Nick Walker is still coming to terms with what unraveled on the 2025 Mr. Olympia stage. In a recent YouTube video shared on Oct. 17, he discussed the moment he knew he didn’t bring his best to the Mr. Olympia. In addition, he revealed that Hadi Choopan could have won and teased contest plans for 2026.
Pressure for Walker was at an all-time high in the lead-up to the Mr. Olympia. He missed the prestigious event for two consecutive years: once due to injury, and again in 2024 when his body wouldn’t respond to preparations. He pushed back into the title picture after battling Derek Lunsford at the Pittsburgh Pro. Even though Walker didn’t win, it gave him huge momentum.
To qualify for Olympia, he won his third New York Pro title. Despite being a favorite for the Mr. Olympia, Walker wasn’t able to showcase his full potential onstage. He lacked the conditioning he’s known for and ended up in sixth place, while his rival, Derek Lunsford, emerged victorious, winning his second title.
Nick Walker Recaps 2025 Mr. Olympia and Reveals When He Will Compete Again
In the video, Walker relived his Mr. Olympia experience, revealing exactly when he knew he wasn’t in the running for gold.
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“The moment I kind of was like oh shit, and this is going to sound weird but I think we all have one of those things we always do backstage where we know we’re on.
One of the things for me is when we’re lining up and you’re getting ready to go up the stairs, the one-two stairs before you hit the stage and what I always do is I start flaring my lats out, like I’m getting ready to walk out. I felt nothing. I didn’t feel the skin stretch. I didn’t feel my lats fucking move. I’m like ohh…”
He said he was ‘way off’ and expressed disappointment in his drop to sixth place.
“I didn’t know what it was going to look like obviously, but I knew it was not going to be my best. I didn’t know how far off it was going to be. I go back and look at photos and shit, to me, it was way off.”
“It was just disappointing for me.”
He added that if he looked like he did in the finals during prejudging, he might have cracked the top four. Looking at his Pittsburgh Pro package, he believes that could have pushed him as high as third place.
“I do feel like if I looked Friday the way I looked Saturday, I could have probably been in the top four, in my opinion. I think Friday was just so bad, there was just no coming back,” said Walker. “Top three [with my Pittsburgh package] for me, I do believe that.”
As for his next contest, Walker revealed he won’t compete for the rest of 2025. He set his sights on an early Olympia qualifier and shared that the Arnold Classic is a possibility.
“No, no, no [no late shows in 2025]. I’m done for October, November, December,” said Walker. “We’ll see [about the Arnold Classic]. My goal is to hit an earlier show for sure.”
He didn’t have a problem with Lunsford winning, but also thought if Choopan won, nobody would have complained.
“I liked his sharper look. I like a full, hard, conditioned look. I liked his Arnold look the best. You could tell they fed him. They wanted him a little bigger, which is fine, I get it but it took away some of the lines on the side leg that he’s known for now.”
“I think if Hadi won nobody would have said a word. I don’t think anybody would have complained.”
He believes misjudging the carb-up is where Dauda went wrong, and made a case for Andrew Jacked potentially winning.
“They [Samson Dauda] misjudged his carb-up. I would have loved to see how he looked if he actually carbed up fully, but because he was on the flatter side of things, it didn’t pan out for him. I think even though Hadi was a little on the smaller side, he was still full, very full.”
“I think Andrew looked incredible. I wouldn’t have even argued if he won, to be honest with you,” said Walker. “It is [the side shots kill him] but for him, that was an epic looking Andrew, 100 percent.”
Interestingly, Walker did not outright say he wouldn’t be competing at the next Arnold Classic. The stakes have skyrocketed ahead of the event, with Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing that the Men’s Open winner will take home a $750,000 prize, the biggest purse in bodybuilding history.
Walker is optimistic about what lies ahead. He doesn’t plan to sit out long and wants to secure his 2026 Olympia qualification early.
Watch the full video from the Fouad Abiad Media YouTube channel below:
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