Samson Dauda continues to make huge strides as a Men’s Open bodybuilder. In a recent RxMuscle interview, Dauda discussed his motivations to win his first Olympia title and highlighted the pressure he’s under to bring his best look ever.
Dauda, a Nigerian native living in the U.K., received praise as an Open class competitor for his mass, classic structure, and deep muscle separation. Last year, Dauda proved himself with a pair of fourth-place finishes at the 2022 Arnold Classic and Boston Pro. At his first Mr. Olympia competition, Dauda held his own against a very talented lineup of bodybuilders, finishing sixth.
He proceeded to enter Ohio’s Arnold Classic, where fans got the opportunity to see him battle against Nick Walker and Andrew Jacked. Dauda’s shape and symmetry secured him the victory, however, some in the sport took issue with the outcome. Nevertheless, veteran voices of bodybuilding like Bob Cicherillo believe Dauda is now sharing the number one contender spot with Derek Lunsford, who placed runner-up to Hadi Choopan at the last Olympia contest.
Taking a victory lap, Dauda opened up on how his life has changed. In addition, he laid out his ambitions and game plan for the upcoming 2023 Olympia, scheduled for November 2-5, in Orange County, Florida.
Samson Dauda Reflects on Being 1st British Arnold Classic Champion
Following his recent victory in Ohio, Samson said it felt amazing to become the first British Arnold Classic champion.
“Absoultely amazing man. It feels crazy because I remember when we were prepping for the show. The whole time I was prepping I went into the mindset, of look, no matter what I want to go into the mindset that I can win this show I know I can do it.At one point, I was training with one of my friends, we stopped and talked going, ‘what British guy has ever won the Arnold Classic before?’ We ran through it and checked out names and stuff like that and actually no British bodybuilder has ever won it before. He says, ‘Damn, wouldn’t it be cool if you end up being the first one?’ At that moment, it clicked on me, now that is a mantle to have. That will be amazing. It fired me up a bit.”
Dauda Opens Up on 2023 Olympia Mindset, Embraces Pressure, Plans to Bring Shock Factor on Stage
According to Dauda, his goal is to always bring shock factor when he enters a contest.
“The shows I’ve done before the last Olympia, I’ve always been obviously underrated going into a show. Not much buzz, not talked about, not anything like that. Even then, I sort of worked off that idea that we would always bring the shock factor when we walk out on stage because not many people were expecting it.For a long time, I’ve used that a lot. And then, for the first time last year, going into the Olympia last year was the first time that we was thrown in their as a wild card going into the Olympia. And that was a shock for us. Like whoa, okay, this is the Olympia, the biggest show in the world,” Duada shared.
Samson Dauda said he’s no longer the underdog and emphasized that expectations and pressure to succeed have never been higher.
“For once, I’m no longer the underdog or the person that’s not put in the conversation. Now you’re somebody that’s in it, it fired me up, now you got steam behind you. Now we’re going to live up to that. I ain’t disappointing,” said Dauda.“Having now been the topic of conversation, it fired me up even more. There’s this thing about pressure, they say pressure will either break pipes or make diamonds; I know for me the more pressure I get put on, the more I push myself to live up to it. Now, we’re going into the Olympia with the biggest expectation and pressure we’ve ever had. I’m already hungry. I’m already feeling – yeah, I’m excited.”“Olympia is coming. For me, all that does is fire me up,” Dauda shared. “There’s only one result left to get and that’s the result I’m going for man, that top spot, there ain’t nothing but that. With every step up we get, every expectation we climb above, the more I expect. For me, this is like, okay, we just won the Arnold, there ain’t nothing else, we got to go for the Olympia, we want that win, we want that Sandow. For me this is my own expectation, we are winning the Olympia this year.”
With the recent changes to the top of the Men’s Open division, Millos Sarcev, who trains Dauda, broke down his pupil’s chances against reigning Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan and Lunsford. He specified that Dauda has the best combination of everything except conditioning and favored his chances of success.
With an Arnold Classic title fueling his momentum, Samson Dauda is on a mission to secure the sport’s most coveted title later this year at the 2023 Mr. Olympia contest.
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