Heading into the 2023 Arnold Traditional, all eyes had been on Nick Walker. After coming in third on the 2022 Mr. Olympia simply months earlier, “The Mutant” was the presumptive favourite amongst bodybuilding analysts.
However Walker didn’t go away Columbus, OH, because the champ on March 4 — as an alternative, the judges awarded that honor to Samson Dauda, who had positioned sixth on the 2022 Mr. Olympia. This left Walker within the runner-up spot and Andrew Jacked in third place.
On March 14, 2023, Walker took to his Mutant & the Mouth podcast to speak about his Arnold expertise with co-host and former 212 competitor, Man Cisternino. Watch your complete interview beneath.
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Nick Walker on His Disappointing Arnold Traditional End
As soon as the dialog bought rolling, Walker stated he initially felt that Andrew Jacked had the most effective likelihood of beating him, so when Jacked bought known as for third place, Walker thought his victory was a positive factor.
However proper after Jacked’s inserting was confirmed, the judges known as Walker’s title subsequent for runner-up. His response was a easy one: “I used to be similar to, ‘What the [email protected]$&?’”
Walker defined that his shock wasn’t out of disrespect for Dauda. As an alternative, it stemmed from the truth that Walker had received the Arnold Traditional again in 2021, and if somebody goes to unseat a previous winner, he stated they should do it decisively.
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“When there’s a champ right here, you’ve bought to take them out,” Walker stated. “Hear, Samson seemed unbelievable […] however he didn’t take me out.”
Cisternino agreed with Walker, saying: “I’ve all the time been below the idea that, so as to take out a champion, you actually should knock him out. And, , I don’t assume there was [sic] any actually knockout punches that had been thrown.”
Walker then revealed that he didn’t even wish to do the Arnold initially however agreed to it solely after they upped the prize cash to $300,000. Ultimately, going from the Olympia straight into Arnold prep proved extra taxing than he anticipated.
“I assumed it was gonna be a breeze, I actually did,” Walker stated of his Arnold prep. “[It] ended up being in all probability one of many hardest preps I’ve ever carried out in a brief period of time.”
Nick Walker’s 2023 Mr. Olympia Technique
Because the interview continued, the discuss veered towards the enhancements Walker hopes to make later this yr on the 2023 Mr. Olympia. His predominant precedence in the meanwhile is to stability conditioning together with his signature measurement and form.
“[The goal] is to be much more peeled than I used to be on the Arnold however ensure we’re [full],” Walker stated. “I’m a fan of conditioning; I’m a fan of graininess. And hear, I get that Samson has higher form than me, and that’s tremendous — he’s rather a lot taller. However my form is there.”
The 2023 Olympia weekend takes place Nov. 2-5 from Miami, FL.
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Picture Courtesy of the Arnold Sports activities Pageant
