After losing his chance to reclaim the title last year, Samson Dauda is looking to take a big step in 2026, and even before the competitive season begins, he has found support in Fouad Abid.

Speaking on BeyondTheStageTv, bodybuilding insider Fouad Abid expressed that he believes Samson Dauda has understood his mistakes and will make a comeback like never before, "I do believe in 2026, we're gonna see a Samson that we haven't seen before, and it is gonna be too overwhelming for the other competitors.”

From being a champion to dropping to fourth position was a big fall, but why? According to Dauda, they pushed the conditioning too far.

"We went all the way, deep into it, and we just underestimated how long it would take us to fill out, and that was basically it,” Dauda revealed in his conversation with BeyondTheStageTv last year.

However, mistakes are made to learn from, and it appears that Dauda has completely shifted his game plan, so much so that Abid believes, "Let's say we got the 2024 Samson back, that condition, but 10 pounds heavier or 15 pounds heavier. That's gonna be insane.”

With the 2026 season starting soon, the former Mr. Olympia is looking to change his plans. Recently, when asked about his game plan, Dauda’s answer was pretty expected.

“Never say never,” says Samson Dauda

During a sit-down with Fouad Abiad on his YouTube channel, Dauda offered fans a glimpse into his backstage mindset, discussing the difficulty of peaking after major muscle gains and teasing a possible pre-Olympia appearance.

“Never say never. For me, I never say never. People say when you’re trying to peak with a new added muscle, new structure, what you’ve done before doesn’t suddenly work again the same way. So sometimes you might have to take a test to see how your body responds. Olympia was a prime example,” said Dauda.

Samson Dauda says he has learned from his past mistakes and is now determined to redeem himself. With renewed motivation, he aims to reclaim the Olympia title.

But can he become only the second man, after Jay Cutler, to lose it and win it back? Time will tell, and we will report it here on Bodybuilding Bros.

Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Joyita Das