The top competitors in the bodybuilding world will descend upon Las Vegas this weekend for Joe Weider’s Fitness and Performance Weekend, headlined by the 2025 Mr. Olympia competition.
Hadi Choopan will look to defend his title after earning the top prize in 2024, but a field of tough competition will look to wrest the most prestigious prize in the sport away from him.
Who are his top contenders and does Choopan stand a chance of repeating?
Find out in this preview of the event.
Date: Saturday, October 11
Time: 9:30 a.m. (Pre-Judging), 7:00 p.m. (Finals)
Location: Las Vegas Convention Center
Preview and Top Bodybuilders
Choopan sat out the Arnold Classic, which allowed his toughest competitor, Derek Lunsford, to earn the win at the prestigious event. Samson Dauda, his runner-up at last year’s Mr. Olympia, has also built momentum for himself through the best physique of his career.
Both Dauda and Lunsford are legitimate contenders to unseat Choopan, but neither has the conditioning that the defending champion does. It is his strongest asset and the one thing that sets the 2024 winner apart from the field.
Nick Walker returns to the field after missing last year’s competition and while he has the size, there are real and understandable questions about his ability to match the on-stage conditioning of the top contenders.
Andrew Jacked is a physical specimen, someone with muscle depth that his opponents do not have but, like Walker, faces questions about his conditioning.
Not since Jay Cutler (not that Jay Cutler) has a bodybuilder repeated as champion. Choopan has all of the tools to recapture the Sandow trophy and leave Vegas having etched his name in the history books.
There is something to be said about Lunsford winning the Arnold, though, and putting in the work to better himself and his body in preparation for taking that one, final step toward immortality and an Olympia title.
Choopan will wow, Dauda may have the best pure physique of the bunch, but Lunsford should be the favorite.
Prediction: Lunsford wins
