Having guided Samson Dauda to his first Arnold Classic title last weekend, Milos Sarcev is taking a victory lap. In the latest Cutler Cast podcast, Sarcev and Jay Cutler recapped the event’s outcome and discussed why Nick Walker and Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay came up short on stage.
At last weekend’s 35th annual Arnold Sports Festival, the Men’s Open division crowned a new champion. During Friday’s prejudging festivities, it became evident that Nick Walker, Samson Dauda, and Andrew Jacked were battling for first place. Before the finals occurred, fans agreed the contest was close given how difficult it was to predict a winner.
On Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, Samson Dauda claimed the victory and denied Nick Walker of becoming a two-time Arnold Classic champion. While ‘The Mutant’ displayed thin skin and dry conditioning, it appeared the shape and completeness of Dauda’s physique clinched the victory. Meanwhile, Andrew Jacked, who earned his pro card at the Arnold Classic Amateur in 2022, impressed with a third-place finish.
With Dauda fresh off the major victory, his coach, Milos Sarcev, joined four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler for an event recap. During their conversation, Sarcev explained why Walker and Elssbiay were unable to stop Samson Dauda from securing an Arnold Classic title on his second attempt.
Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
Milos Sarcev Says Nick Walker Lost Volume in Legs and Big Ramy Lacked Detail on 2023 Arnold Classic Stage
Pose for pose, Sarcev believes Samson Dauda won the Arnold Classic in dominant fashion.
“One thing is, when you just go pose by pose and freeze and look at it and judge it – and the other thing is when you see everything else in between. Moving around, when you don’t pose and kind of relax, that’s when you can see true size, true thickness, and that’s where I think Samson attracted attention over Andrew, that he was way more muscular.”
According to Sarcev, Walker’s upper body and lower body were imbalanced because he “sacrificed a little too much from Olympia and lost size in the legs.”
“As far as Nick Walker. Let’s talk. Nick would be in a category of you – you go for your strengths and you were winning the shows. And Nick could go for his strengths and win the shows. Crazy conditioning, yes. But I think he sacrificed a little too much from Olympia and lost size in the legs. That now created even more imbalance from the upper body to lower body and it exposed his shoulder to quad ratio.”
Cutler agreed with Sarcev’s assessment of Walker’s physique.
“I mean, I could see where Nick you know – he definitely – the legs… unless it’s just, hey this might be the Nick Walker we saw at the Olympia but we’re just looking at two guys that obviously he didn’t stand on this stage in front of you know,” said Jay Cutler.
Next, Sarcev and Cutler took a closer look at Big Ramy’s fourth-place performance. He explained that judges knew immediately that Ramy wasn’t in the running for first place and moved him to the side of the stage again, similar to the 2022 Mr. Olympia competition.
“We all know, front lat spread is not Nick’s pose. Now, let’s just talk a second with Ramy. When they came out, Ramy was in the middle and the first comparison – right away, Ramy and Samson moved. They moved him. They replaced him. So, they didn’t give Ramy even one pose chance to be maybe there. They immediately said, ‘okay,’ seeing what they saw in that one-minute pose, they determined, ‘okay, it’s between these three.’
So, they put Ramy on the side. Was Ramy better than the Olympia? Especially, Saturday, I think he was. Here [prejudging] so-so. There’s not enough detail and not enough beauty comparing to the guys next to him,” said Milos Sarcev.
In addition to the 2023 Arnold Classic, Sarcev thought Dauda got the best of Nick Walker at the Mr. Olympia contest, where he placed sixth. Walker ended the show in third and received the Olympia People’s Champ Award. Sarcev went as far as to say that Walker shouldn’t have defeated Samson in ‘any shape or form.’
RELATED: Milos Sarcev ‘Finally Convinced’ Samson Dauda to Take Trenbolone in Prep for 2023 Arnold Classic
Milos Sarcev and Samson Dauda expect another big season in the sport as ‘The Nigerian Lion’ is qualified for the 2023 Mr. Olympia in November. As for Big Ramy and Nick Walker, they plan to go back to the drawing board to bring better packages in the future.
Watch the video below:
Catch comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Arnold Classic, including pre-judging, event recaps, analyses, and complete Arnold Classic results at our Arnold Classic coverage hub: FitnessVolt.com/arnold-classic
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
