The Men’s Open division looks completely different after Nick Walker won his first Sandow trophy. In a recent video (October 27, 2026), Dorian Yates cast doubt on “The Mutant” pulling off a dominant run at the Mr. Olympia.
After slipping to sixth at the 2025 Olympia, most fans and bodybuilding veterans weren’t backing Walker to win. He defeated Samson Dauda, Derek Lunsford, and Andrew Jacked en route to gold. While many Olympia winners take time off after their triumphs, Walker said he had no intention of sitting on the sidelines.
Before exiting Las Vegas, he confirmed his entry for the 2027 Arnold Classic. Having won the contest back in 2021, Walker aims to become a two-time champion. He emphasized that his goal moving forward is to win as many Arnold Classic and Mr. Olympia titles as he possibly can. However, Yates believes Walker will face an uphill battle given how competitive the division has become.
Dorian Yates Says Nick Walker Can Win 2nd Mr. Olympia Title, But Doesn’t See ‘Dominating Run’
In the video, Yates reiterated that Walker was the deserving winner at the Mr. Olympia.
“People normally know where I stand, and yeah, there was some fake news and so on. Actually, my position on the Olympia is that I thought Nick was the winner. Yes, he doesn’t have an ideal structure. Maybe the other guys have a better structure, but on the day, and on that competition, he came in shape. He was in the best shape of all the guys. I thought he was the fair winner. That was my real opinion.”
He doesn’t see Walker going on a dominant Mr. Olympia run, but said he could win a second crown with improvements.
“It’s very competitive and I think it’s more a case of like who’s in shape on the day, if you want to look at that top four or five. So, it’s not going to be easy to have that kind of dominating run.”
“I don’t see that at this point because if somebody else comes in shape, it could switch over. I don’t think there’s anyone really dominant there. Let’s see how it goes next year. If he can improve, maybe he can do the double and go from there. Let’s see. It’ll be interesting.”
Some bodybuilding veterans have been outspoken about who they see winning the Arnold. According to Chris Cormier, it’ll be the Nick Walker show. While he shared that Hadi Choopan has an impressive lat spread, he doesn’t think “The Persian Wolf” has the detail to match Walker’s back double biceps shot.
Fans won’t have to wait long to see the world’s best Open stars battle it out. The 2027 Arnold Classic is set for March 4-7 in Columbus, Ohio.
