The 2026 Mr. Olympia completely shook up the Men’s Open division. In a September 29 video, Samir Bannout explained how Nick Walker won the Sandow trophy in Las Vegas. He also offered Samson Dauda and Andrew Jacked constructive feedback as they forge ahead.
Very few bodybuilding veterans predicted Nick Walker would win the Mr. Olympia. Only two come to mind: Chris Cormier and Guy Cisternino. “The Mutant” defied the odds to etch his name into the bodybuilding history books. En route to gold, he took out a challenging lineup, including Jacked, Derek Lunsford, and Samson Dauda.
Walker’s muscle hardness and conditioning helped him steal the show, prompting past champions to discuss the contest’s surprising outcome. According to Bannout, the other top contenders lacked comparable muscle hardness and size to the new titleholder.
Samir Bannout on Walker’s 2026 Mr. Olympia Win & What Samson Dauda, Andrew Jacked Must Improve
In the video, Bannout broke down exactly how Walker made history in Vegas:
“Congratulations to Nick Walker, who showed up in incredible shape. He was the most muscular; he was the hardest, and that was it. He put the exclamation mark on, he put the icing on the cake. At the prejudging, I felt Nick and Derek were ahead, to be quite honest, especially because they maintained that quality and hardness throughout the prejudging.”
He said Dauda pumped up too much before prejudging, which made him look flatter.
“Samson, when he came out, I was very impressed. He might have pumped up too much because as the show went on, he started to get flatter. I’m telling you, without any disrespect, because we know he’s already a Mr. Olympia. He’s got a beautiful body, great symmetry, great posing. However, the truth must be told. I think he could have been a little harder yet, maybe with six or seven percent conditioning, he would definitely be much more impressive.”
“No Mr. Olympia shouldn’t be cut, if they are not ripped to the bone, they really don’t deserve to be Mr. Olympia. That is the truth, my guys.”
Bannout shared that Dauda improved in the finals but lacked upper body conditioning:
“At the finals, Samson improved. He looked much sharper, but wasn’t sharper to the point where he was shredded. He looked wonderful in the leg department but the upper body, I still didn’t see striations. That’s the truth. Derek didn’t look as good in the finals. I think that might have hurt him, that’s why he landed in third place.”
In contrast, Walker maintained his position with hard muscularity and a strong, front-relaxed shot.
“Nick maintained that hard muscle. He was hard. He was super impressive with muscularity and hardness. This is why he won the Mr. Olympia. He was confident. He even stood really professionally. Nick didn’t even open his arms like riding a Harley. He kept his abs flexed all the time with his legs together.”
He also thought fourth-place finisher Jacked appeared soft and watery.
“Andrew Jacked was somewhat on the soft side during prejudging. He was holding quite a bit of water. He looked better in the finals, and I think when he’s shredded, and he can actually handle his posing better, he would have definitely been up there too with Nick and Derek. He needs to work on it, honestly,” Bannout said.
“Opening his arms too wide does affect him.”
Bodybuilding veterans have been vocal since the event wrapped up. Lee Priest analyzed the outcome and stressed that the judges got it right. He also argued that Derek Lunsford has maxed out his physique and should only focus on improving his conditioning for future contests.
The Men’s Open division has a new face leading the pack. It looks like we could see Walker hit the stage soon after he expressed interest in the 2027 Arnold Classic, set for March 4-7 in Columbus, Ohio.
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