Nigerian bodybuilder Samson Dauda surprised everyone at the Arnold Sports Festival after winning the men’s open category, where he was not among the favourites. Perhaps the best victory of his career and that already consolidates him among the elite of world bodybuilding. ‘The Nigerian lion’, as he is nicknamed, arrived at the best muscular moment of his career and finished ahead of Nick Walker, second in Mr. Olympia, and Chinedu Andrew Obiekea. (Samson Dauda wins the 2023 Arnold Classic.)
The judges of the contest highlighted Dauda not so much his volume –the Egyptian Big Ramy looked much bigger than him on the stage–, but his symmetry, definition and almost perfect proportions. And now we have found this video on Facebook of how he looked muscular and without shoe polish the day before he went on stage. Some images that demonstrate his muscular quality and his talent to pose on the stage, the weak point of some of his competitors.
Samson Dauda’s strengths
One of the keys for the African bodybuilder to win this title was a strict six-month diet that led him to show off the best muscles of all the competitors, with well-balanced definition and volume. Still, he acknowledged that it had been partly a surprise. “You do it and you hope you can win, but I never imagined that I was going to win,” Dauda acknowledged when he was interviewed by Arnold Schwarzenegger after his victory.
