"I wasn’t really impressed with Samson’s quality" - Samir Bannout disagrees with the 2023 Arnold Classic results

Samir Bannout made history in 1983 by becoming the first athlete of Middle-Eastern heritage to win the Sandow trophy. He went up against prominent figures in the sport, including eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney and veteran bodybuilder Frank Zane. Since retirement, Bannout has become a prominent voice in the sport, often providing a unique insight into a variety of aspects surrounding it.

Over the past weekend, the new Arnold Classic champion was crowned after days of tight competition - Samson Dauda. In a recent episode of The Muscle Maturity Podcast, Samir joined Nick Trigili and John Hansen in discussing the scoring at the Arnold Classic. Samir mentioned that he disagreed with the judges and did not believe Dauda brought the best package.

"Is Samson fantastic? Yes, he is but personally, I still have Nick Walker as the best-conditioned guy on that stage. I wasn’t really impressed with Samson’s quality. I’m impressed with his body and I think he’d probably be the man to beat at the Olympia if he adds up 10 percent more quality."

Bannout, on the other hand, was impressed with the package Andrew Jacked brought to the Classic. The former Lebanese bodybuilder stated that Andrew had a better physique compared to Dauda.

"I was impressed with Andrew. He had better quality and a beautiful physique."

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Bannout believes Nick 'The Mutant' Walker could have 'easily' won the show if it was just based on quality

Bannout added that the judges in the sport are looking for a balanced physique in the sport right now. He believes this to be the reason why Samson took the title ahead of Walker despite 'The Mutant' showcasing better quality.

"If it’s based on quality alone, Nick would easily win the show. But the judges right now are paying more attention to overall balance and Samson had that. I like Andrew, his overall body, he was also cut enough. Samson wasn’t ripped enough."

Bannout mentioned that he is still a fan of Samson Dauda but he does not believe that the Nigerian's back was ripped enough.

"Samson, congrats to him! I love his body but there’s no clarity in his back. It was completely hazy. Maybe he looked flat and faded away after prejudging."

The Arnold Classic scorecards were recently revealed and it has left Bannout absolutely puzzled. Samson Dauda won the Classic with a perfect score of 10 and Bannout does not understand the scoring whatsoever.

"How did Samson get a perfect score if he looked worse in round three? I don’t understand that."

The scorecard was recently made public by the IFBB Pro League. This is how the judges scored the Arnold Classic competitors:

2023 Arnold Classic Men's Open results as published by the IFBB Pro league

Nick Walker was undoubtedly the most well-conditioned athlete on stage at the 2023 Arnold Classic, but Samson Dauda presented a more complete package.

Dauda's coach, Milos Sarcev, recently revealed that he thinks Walker missed out on the Classic title because of a lack of proportion between his shoulders and his legs.

Samson Dauda, regardless of anyone's opinion, will be heading to the 2023 Olympia as one of the front-runners to beat current champion Hadi Choopan.