Bodybuilding veterans are still processing the unbelievable 2026 Mr. Olympia results. In an October 2 video, Lee Haney reflected on Nick Walker’s shocking Olympia victory and what it means for the future of the Men’s Open class.
The 2026 Mr. Olympia turned into one of the most memorable bodybuilding events in the sport’s history. Nick Walker dethroned Derek Lunsford and won the Sandow trophy despite being counted out. Previously, “The Mutant” dropped to sixth place at the prestigious event, which left many fans doubting his potential.
Those concerns were unwarranted. Walker brought his all-time best and unmatched conditioning. The Men’s Open star has already announced his entry for the 2027 Arnold Classic. In the meantime, former eight-time Olympia Lee Haney took a closer look at how he pulled off the improbable in Sin City.
‘Nick Is in a Whole Other World’ — Lee Haney’s Honest Take on the 2026 Mr. Olympia
In the video, Haney touched on how the Open class has changed since his reign:
“Nick was very determined. I like his stick-to-itiveness, and as far as conditioning is concerned, nobody came close to Nick. Nick is in a whole other world when it comes to that. Structure-wise, it’s a little bit different. It’s not what I came up during my era, and some of the previous eras. It’s a little bit different. But I will say that the Open class of bodybuilding is different now. It’s not like the Classic class. We know what Classic bodybuilding is going to look like. It looked like me. It looked like Arnold. It looked like Robby.”
According to Haney, all competitors brought their best conditioning, but he shared that Lunsford could have been better.
“Open is looking like something else. The judges, I would say treat it as something else. It is what it is. I want to congratulate all the guys. Listen, that was the best conditioning I’ve seen out of everybody. Andrew, Samson, Nick was a whole other level of conditioning. I thought Derek could have been a little bit sharper. I know he mentioned that himself. I hate that Hadi wasn’t able to make it,” Lee Haney said.
While he appreciated the level of detail he saw at the Olympia, Haney warned that achieving extreme conditioning can cause lifelong damage.
“Take care of your health. That’s my main focus. My main concern. The demands of conditioning is a very dangerous thing. When you say well, you need to be a little drier, a little harder.
There is some personal sacrifices that comes along with that and that type of conditioning. If you’re not careful, you can bring damage; you can damage your systems like that, and once it’s damaged, it’s your problem to deal with, not the judges”
“The judges need to be aware of that too. When you’re sitting at the table with your itty bitty pencil, you’re writing down your little stuff, and making notes, no you got to be tighter. You know what that means? You don’t know what that means as a judge.”
Though it looks like Walker could be jumping into the 2027 Arnold soon, some bodybuilders think it’d be a bad move. Bob Cicherillo and Shawn Ray recently tackled the subject. They argued that Walker would be making the same mistake that Samson Dauda made when he lost the 2025 Arnold Classic to Derek Lunsford.
With Walker captaining the division, it looks like conditioning will continue to play a key role in scoring contests. The 2027 Arnold Classic is set for March 5-7 in Columbus, Ohio.
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