Shawn Ray is sounding the alarm on Samson Dauda’s lagging 2026 Mr. Olympia prep. In an August 14 YouTube video, Ray revealed that Dauda’s conditioning is behind and urged him to ramp up cardio and a low-carb diet.
Samson Dauda will aim to recapture the Mr. Olympia title when he returns to Vegas. In 2025, he fell to fourth at the prestigious show after taking his conditioning too far. He lacked the muscle density and fullness that helped him defeat shorter contenders like Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan.
Dauda tried to bounce back at the Prague Pro, but still hadn’t regained all his size. As a result, he earned a close runner-up finish behind Martin Fitzwater. In his next outing, he pushed Lunsford, though he settled for silver at the 2025 Arnold Classic. After a lengthy off-season, the mass monster is ready to battle against the best in the world.
Shawn Ray Says Samson Dauda Is Behind for 2026 Mr. Olympia
In the latest Voice of Bodybuilding podcast, Ray explained that now is the time for Dauda to turn up the intensity of his preparations:
“I love Samson to death, but I was not happy with what I saw. I mean, I don’t know… If nothing else, based on what I saw, I’d be on a low-carb diet and high cardio right now. I’m telling you, I don’t know anything about how he trains, but I can tell you what brings the body fat down. Cardio, cardio, cardio, high protein, low carbohydrates.”
If Dauda isn’t able to ‘etch the detail in,’ the bodybuilding veteran believes he’ll get exposed by Lunsford and Choopan.
“Outside of that, I can’t give him any more advice other than pick up the pace of those workouts, start dropping some drop sets in there, do higher rep repetitions.”
“He needs to etch the detail in. Hadi and Derek will expose this guy, and even Andrew Jacked has been getting in some pretty good shape. Samson should be showing us that now,” Shawn Ray explained.
Ray called Dauda’s situation ‘a 911,’ and urged him to get ready early for the Olympia.
“He needs to get ready early, not later. If he tries to get ready later, the same thing is going to happen to him. He’s going to flatten out, he’s going to appear like he’s small, and those cuts are not going to be there.”
“He’s got that dark African skin; he needs to thin that stuff out now. This is a 911. How many weeks? Six? I’m spending the next three like I’m getting ready to compete.”
Aside from Ray, bodybuilding legend Phil Heath has spoken up about Dauda’s Olympia chances. Heath broke down Dauda’s size gamble and predicted that if he’s peeled, ‘it’s a wrap.’ However, he warned that getting ‘inside-out shredded’ is easier said than done.
Time will tell if Ray is right about Dauda’s preparations. The 2026 Mr. Olympia is coming soon, with competitors set to battle from September 24-27 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
