Derek Lunsford says his physique never came together at the 2026 Mr. Olympia, days after turning down press conference pose down.
Derek Lunsford knew something wasn’t right before he surrendered the Mr. Olympia title to Nick Walker.
Lunsford entered the 2026 Mr. Olympia as the defending champion and looking to capture his third Sandow Trophy. Instead, he finished third behind new champion Walker and runner-up Samson Dauda.
Speaking with Tony Doherty of NPC News Online after Saturday’s finals, Lunsford admitted that his physique simply didn’t respond the way he expected during Olympia Weekend.
“If I’m honest with you, even last night, it didn’t feel right,” Lunsford said of Friday’s prejudging. “I just felt like I was off. I was not at my best.”
The admission also adds some interesting context to a moment from Thursday’s Olympia press conference.
Did Lunsford Already Know Something Was Off?
At the conclusion of the press conference, Dauda challenged the top Men’s Open competitors to an impromptu pose down.
Walker and Andrew Jacked accepted the challenge and joined Dauda at the front of the stage. Lunsford, however, remained seated and chose not to participate.
The decision immediately became a storyline.
Dauda later criticized Lunsford for staying out of the comparison, telling Beyond The Stage TV that competitors needed to be willing to “man up” when challenged. Generation Iron covered Dauda’s response before prejudging began.
At the time, there was no reason to assume Lunsford’s decision had anything to do with his physique. A press conference pose down isn’t judged, and competitors have different strategies for when they want to reveal their conditioning.
But Lunsford’s post-show comments make the moment more interesting in hindsight.
He specifically said he noticed something was wrong by Friday night, describing himself as “off” and saying his muscles weren’t firing the way he expected. Whether he sensed anything similar at Thursday’s press conference is unknown, and Lunsford has not connected the two moments himself.
Lunsford Was Just One Point Behind Nick Walker After Prejudging
Whatever Lunsford was feeling, he remained extremely competitive.
The official scoring showed just how close he came to entering Saturday in control of the contest. After prejudging, Walker held eight points while Lunsford had nine, leaving the defending champion only one point behind the eventual winner.
Things changed during the finals.
Dauda improved considerably and won the final round, allowing him to move past Lunsford into second place. Walker did enough across both rounds to hold onto the overall lead and capture his first Sandow.
Lunsford finished with 24 total points, behind Dauda’s 20 and Walker’s 18.
CHECK OUT THE COMPLETE 2026 OLYMPIA RESULTS FOR ALL DIVISIONS HERE!
Despite losing the championship, Lunsford wasn’t interested in blaming his result on outside circumstances.
“No excuses. Just didn’t come together tonight,” he said.
Lunsford also congratulated Walker directly after losing the title.
“I told Nick, ‘Hey, you earned it. Good job.’”
Lunsford Has Rebounded From Third Before
Third place is familiar territory for Lunsford.
After winning his first Mr. Olympia title in 2023, he fell to third in 2024 before returning one year later and reclaiming the Sandow in 2025. That comeback made him only the second bodybuilder after Jay Cutler to regain the Mr. Olympia championship after losing it.
Now, he’ll have to attempt another comeback if he wants a third title.
The intriguing question coming out of Las Vegas is exactly what prevented Lunsford’s physique from responding as expected. He entered Olympia Weekend confident and, despite feeling “off,” came within a single point of Walker during prejudging.
For now, Lunsford isn’t offering an excuse or blaming the result on anything specific.
His assessment was much simpler: his best physique never showed up, and Nick Walker earned the title.
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