Shahriar Kamali, better known as King Kamali, is giving his take on the current Men’s Open landscape. In a YouTube video from June 23, 2026, Kamali criticized Samson Dauda’s ab and thigh pose, and Chris Cormier previewed the Nick Walker-Jo Palacios showdown at the upcoming Tampa Pro.
Anticipation for the 2026 Mr. Olympia continues to build, especially after last year’s outcome. Samson Dauda was pushed off the throne and hurled into fourth place. His pursuit of sharper conditioning backfired, while Derek Lunsford nailed his peak. As a result, he established himself as a two-time Mr. Olympia champion.
Dauda attempted to rebound at the Prague Pro but hadn’t regained the size he lost. He settled for a second-place finish and shut down his season to focus on improvements. Walker also missed the mark at the Olympia and dropped to sixth place. With both contenders eager for bounce-back performances, Kamali and Cormier opened up about their futures.
King Kamali, Chris Cormier, Talk Samson Dauda’s Weak Pose, and Nick Walker’s Tampa Chances
In the video, Kamali emphasized that Dauda’s abs and thigh pose is one of his weakest. He added that his most muscular could use some refinement as well.
“Right now, it’s become a game of who is the biggest and freakiest. That’s what it’s come down to. My problem with Samson has never been size. My problem is his abs thigh shot sucks.
Did you work on that this year? When he does his most muscular shot, he looks this much more narrow than Hadi. Why? Because he’s not hitting it right. He’s not getting his delts out. These are the little things you have to work on as a professional bodybuilder.”
As for the Tampa Pro, Cormier argued that Walker is ‘lightyears ahead’ of the lineup, courtesy of his density and muscle hardness.
“I don’t think he has a whole lot of room to clap back at someone like Nick. Nick has won the Arnold Classic, been third in the Olympia, won multiple shows, multiple New York Pros, three of them, so it’s not really for him to say at this point, just that he’s ready to show what he can show and see how everything unfolds on the stage.”
“Nick should be confident because Nick is the athletic one here. He’s got the density and lightyears ahead with the hardness and density at this point with anybody I see there. He should be very confident.”
Kamali believes Jo Palacios needs time before giving Walker a true test onstage:
“Is he ready for Nick? I don’t think so, but he will be one day,” said Kamali.
While the Mr. Olympia is still several weeks away, that hasn’t stopped Kamali from revealing his predictions. He and former 212 Olympia Kamal Elgargni recently backed Dauda and Jacked to secure the top two positions at the Mr. Olympia.
Time will tell if Walker can shake up the Olympia lineup with a dominant performance in Tampa. The 2026 Mr. Olympia is scheduled for September 24-27 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
