Lee Haney has a warning for Samson Dauda with 15 weeks until Mr. Olympia. As Mr. Olympia 2026 approaches, veterans are guiding modern bodybuilders with their experience and years of observation. In the meantime, the 8-time Mr. Olympia expressed strong concern about Samson Dauda’s strategy.

On June 10, Muscle Discord shared a short interview on its Instagram where Haney was asked what advice he would give to Dauda to guide him ahead of Mr. Olympia, Haney said, “I think for where he's at now this stage of the game…. I would hope that he's probably about 12 pounds away or 15 pounds away. I hope he's not still 40 pounds”.

When the host confirmed that Dauda is at 345 lbs currently, the 8-time Mr. Olympia said, “Dang, that's not good. That looks to me like to be overtaxing.”

Haney later questioned Dauda's approach to gaining size, saying that losing weight could ramp up cortisol levels during preparation. For all these reasons, the legend doubts Dauda can compete at his best.

Haney said, “I would rather him cruise in and not have his body producing cortisol and all that kind of crap by being stressed out from too much cardio. That’s what’s going to happen. Cardio, cardio, or starvation, that kind of deal.

You can’t be at your sharpest when that kind of stuff happens. You just can’t. If we had like six months, then we could have a conversation. We are talking 15 weeks. We are in a position where we are hurrying up to try to fix stuff. I could be wrong.”

This is not the first time Haney has given his advice to Dauda. In April, the legend advised Dauda and Andrew Jacked, who was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lee Haney gave Arnold Schwarzenegger specific advice to Samson Dauda and Andrew Jacked

On April 8, Haney posted on Instagram, offering suggestions to Dauda and Jacked that he took from Schwarzenegger.

He said,

“Arnold said to me after placing 3rd in my first Olympia, I needed to stand tall and pose big. I second this to Samson and Andrew as they're set to battle it out at the 2026 Mr. Olympia. Gonna be blood and guts everywhere🫵🏽👌🏽🫵🏽.”

Only time will tell whether bodybuilding fans will get to see the highly anticipated battle between Dauda and Jacked. However, according to Haney, Dauda’s approach to gaining more size could prevent him from winning Mr. Olympia 2026.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil