Samson Dauda has ambitious goals heading into the 2026 bodybuilding season. On Dec. 16, 2025, he revealed plans to bulk up to 350 pounds after downsizing his physique for the 2025 Mr. Olympia.
Samson Dauda headed to Vegas as the reigning Mr. Olympia champion. However, when he hit the stage, fans and judges noticed that he lost size in his legs and back. Ultimately, this pushed “The Nigerian Lion” down to fourth place.
To regain momentum, Dauda competed at the Prague Pro but came up short in a battle against Martin Fitzwater. With time to map out his next plan of attack, he broke down how he intends to fill up his physique for his Olympia comeback in 2026.
Samson Dauda Talks Plan to Bulk Up to 350 Lbs for 2026 Season
In the video, Dauda shared that he lost sight of how his mass and freak factor tied his physique together.
“Everybody wants to see monsters. Let’s be real, this is bodybuilding. There’s nothing more impressive than you seeing a freakin over six-foot-tall dude weighing over 330 pounds monster walk in the room and everybody stop and go what the fuck is that? Okay, okay, that rings a bell. That is something that you lost sight of.”
He stressed that it’s time to go back to being a monster again:
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“It’s time to go back to being a monster again. This is bodybuilding. We all joined this because we want to see inhuman physiques. We want to see monsters.
We want to see guys bigger than we’ve ever seen. We want to see guys and feel fright over it. That’s what drew us to bodybuilding, that big size, beauty, monsters, the things you don’t see every day.”
During the conversation, Dauda touched on adding size without heavily compromising his health.
“You want to be able to hold a conversation like this and not be out of breath. You want to be able to sleep better. You don’t want it to impede you from moving around, walking, and being healthy. You’re trying to balance all these things out so you’re not climbing so fast that this becomes an issue. It knocks everything out of whack.”
He said he plans to reach 350 pounds during the off-season.
“I’m looking at probably around 350, somewhere around that, 350 or 350+ will probably be the weight I’ll easily get to,” he said. “You then have to acclimate to it.”
While he’s not worried about reaching 350 pounds, he explained that the bigger concern is carrying that weight comfortably.
“You’re almost doing these things gradually so you’re not completely tearing your body out of whack. When you start to feel okay, massive restrictions in it, hold, take some time and hold at that weight. Let your body get comfortable, let you get comfortable in it, then you push some more.”
“I’m chilling December, and come January or straight after Christmas, we start pushing again,” he said. “We got a set weight we want to be this off-season. I don’t think it’ll be hard to get to the weight; it’s being able to get comfortable at that weight.”
Fans expected Dauda to jump into the 2026 Arnold Classic next March. He won the event back in 2023. Adding to the stakes, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the Open champion will walk away with a historic $750,000 prize purse.
Dauda wants to make the most of his time away from the stage and return improved. He believes a 350-pound physique will give him all the firepower necessary to climb back up the Mr. Olympia ladder.
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