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Derek Lunsford is in a very unique position. As one of the most decorated champions in the sport he has developed a tremendous amount of name recognition and marketability. Although he lost the title, he is a two-time open champion and a 212 champion. This creates tremendous buzz for him. He\u2019s also a former Mr. USA and an Arnold Classic champion. At this juncture in his career he doesn\u2019t really need to chase after prize money. Nick Walker who just won the Olympia has already made the blunder of the century, repeating that of Samson, by saying he will compete at the Arnold Classic. Should Derek do that as well? Should he compete in Columbus against the guy who beat him at the Olympia and the guy who took fourth to his third? I don\u2019t think so. I think that that would be too much energy expended for very little return. The money is on the reigning Olympia champion to win the Arnold Classic. Now sure, there could be a repeat of what happened with Samson, but I don\u2019t know that that\u2019s going to happen. Also, there\u2019s a high chance that Andrew could come out on top since Andrew won the contest in 2025. I think that for Derek what would make the most sense would be to hunker down and simply wait for the Olympia. He is a past Olympia champion; therefore, he is automatically qualified and he doesn\u2019t really need to compete. Now will he compete? More than likely because of the fact that he probably doesn\u2019t want to slip into obscurity. But that right there is a fundamental mistake as well. Because there is no way that he could ever be either irrelevant or obscure. He has too much behind his name for that to happen. In fact, Lunsford could even potentially sit out the year, maybe sit out two years, and he would still be a force to be reckoned with. I\u2019m not suggesting that he sit out the year, I\u2019m not suggesting that at all! What I am suggesting is that he only compete at the O.<\/p>\n
Because at the end of the day what matters is getting your name out there. You don\u2019t have to compete to do that. That\u2019s probably the biggest blunder that a lot of these top tier professional physique-based athletes make. That\u2019s why you see guys competing at five, six, or more shows in a year. It certainly isn\u2019t because of the prize money. A lot of these shows barely pay $25,000 and some just pay $10k. There is no reason for top-tier bodybuilders or physique-based athletes to compete for peanuts. When you factor in the money that it costs to fund a prep it doesn\u2019t make any sense. Between the food, the drugs, the travel, what are you actually making? Plus, most athletes have to pay taxes on what they make. Unless of course they live in a country where taxes aren\u2019t routinely collected. So, at the end of the day a lot of competitors, even the ones that win the top prize, are maybe making a couple thousand dollars for their efforts after expenses. That\u2019s stupid. Yes, I said it, that is stupid. When in reality they could achieve the same amount of notoriety and the same amount of buzz by appearing at\u00a0 a well-run fitness seminar or a massive expo. That\u2019s what I think Derek needs to do. He of course needs to stay relevant and he of course he needs to make money, but he doesn\u2019t have to compete in order to achieve those goals.<\/p>\n
I think that if Derek were to start competing like crazy in 2026 and then do a whole bunch of shows next year all that\u2019s going to do is all but guarantee that he does not win back the Sandow in 2027. It doesn\u2019t make any sense. He needs to keep his eyes on the prize. I don\u2019t think he should do New York just as much as I don\u2019t think he should do Columbus just as much as I don\u2019t think he should do Pittsburgh or Tampa, either. As a former Olympia champion, he\u2019s automatically qualified so what the f*ck does he need to do any other shows than the Olympia? It doesn\u2019t make any sense. What he needs to do is do the business of bodybuilding. He needs to get out there and he needs to take pictures with people. He needs to do more press as well and we\u2019re going to talk about that because I believe that doing media is another very important component to him reclaiming his position amongst the fans. A position that has largely gone up in the air by his own behavior and his over-the-top arrogance in the last four or five months. I believe that Derek acted in the way that he did not to brag about his accomplishments but more so because of insecurity.<\/p>\n
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