"I’ve always been obviously underrated" - Samson Dauda on going into the 2023 Olympia as a front runner

Samson 'The Nigerian Lion' Dauda shocked the world as he claimed his first Arnold Classic title earlier this year. In doing so, he beat the likes of Nick Walker and Big Ramy in an intense face-off.

Going into the Arnold Classic, Samson Dauda was clearly not the favorite. Nick Walker, Andrew Jacked, and Big Ramy were talked about extensively while Dauda was kept to the sidelines.

'The Nigerian Lion' recently claimed that this has been a long-recurring theme in his career. Speaking to Siddique Farooqi of RxMuscle, he said:

"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."

According to Dauda, this changed when he was presented with the opportunity to compete at the 2022 Olympia.

"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 I was thrown in there 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."

After winning the 2023 Arnold Classic, Dauda has certainly secured his place as one of the favorites to beat Hadi Choopan at the 2023 Olympia. He wants to use the momentum and stride ahead.

"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."

The expectations have definitely increased for the Nigerian Lion, with many critics even believing that he is in the best position to upset Choopan at the Olympia this year. Speaking about the pressure he is now under, the 2023 Arnold Classic winner said:

"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."

Dauda plans on using the pressure to drive him further this year.

"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."

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"We want that Sandow" - Samson Dauda is set and ready to go for the win at the 2023 Olympia

Samson Dauda also said that he is laser-focused on one and only one thing this year - getting his hands on the Sandow trophy.

"Olympia is coming. For me, all that does is fire me up ... 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."

Samson will face reigning champion Hadi Choopan and second-placed Derek Lunsford at the Olympia this year. They will be joined by a hungry Nick Walker looking for redemption after the Arnold Classic loss.