IFBB judge Terrick El Guindy is ready to witness history at the 2025 Arnold Classic, set for February 27 to March 1 in Columbus, Ohio. On February 27, 2025, he breaks down his favorites and dark horses set to clash in the Men’s Open and Classic Physique divisions.
The 2025 Arnold Classic will be headlined by Open stars Samson Dauda and Derek Lunsford. They recently competed at the 2024 Olympia contest, with Dauda dethroning Lunsford as the 19th athlete to earn the prestigious honor.
We seldom see a reigning Mr. Olympia try his hand at a contest outside of their scheduled title defense, but Dauda’s a different breed. He jumped into the AC shortly after the biggest win of his career. Lunsford will seek revenge against Dauda, but there’s plenty of firepower set to be on display in the Open, including three-time Texas Pro winner Andrew Jacked, Brandon Curry, William Bonac, Akim Williams, Shaun Clarida, and more.
Classic Physique won’t be short on action either. 2024 Olympia runner-up Mike Sommerfeld will aim to pick up his first major title in the sport. But if he wants to leave Columbus with gold, he’ll have to overwhelm the defending champion Wesley Vissers on stage.
Terrick El Guindy Previews Top 2025 Arnold Classic Showdowns
Men’s Open
In a recent YouTube video, El Guindy pointed to Dauda and Lunsford as the clear ‘on paper’ favorites in the Open class. However, he cautioned that any of the contenders could shock the world, similar to what Ronnie Coleman did when he won his first Olympia title in 1998.
“In Men’s Open Bodybuilding, Samson Dauda and Derek Lunsford, on paper, they are the favorites. Now remember, 1998, nobody had Ronnie Coleman as the favorite to win the Olympia and he went in there and won the Olympia.
Just last year, Samson Dauda was not the favorite and he went on to surpass Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford. We are speculating here but you should pay attention in the Open, Samson Dauda and Derek Lunsford are the favorites.”
Who else should fans watch for? El Guindy believes Jacked and Thomas Jr. could both shake up the roster.
“Who you should be watching for is Carlos Thomas Jr. Is he one of those guys that will make a move into the first callout? He’s got the mass, the density, can he come in shredded?
Andrew Jacked, he was surpassed by Martin Fitzwater at the Olympia. Many people speculate that coming into this Arnold, he looks humungous, just like Texas. Can he go back in there and maybe squeeze Samson Dauda and Derek for the title?”
He also suggested James Hollingshead could push for a greater placing than the fifth-place position he earned last year.
“James Hollingshead, he has the thickness, he packs a lot of muscle. Just five, six years ago, we were talking about Nathan De Asha, Samson Dauda, and James Hollingshead. Do not sleep on this guy because he’s got a lot of mass. If he comes in condition, he can be very dangerous.”
Classic Physique
Pushing Chris Bumstead in his final title defense, El Guindy isn’t counting out Mike Sommerfeld. However, in 2024, the hype was around Ramon Queiroz pre-show until Wesley Vissers pulled off a massive upset.
“The entire town is talking about Mike Sommerfeld. Yes, the guy shocked the world, came in second to Cbum, he got some first-place votes. He’s impressive. But let’s not forget about it. Last year, everybody was talking about Ramon, and Wesley Vissers came in and shocked the world.
I don’t think the Wesley Vissers that we saw at the Olympia is the Wesley Vissers that we’re going to see at the Arnold. He’s going to be different. He’s going to come in with rage because he didn’t like his performance and I think Wesley Vissers might shock a lot of people and get back in there.”
Michael Daboul and 2024 New York Pro champion Matthew Greggo were El Guindy’s Classic Physique dark horses.
“Michael Daboul, he has crazy conditioning. He’s a big guy and now he wants to win some of these big titles. I also want you to pay attention to Matthew Greggo, that’s the New York Pro champion.
He’s a young guy but has beautiful lines and trains with Derek Lunsford. I think this guy is going to start attacking those first callouts, El Guindy shared.
The 2025 Arnold Classic will give bodybuilding fans a clearer picture of who might be in title contention down the road at this year’s Olympia event. Don’t miss Fitness Volt’s full coverage of the action throughout this historic weekend!
Watch the full video from the OlympiaTV YouTube channel below:
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