The Open Bodybuilding crown will be up for grabs at the 2026 Mr. Olympia. In a YouTube video from June 10, Derek Lunsford shared doubts about Hadi Choopan’s ability to win back the Sandow trophy.
In 2025, Derek Lunsford responded to doubts with one of his strongest packages to date. He defeated Hadi Choopan and Chinedu Andrew ‘Jacked’ Obiekea at the Mr. Olympia to reclaim his title. Thanks to his victory, he became the first Open Bodybuilder since Jay Cutler to recapture Olympia gold after losing it onstage.
While Lunsford opted for an off-season, Choopan continued to test himself. However, he fell short at the 2026 Arnold Classic, losing to Jacked and Nick Walker for the first time in his career. Looking ahead, Lunsford has serious doubts about whether ‘The Persian Wolf’ can push back into the Olympia title picture.
Derek Lunsford Doubts Hadi Choopan Can Reclaim Mr. Olympia Title
In the video, Lunsford gave his take on Choopan’s future in the sport. He believes that with Milos Sarcev’s help, it’s possible he can bring up his legs:
“I will say this, Hadi is younger than Samson and Andrew both. So, he’s now going to be working with Milos this year. I am interested as a fan myself to see what they put together.
Can they bring back the legs? Yeah… I think there’s potential they can. The only issue that might be is if they are trying to bring that fullness, he doesn’t have the all tie-ins in the glutes that I usually have.”
He warned that if Choopan focuses on leg fullness, it could affect the quality of his rear poses.
“I think when he doesn’t come in crazy peeled, then you don’t see the glute striations and the backside conditioning quite as much. When he does, it’s nasty.”
“If he brings the fullness of the legs, that’s going to be good from the front; I think it’s going to suffer from the back, and I think it’s going to be really hard for him to win if he doesn’t do that,” Derek Lunsford said.
Derek Lunsford hasn’t pulled punches in the lead-up to his title defense. During a recent Olympia Battle workout, tensions flared between him and Andrew Jacked. Lunsford deemed his behavior disrespectful and emphasized that he’d never win the Mr. Olympia.
“Something needed to be said. It’s been a couple years, nobody really knows, but behind the scenes, I’ve had conversations with him. I just felt rubbed a certain way that wasn’t good. I invited him to my gym. He refuses to come, which is fine; that’s so petty if I held that against him.”
Lunsford isn’t counting out any contender ahead of the biggest show of the year. The 2026 Mr. Olympia is set for September 24-27 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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