The Men’s Open deck has been completely reshuffled following the dramatic conclusion of the 2026 Mr. Olympia contest. At the September 27 Champions Seminar, Nick Walker reflected on his massive victory and his rival Derek Lunsford’s drop to third.
Walker was counted out heading into the prestigious contest. In 2025, he suffered a crushing setback in Vegas. He mistimed his peak and fell to sixth place, the lowest Olympia finish of his career. He had to fall to reach new heights, and while he impressed at the 2026 Arnold Classic, he still lost the contest against Andrew Jacked. Not only did Walker leave without the title, but he also missed out on a massive $750,000 winner’s check.
Without an Olympia qualification, he pushed all-in at the Tampa Pro, showcasing major improvements to his midsection. The first-place performance turned heads, with Jay Cutler predicting that Walker certainly had the tools to one day claim the Sandow trophy.
It turned out that his crowning moment would come far sooner than many expected. Walker defeated an extremely strong field of contenders en route to gold, including Samson Dauda, Lunsford, Jacked, and Tonio Burton. Now sitting on top of the Men’s Open mountain, he opened up about how he pulled off such a historic feat.
“I Dominated That Stage” – Nick Walker Opens Up on Big Win & Derek Lunsford
During the annual ceremony, Walker said he can win the Olympia even when his rivals are on the money. He added that Lunsford and Dauda were better than last year and he still beat them.
“I’ll just say this now, I never want to hear again that Nick has to win if everybody comes off. Derek was better than what he was last year. Samson was better than what he was last year, and I dominated that stage.”
Walker and his coach made a calculated decision after prejudging. They decided to have him hit the finals two pounds lighter:
“That was the goal. As soon as me and Prabh got in the car, I said look, tomorrow I want to come in with the same fullness and a little tighter, and he said let’s do it,” said Walker. “A little bit [of adjustments from prejudging to finals], not much. We went meal by meal. I let him make the call. He knew what we wanted out of it, and we did just that. We came back to finals probably two pounds lighter than what we were on Friday, and it showed.”
“I knew I was in the lead but I knew Derek was obviously very close behind, so I knew it was a battle. But yeah, Samson came back Saturday night guns blazing, but I was the consistency out of everybody. I was fantastic Friday and even better Saturday. I knew I was going to win at the end of the day.”
He went on to mock Lunsford for throwing up three fingers during his posing routine and called him a wussy.
“I knew when they switched Samson and Derek at the very end that it was going to be between me and Samson. As soon as they did that, I said oh shit! Homie got third! And he’s in his posing routine, throwing threes up, for third, boy.”
“He better stop doing that shit,” added Walker. “I think everybody got a good giggle out of it. I mean, I know I did.”
“Listen, man, I think he’s a wussy, and that’s being polite,” he said. “I’m fucking Mr. Olympia, man.”
While Walker enjoys his victory lap, Derek Lunsford issued a statement following the competition. According to the former two-time champion, he was off and made no excuses. He added that he didn’t feel his best and congratulated Nick Walker on his success.
Walker isn’t afraid to speak his mind. With an outspoken champion helming the division, the Men’s Open begins a new chapter.
RELATED: Samson Dauda Came Back About 30 Pounds Heavier and Missed the 2026 Mr. Olympia Title by Two Points
