Samson Dauda made history and became the 19th man to earn the prestigious Sandow trophy. In the athletes seminar on October 13, 2024, he discussed winning the 2024 Mr. Olympia and challenged Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford to meet him at the 2025 Arnold Classic taking place in March.
“This weekend I achieved my life dream of becoming Mr ⭕️lympia @mrolympiallc and the best bodybuilder in the world…..wow that’s going to take some time to sink in 😊” he shared.
As fans expected, the latest Mr. Olympia competition shook the world. In the end, Samson Dauda’s unparalleled size, aesthetics, and conditioning overwhelmed the lineup, enabling him to walk away with the sport’s greatest title. He defeated runner-up Hadi Choopan and third-place finisher, former two-division Mr. Olympia Derek Lunsford in a drama-filled event.
Dauda took risk after risk en route to securing gold. He parted ways with his long-time coach Milos Sarcev and instead accepted help from his wife Marlena Dauda. Dauda nearly relocated to Kuwait to train at the Oxygen Gyms but had a change of heart. Then, he competed just two weeks before the Mr. Olympia, winning the 2024 Tsunami Pro.
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Surprisingly, all of the decisions worked in Dauda’s favor, judging by the package he brought to win his first Mr. Olympia title. With his sights already set on the upcoming 2025 Arnold Classic, he recapped the action and discussed how he intends to conduct himself as the number one bodybuilder in the world.
Samson Dauda Talks 2024 Mr. Olympia Win, Challenges Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford to ‘Come Meet Me’ at 2025 Arnold Classic
According to Dauda, he’s never going to be a ‘one-show guy.’ Fans can expect to see him battle against the best at the 2025 Arnold Classic, which has guaranteed the Men’s Open winner a staggering $500,000.
“I’m never going to be a one-show guy. I’m never going to sit out and just disappear all year and then just only see me at Olympia. I’m always going to travel.
I’m always going to do everything I can to give back to the sport that has given me so much. As for the Arnold Classic, you best believe I’m going to be on that stage.”
He gave respect to Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford for a thrilling battle at the sport’s biggest showcase.
“Last year, it was the very first time I was being compared to them [Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford] on the Olympia stage. We knew how ahead they were to us and we knew we had a lot of work to do. I think it was a few weeks or few months later, I went up against Hadi at the Arnold, closed the gap a little bit but Hadi is a hell of a competitor man. He’s just an animal.”
“We keep getting closer and that’s all we gotta do. We took some months off. Went back to the drawing board, trained hard and eventually this year at the Olympia stage, the biggest stage of them all, I finally get past those two guys. Now I say that hunger is still there.”
Never satisfied, Dauda has his eyes locked on a second Arnold Classic title, having won the honor for the first time back in 2023. He challenged Choopan and Lunsford to square off again in Ohio before touching on winning the Olympia People’s Champ Award.
“I haven’t even started getting satisfied yet. Going to the Arnold now, that hunger is just going to get bigger. I welcome those guys to jump in with me and come meet me on the Arnold stage and let’s do this again.”
“That award when they called me up for that, that one meant a lot to me because I’ve always, look this sport gave me a lot,” adds Dauda.
Dauda isn’t taking this Mr. Olympia victory lightly and discussed becoming the first man from the UK to win the show since Dorian Yates in 1997.
“The last Mr. Olympia from the UK is obviously the great Dorian Yates. That was 1997. No one in the UK has ever come close since. So, to be the second man from the UK to win it after 25 years, damn. That really really feels good.”
He shared that he was shredded at 305 pounds on the Olympia stage and extended thanks to his wife and coach for bringing him in at his all-time best.
“This one is one of the most confident I’ve ever been going into the show. Maybe it’s because I had my wife coach me. She’s always supported me, she’s always been there. I’ve always trusted her most of all so if she says look, everything is fine, you’re on, I have to believe it and she really put that belief in me this whole prep.”
“Coming in at 305 pounds absolutely shredded,” said Dauda. “305, got weighed in France at the weigh-in. You know what, no one has ever looked like this.”
He believes his size, aesthetics, and ability to pull a vacuum pose will be a challenge for his future opponents.
“No one that big can ever come out and pull a vacuum and look so aesthetic at the same time, it’s something new,” he shared.
While the 2025 Arnold Classic competitors list has yet to be revealed, Samson Dauda will certainly enter the event as a commanding favorite. In 2024, Dauda narrowly lost to Hadi Choopan at the competition, which was mostly chalked up to his lack of comparable conditioning.
Although he’s savoring the taste of victory, Dauda will need to jump back into training soon for the Arnold Classic. After nailing down the biggest win of his career, he’s more than optimistic about his future in the sport.
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