Former Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout has kept his undying passion for bodybuilding despite stepping away from professional competition decades ago. In a recent episode of The Muscle Maturity podcast, Bannout spilled the beans on his fallout with the IFBB. He talked about Samson Dauda’s suspected insulin use, backed Derek Lunsford as the most dangerous competitor in the Men’s Open class, and the dent in Chris Bumstead’s legs.
Samir Bannout first gained attention for his impressive package in the IFBB Pro League in the late 1970s and 80s. He was at the height of his powers in 1983 when he dominated the Mr. Olympia competition and won the coveted Sandow trophy. However, he fell out of favor with the judges the next year and got knocked down to sixth place, recording one of the biggest falls in placing of any champion in the history of the show.
Following the controversial result, Bannout did not compete at the Mr. Olympia contests for four years until he returned at the 1988 edition. While he continued participating, he could not get back in the mix of title contention. He decided to hang up his posing trunks after enjoying a nearly two-decade-long career.
Samir Bannout reveals the story of his dispute with the IFBB
In a recent episode of The Muscle Maturity podcast, Samir Bannout opened up on the beef he had with Joe Weider and the IFBB during his days of competing on stage.
Bannout revealed a heated incident with Weider that was caused by a misunderstanding. He pinned the blame on another individual for putting him at odds with the IFBB.
“I believe, I was told, and then later we found out the evidence, the fact that Rick Mr. Wayne, even though I look up to him as a great champion and admire him, I don’t want to say hate or jealousy, he orchestrated something really messy,” said Bannout. “He was one of the people that have the authority to call in the press, say remove this page we have a typo. Joe Weider would give me the ad, he really kept his word. The first month when my ad didn’t run and another did that I was endorsing, Joe asked me how I liked the ad. I said there was no ad. Joe looked and the ad wasn’t there. I didn’t know. I thought Joe was the one who said yes or no. Of course, he did but there are some people involved. The ad wasn’t there. The next month, same thing happened. Someone called in saying there was a typo on page 80 and to remove it. I’m on page 81 so my ad disappeared. Then I go and complain to Joe. He asked me again. I’m like Joe there’s no ad. Joe was really upset. I didn’t know. I thought Joe didn’t keep his word. The third month they did it again. I took it like baseball, three strikes and you’re out. I got mad at Joe. I was upset. I said a couple of bad words but that was it.
“So, Mr. Ricky Wayne called Ben Weider, Robert Kennedy, everyone, and said Samir hit Joe Weider, put him on the wall,” Samir Bannout continued. “Ricky Wayne was one of the contributing editors or the editor-in-chief for Flex at the time. But he was authorized to remove pages. According to Robert Kennedy, this is what happened. He told me Joe Weider is giving you the ad because for the publisher to add another page to the magazine, it’s $200. So even though the ad was sold for about $24,000 at the time.”
“I got upset at Joe. He was in a meeting. I barged in, opened the door, ruined the meeting, and said why did you do this. I said f this, f that, f the IFBB, everything in the book. I was angry. Joe ran behind me and brought me up to the office again.”
“Joe was so mad he fired about 3-4 people.”
“Ricky is the one behind my bad issue with the IFBB. I am the victim. They started cheating me ever since.”
‘Derek Lunsford has no weakness,’ says Samir Bannout
2022 witnessed one of the most competitive editions of the Mr. Olympia contest. Two-time champion Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay was looking to add the third title under his belt. There were several proven veterans like Hadi Choopan and Brandon Curry standing in his way along with a plethora of rising talent, including Andrew Jacked and Samson Dauda. Former 212 Olympia champion Derek Lunsford would make his splash in the Men’s Open division after securing a special invite.
Lunsford made a statement in his Open Olympia debut. He exhibited an insane package with refined muscle mass and quality to score silver behind champion Choopan. Considering how close the battle was, many were left stunned by the improvements Lunsford made after switching divisions in a year.
Following the result, Lunsford chose to stay on the sidelines for the 2023 Arnold Classic. While many were calling on Lunsford to participate, he wanted to focus solely on the upcoming Olympia.
Samir Bannout backed Lunsford as the biggest threat in the division.
“Derek’s got everything,” said Bannout. “The guy is missing nothing. You tell me where you can fault him. Honestly, Derek has the best potential out of everyone. He has the best genetics, no weaknesses. If he comes in gnarly shredded, he still needs to improve his positioning a little bit. All he needs to do now is think about getting more shredded. The more shredded the more his chances to beat Hadi and anyone else. He’s the most dangerous for sure.”
Nick Walker, Dauda, Big Ramy, and William Bonac were set for another showdown on stage. Bannout advised Bonac to sit out the show after finding out about the latter’s kidney issues. He praised Bonac’s longevity and stressed the importance of taking care of your health. He predicted Dauda to win the title if he came in shredded.
Bannout’s prediction came true as Dauda came out on top of the contest with Walker taking silver and Jacked placing third. He took issue with Dauda achieving a perfect scorecard. Although he was impressed with Dauda’s package, he criticized his muscle quality when compared to Walker. He extended his support for ‘The Mutant’ to have been crowned the winner last week.
Bannout bashed Dauda’s alleged insulin use & analyzed the dent in Chris Bumstead’s legs
Samir Bannout voiced his disapproval of Dauda’s muscle detail and alleged use of insulin to get ready for shows.
“Samson wasn’t as ripped as Walker,” Bannout continued. “He wasn’t. We know that insulin is not really necessary. Those mentality of thinking insulin is the way to go is wrong. Not only that, you need to protect the health and wellbeing of your client. It’s going to end their career short. Muscle quality won’t be 24 karat.”
He weighed in on reigning four-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia Chris Bumstead’s change in the lower body. He recognized a dent in one of Bumstead’s legs.
“There’s a major gap… Something strange going on.”
Samir Bannout had been vocal about his feud with the IFBB for some time. Now that he revealed the origins of the dispute, it will help add more context to his claims.
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