, but in the front double to give leg size over condition. Do bot agree. But this is only my private opinion. What was the pose double biceps create for and standing for ? Sure for the top more then to the lower limbs. Again my personal view. With that said, I would like to share, cause I hear a lot of people having same opinion but do not share this in comments. Maybe Derek should be the winner but to say he won the front double biceps to Hadi that is not quite the philosophy of this pose.