The Mr. Olympia, 2023 has officially started, and the IFBB followed the old tradition of kickstarting the event with a press conference and Meet the Olympians session. The champion bodybuilders competing at the event, like Derek Lunsford, Hadi Choopan, Chris Bumstead, and Samson Dauda, interacted with the press, answering questions. 

When a reporter asked the Nigerian Lion, Samson Dauda, about his thoughts on Nick Walker quitting the show at the last minute, the Arnold Classic champion, 2023, only had good things to say. 

Samson Dauda sends wishes to injured Nick Walker

The bodybuilding community is always intrigued by onstage rivalry among competitors. The 2000s was known for the biggest rivalry in sport’s history, Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler. This year, the rivalry between Nick Walker and Samson Dauda spiced up when the Nigerian Lion defeated The Mutant in the Arnold Classic championship. 

So, at the Mr. Olympia press conference, a reporter asked Dauda, “Samson you have a rubber match of sorts with Nick Walker and him being out of the show, you know, he beat you at the Olympia, you beat him at the Arnold, and people were kind of waiting to see that third matchup. So, what does it mean to you that Nick is not able to compete?”

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The 330 lbs mass monster recounted when he trained with Walker to give insights into their bond. “He showed me how to train my back. Nick has always been a great support to me,” Dauda noted in the press conference. While confessing that he was looking forward to Walker’s presence on stage, Dauda expressed grief, “To find out the news of what happened to him, it’s a sore spot man. It makes me feel really hurt.” Even as the Nigerian Lion wished his opponent a speedy recovery, why did Walker call it quits at the last moment?

Nick Walker was hit by a hamstring injury

The Mutant has earned a significant fan base in the bodybuilding arena in no time and was regarded as a Mr. Olympia favorite. Walker secured first place in the 2021 Arnold Classic and was Top 3 bodybuilders in the 2022 Mr. Olympia. So, fans were anticipating him to lift the Sandow trophy this year. However, the 29-year-old tore his hamstring a couple of days before Joe Weider’s Mr. Olympia weekend. 

In an emotional post, Walker confessed, “I tried to push through it. I tried to do whatever I could get all the treatment that I could.” He even reached Orlando but decided to quit after much thought. “There was just no shot of us placing top three at this point,” he confessed to his fans.

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While the Mr. Olympia battle will become less intense with Walker out of the competing roster, bodybuilding fans are betting high on Samson Dauda and Derek Lunsford to give a tough fight to reigning Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.