Bodybuilder Samson Dauda‘s confidence is rising ahead of his next competition in November. In a recent Muscular Development interview, Dauda explained that a bigger and more detailed back is the ticket to his first Mr. Olympia title against Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford.
“That’s going to be one area where they’re holding their strengths on, we need to take that away,” said Samson Dauda.
Dauda caught the attention of the bodybuilding world last year when he turned in a sixth-place finish at the 2022 Mr. Olympia contest. At the event, he managed to push the former two-time champion, Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay who claimed fifth. Meanwhile, Hadi Choopan won with Derek Lunsford and Nick Walker taking second and third, respectively.
Dauda immediately jumped back into a show at the 2023 Arnold Classic in March. After the prize money swelled to $300,000, a few high-profile athletes joined the show, such as Elssbiay, Nick Walker, and Andrew Jacked. At his second Arnold Classic competition, Dauda earned gold in a close battle against ‘The Mutant’ and Jacked. While some in the sport found the results controversial, Dauda succeeded in earning his invite to the Olympia stage in 2023.
Bob Cicherillo, a notable voice in the bodybuilding community, has taken to a handful of podcasts to discuss the Men’s Open landscape. According to Cicherillo, Dauda and Lunsford are now equal threats to Choopan’s title after the Nigerian’s latest performance. Now taking a closer look at the potential showdown is Dauda, who joined Giles Thomas for a candid talk.
Samson Dauda on Hadi Choopan/Derek Lunsford: ‘Once I Improve My Back Shots, Where Else Can They Beat Me?’
Dauda said he’s already eying gold at the Olympia show scheduled for November 2-5 in Orlando, Florida.
“I mean, this one, I’m already thinking, okay, fu** we gotta go win the Olympia now,” said Samson Dauda. “A few weeks later off the Arnold stage yeah, I’m like let’s go. I mean, I’m still sort of taking it all in. Enjoying the idea, it’s the Arnold man, it just changes your life.
You sort of taking it in and enjoying the prospect of that but at no point in the back of your mind, every training session – I mean, you go to that gym, one thing is on the mind, you know what you’re training for now. I’m no longer training to be top 10, I’m not training to qualify for the Olympia, I’m not training to be in the top five, now you go into the gym training to be the Mr. Olympia, to be the greatest bodybuilder in the world. This is your moment, this is it,” says Dauda.
“This is the moment, that’s why you got to be prepared, first, you have to fight to be in that call out, then you have to fight to win that call out. Now, this is what you train for. This is what you’re in the gym for. This is what every session, every grueling pain, everything you put your body through, okay, you have to be ready for that one moment.”
Samson believes his back shots are the only obstacle preventing him from winning the Olympia.
“One thing, obviously, I want to make sure that — because I know the one point that those two guys [Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford] will have over me will be the back shots. So that one, okay, I got to close that door. Close that gap. I probably won’t be able to pass it but I will close it enough to where it no longer is a night and day sort of thing. Once I do that, the rest of it… where else can they touch me on?
Bring your weaknesses to match up with theirs so then you can show your glaring strengths and make those parts shine out,” added Dauda. “For us, break down our faults… break down what we know we’re weak at. Break down what anybody has an advantage over us; we say, ‘Right, let’s take it away, let’s fix that.’ So they don’t have that advantage.”
Even if he is unable to match the back density of Choopan or Lunsford, Dauda said the improvements would be enough to sway the judges.
“At least if we do that, it will be significantly enough to be like, ‘Okay, he might not beat them in that shot,’ but it’s enough to make them turn around and go, ‘Eh, but,’ and that’s all it needs to be.”
“We make sure we tick so much boxes that you might beat us in this shot or that shot, but guess what, when you overall tally the score, we get a lot more points than you do and this is how a physique works, being so balanced and so symmetrical that you can’t pick out a bad pose.”
Whether or not Choopan defends his title this year has become a topic of debate. Nick Walker is confident that the next Olympia will be decided following a battle between himself and Lunsford. He emphasized that Choopan won’t repeat as Mr. Olympia. However, William Bonac disagrees and recently stated that Choopan will definitely win at least one more Sandow, likely this year.
While Mr. Olympia is still several months away, fans will get a sneak peek of the top contenders’ physiques at Jim Manion’s 2023 Pittsburgh Pro next weekend. Hunter Labrada, Derek Lunsford, Nick Walker, Samson Dauda, and Shaun Clarida will all make special guest posing appearances.
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