Bodybuilding legend Flex Wheeler believes the sport hasn’t progressed since his era. In a recent YouTube video shared on Oct. 23, he recapped the 2025 Mr. Olympia results and discussed comparisons to Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan.
The 2025 Mr. Olympia was one for the history books. Although Samson Dauda entered the event as the reigning champion, he fell short in a shocking drop to fourth place. Instead, the finals were determined after a showdown between Lunsford and Choopan, much like the 2023 Olympia.
Ultimately, Lunsford’s improved leg width and overall size led him to victory. The outcome has been debated since Olympia Weekend, with some, including Lee Priest and Shawn Ray, suggesting that the title should have gone to Choopan or third-place finisher Andrew Jacked. The latest to discuss the outcome was Wheeler, who compared his era to today’s crop of talent.
Flex Wheeler Critical of Derek Lunsford & Other Recent Mr. Olympias: “It’s Just Different Now”
In the video, Wheeler discussed comparisons to Lunsford after a fan posted a comparison video on Instagram.
“It was a repost, it wasn’t anything against him,” said Wheeler. “People are like oh, you’re stuck in time, or you think your era is the best. You know what? The majority of the people agree. It’s unfortunate, right? Competition should get better, not worse. I think it’s pretty much agreed on that the 90s were the heydays of bodybuilding.”
Some commenters thought Wheeler was ‘living in the past,’ whereas he argued that he just gave his opinion on the comparison.
“There’s just a few people, it wasn’t a lot. A few people, one person posted why are you so upset and selfish that you think that your era was better and stop living in the past but it’s interesting that a fan of mine did that, and then posted it. It’s no different, I’ve seen a few posts where they took the Ms. Olympia and did a double biceps against Derek.”
Looking at his physique alongside Lunsford’s, Wheeler emphasized that his era was in better shape and that conditioning mattered more during that time.
“It’s just different now. A lot of people say oh it’s the lighting and stuff like that, no. We were just in better condition back then.
We came from an era where condition mattered. We had people that were smaller and they won, simply because of their condition and their physique.”
Noting that athletes aren’t as peeled as they once were, Wheeler doesn’t understand why the sport hasn’t progressed.
“It’s unfortunate and it’s not my fault. Yeah, I do agree when I look at the current Mr. Olympia and the last few Mr. Olympias, we were just in better shape, we were more peeled. I don’t know if it’s that we had less distractions or whatnot, but I don’t understand why the sport hasn’t progressed.”
He also touched on Choopan fans, who vehemently defend the former champion online.
“They are fanatics man. In that post, they [fans] kept bringing up Hadi, do a picture with Hadi. I was like, I didn’t start it, but I don’t think it’d be too big of a difference between me and Hadi doing that pose. They are absolute fanatics, and if you say anything negative about Hadi, you’re going to get ruined on the internet,” he said.
The 2025 Mr. Olympia results have been debated since Lunsford got his hand raised. To shed light on the outcome, IFBB Pro League Vice President Tyler Manion broke down how he reclaimed the title against Choopan. He explained that Lunsford won the posing battle five to three, which led to his triumph.
Wheeler doesn’t have an issue with how the Mr. Olympia played out. However, he does believe the sport has distanced itself from the conditioning it was known for back in the 90s.
Watch the full video from the Muscle and Fitness YouTube channel below:
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