Predictions for the highly anticipated 2025 Mr. Olympia contest are rolling in. On October 1, bodybuilding legend Ronnie Coleman revealed his surprising top 10 picks just eight days before competitors step onstage.
In 2024, Samson Dauda prevailed as the new Mr. Olympia champion. En route to gold, he defeated former titleholders Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford. Dauda’s hot streak didn’t last long—Lunsford got his revenge when they rematched at the Arnold Classic earlier this year.
Lunsford, a former two-division Mr. Olympia, didn’t stop there. He gambled once again, entering the Pittsburgh Pro. He faced off against the best version of Nick Walker and came out on top, but it was close; Lunsford narrowly got the nod thanks to a sudden-death tie-breaker round.
Choopan, meanwhile, opted not to compete for the entire 2025 bodybuilding season. Known for bringing the best conditioning of anyone, shining onstage against “The Persian Wolf” is a tall order. Breaking down the lineup, Coleman laid out how he sees the event unfolding.
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Ronnie Coleman’s Official Top 10 Picks for the 2025 Mr. Olympia
Find his picks from the video below:
- Winner — Hadi Choopan
- Second Place — Nick Walker
- Third Place — Derek Lunsford
- Fourth Place — Samson Dauda
- Fifth Place — Andrew Jacked
- Sixth Place — Not Named
- Seventh Place — Rafael Brandao
- Eighth Place — Behrooz Tabani
- Ninth Place — Brandon Curry
- Tenth Place — Rubiel Mosquera
Coleman gave his thoughts on some of the heavy hitters in the lineup, including Nick Walker. He’s not sure when, but believes “The Mutant” will become a Mr. Olympia eventually.
“Nick is obviously the guy who has made the most improvements that I’ve seen this past year. He’s brought everything up.
He’s got immaculate shape here in the pictures I’m looking at and he’s got a great back, great hamstrings, glutes, he got just about everything full-on. He’ll be Mr. Olympia, for sure, easily. Just a little bit more traction on him and he’ll be right there.”
As for Dauda, Coleman noted that his conditioning and hamstring separation are areas to improve.
“What Samson brings to the table — the only thing I can see with Samson is just a little bit more separation. Conditioning needs to be brought up just a little bit, and I think Samson, he’s got a great back shot, glutes, hamstrings could come up a little bit, but he’s a force to be reckoned with.”
He also touched on Lunsford and Choopan’s improvements heading into the biggest show of the year:
“We all know Derek always makes the top five in every show he competes in. He is making improvements from what I can tell, just about every single year.”
“We all know Hadi is a force to be reckoned with, especially when he hadn’t competed at all. He’s most definitely will be in the top five, for sure,” said Ronnie Coleman.
This will be Walker’s first Olympia contest since 2022, where he secured third place. For the last two years, he pulled out of the Olympia, once due to injury, and again after his body wouldn’t respond to prep. For these reasons, bodybuilding veteran Shawn Ray emphasized that it’s not a guarantee fans actually see him compete.
Coleman has offered some bold picks leading into Olympia, predicting Dauda will slip all the way to fourth place. Find out if “The King” is right when the 2025 Mr. Olympia returns from October 9-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada!
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Watch the full video from the Ronnie Coleman YouTube channel below:
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