Samson Dauda, Milos Sarcev Say Back Thickness Key to Defeating Hadi Choopan: ‘No Breaks from Training’

Samson Dauda has quickly emerged as a top Men’s Open threat following his last two contests. In a recent The Menace Podcast, Dauda revealed his plan is to stay active and grow his back in preparation for the next Mr. Olympia show in November. 

Dauda’s combination of mass, shape, and balance carried him to success in the IFBB Pro League. Last year, ‘The Nigerian Lion’ started off his season with a pair of fourth-place finishes at the 2022 Arnold Classic and Boston Pro. 

At his Mr. Olympia debut, Dauda faced a historically deep lineup of talent. Despite new faces making waves like Andrew Jacked and Michal Krizo, Dauda placed sixth, one spot behind the former two-time Olympia winner, Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay. While the contest was won by Hadi Choopan, many fans acknowledged Dauda’s vastly improved physique in Las Vegas. 

He returned to the 35th Arnold Classic earlier this month, where he had the opportunity to rematch third-place finisher Nick Walker and Big Ramy. In the finals, Dauda, Andrew Jacked, and Walker appeared to be fighting for gold. Event announcer Bob Cicherillo eventually named Dauda as the champion, igniting controversy amongst fans online. 

Samson Dauda on Bodybuilding Ambitions: “I Don’t Get a Long Time Doing This So I Want to Make History” 

Taking a victory lap, Samson Dauda decided to shed light on his ambitions and competition plans for the future. Even though some bodybuilders only choose to compete at Olympia contests, Samson prefers to take part in multiple shows per year. 

“I’m going to keep competing. I’m sorry, I saw a lot of people still think that once you’re in the Olympia that that’s it, you just do the Olympia… I love bodybuilding. I love competing. And the idea, of me just saying, ‘Okay, my career then becomes just one show a year.’ And before you know it, five years gone, three years gone – and you’ve only did five shows. It feels like – not a waste, but it feels like a very short-lived career in the aspect of you really didn’t do much in that time.” 

“Don’t worry, even if I win the Olympia. I’m coming back. Yeah, they did, we was laughing, they were like, ‘Oh, we don’t want to wish you too much luck at the Olympia because in case you win it, we want you back at the Arnold,’ I’m like, don’t worry man I’ll be back don’t worry about that. I understand why some guys do that and they don’t want to compete and they just want to do the Olympia. But for me, I don’t get a long time doing this, so I want to make history. I want to be able to do this and have so many memories of me competing as much as I can.” 

 

“Yeah, you learn a lot from doing all of the shows. The Olympia to now is a prime example. If we had done the Olympia and didn’t done anything else until another Olympia towards the end of this year, I would of had to wait a whole year to refine what we did and make it better. Having the opportunity to compete again so close, gives you the chance to look at what you missed and what we can do better so we can learn from that,” Samson Dauda said. 

“It feels unreal. Honestly, there’s no way you can have that sink in. I understand with the Olympia, it’s taken time, they’ve come from the back and placed 10, top four, and slowly work their way up there so they have that time to build in”

Milos Sarcev Calls on Dauda to Increase Back Thickness to Contend with Hadi Choopan at 2023 Olympia

“I’ll leave him alone a couple of weeks. I already know he’s back in the gym and all this stuff. But no, we have time,” explained Milos Sarcev. “So, the good thing about him – and I mentioned you guys pointing fingers at me, ‘Don’t get him big, don’t get him big, watch the stomach, watch the waist.’ I said look, he’s improving in shape.

 

“The bigger he’s gotten the shapelier he’s gotten so far, the way I see it. Of course, the whole world is watching; we don’t want to risk anything like this [stomach distention] happening. You said it, he doesn’t need to get bigger, Dennis I think you mentioned, well, but he does need a bigger back right? You still need to get bigger to contest the guys like Hadi,” said Sarcev. 

“Probably we want to have some time off and then give my body a proper break,” Dauda shared. “So, now, I’m pretty much rebounding now from the show, I’ll be there for another two weeks and then I’ll need a break for at least six to eight weeks.” 

 

“Oh, no break from training. I train all year round. There’s no break from training. Oh no, I’m back in the gym already. I’m like that. We just literally immediately we got off, I had a week off and I’m already back in the gym. So I can improve what we brought then [to Ohio].” 

Watch the full video below: 

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