Derek Lunsford is in a very unique position. As one of the most decorated champions in the sport he has developed a tremendous amount of name recognition and marketability. Although he lost the title, he is a two-time open champion and a 212 champion. This creates tremendous buzz for him. He’s also a former Mr. USA and an Arnold Classic champion. At this juncture in his career he doesn’t really need to chase after prize money. Nick Walker who just won the Olympia has already made the blunder of the century, repeating that of Samson, by saying he will compete at the Arnold Classic. Should Derek do that as well? Should he compete in Columbus against the guy who beat him at the Olympia and the guy who took fourth to his third? I don’t think so. I think that that would be too much energy expended for very little return. The money is on the reigning Olympia champion to win the Arnold Classic. Now sure, there could be a repeat of what happened with Samson, but I don’t know that that’s going to happen. Also, there’s a high chance that Andrew could come out on top since Andrew won the contest in 2025. I think that for Derek what would make the most sense would be to hunker down and simply wait for the Olympia. He is a past Olympia champion; therefore, he is automatically qualified and he doesn’t really need to compete. Now will he compete? More than likely because of the fact that he probably doesn’t want to slip into obscurity. But that right there is a fundamental mistake as well. Because there is no way that he could ever be either irrelevant or obscure. He has too much behind his name for that to happen. In fact, Lunsford could even potentially sit out the year, maybe sit out two years, and he would still be a force to be reckoned with. I’m not suggesting that he sit out the year, I’m not suggesting that at all! What I am suggesting is that he only compete at the O.
Because at the end of the day what matters is getting your name out there. You don’t have to compete to do that. That’s probably the biggest blunder that a lot of these top tier professional physique-based athletes make. That’s why you see guys competing at five, six, or more shows in a year. It certainly isn’t because of the prize money. A lot of these shows barely pay $25,000 and some just pay $10k. There is no reason for top-tier bodybuilders or physique-based athletes to compete for peanuts. When you factor in the money that it costs to fund a prep it doesn’t make any sense. Between the food, the drugs, the travel, what are you actually making? Plus, most athletes have to pay taxes on what they make. Unless of course they live in a country where taxes aren’t routinely collected. So, at the end of the day a lot of competitors, even the ones that win the top prize, are maybe making a couple thousand dollars for their efforts after expenses. That’s stupid. Yes, I said it, that is stupid. When in reality they could achieve the same amount of notoriety and the same amount of buzz by appearing at a well-run fitness seminar or a massive expo. That’s what I think Derek needs to do. He of course needs to stay relevant and he of course he needs to make money, but he doesn’t have to compete in order to achieve those goals.
I think that if Derek were to start competing like crazy in 2026 and then do a whole bunch of shows next year all that’s going to do is all but guarantee that he does not win back the Sandow in 2027. It doesn’t make any sense. He needs to keep his eyes on the prize. I don’t think he should do New York just as much as I don’t think he should do Columbus just as much as I don’t think he should do Pittsburgh or Tampa, either. As a former Olympia champion, he’s automatically qualified so what the f*ck does he need to do any other shows than the Olympia? It doesn’t make any sense. What he needs to do is do the business of bodybuilding. He needs to get out there and he needs to take pictures with people. He needs to do more press as well and we’re going to talk about that because I believe that doing media is another very important component to him reclaiming his position amongst the fans. A position that has largely gone up in the air by his own behavior and his over-the-top arrogance in the last four or five months. I believe that Derek acted in the way that he did not to brag about his accomplishments but more so because of insecurity.
Let’s face it, while he is only the second man in bodybuilding history to win back the title that he lost, he probably had a lot of doubt in himself. Once you win the title you think you’re unbeatable but once you lose it – even if you win it back – you’re always wondering who’s going to take it away from you again. I believe that his arrogance was a defense mechanism and not so much him being an asshole. Again what do I know? I’m not a mental health professional and I certainly don’t have any kind of a relationship with Derek to understand his inner workings. But it would make sense to me that insecurity fueled his arrogance, especially the last four or five months of his reign.
What doing press will accomplish; however, is that people will get a second take at the champ. And even though he didn’t win the title in 2026, calling Derek the champ is very much accurate. He is one of the most accomplished physique-based athletes in the world, and nobody has done what he has done. So therefore, calling him a former champ is offensive and inaccurate. He is very much the champ, and he is very much a force to be reckoned with. But what he does next is going to determine if he becomes the only man in bodybuilding history to win the title back – twice. And he can totally do it.
Derek is still very young, he doesn’t have any injuries, he doesn’t have any health issues, and he loves what he does. So why couldn’t he win the title back? I mean is Nick Walker unbeatable? Does anybody even like what he looks like? It is the wrong direction for bodybuilding, but the guy did deserve the win. I’m not taking the victory away from him I’m just saying that’s not the look that we want for bodybuilding. So could Derek come back and win it back again? Absolutely! The question is, is he going to make the smart decisions during this year, or, what’s left of it and next year?
Right now, everybody’s looking at Nick Walker and that’s fine, too. And Nick Walker is entitled to feel like he’s on top of the world, because he is. I just hope that The Mutant understands that Derek is not out of commission and that he can make all the fun and jokes that he wants but Derek was actually not at 100%. It’s not just because he said so, it’s because we could all notice a difference. Also, The Persian Wolf wasn’t there and Andrew was off. I understand that Nick wants to say that everybody was on their game and he still won, but that’s not exactly true. And if Derek wants to settle the score, he should not do it in Columbus or New York or Pittsburgh – he should only do it in Las Vegas, Nevada. I sincerely hope that the people closest to Derek remind him of this because it is a very important point to make to him. Focus on Olympia Derek. Focus on the Olympia. Derek focus on the Olympia Derek. I can’t say it enough.
Only time will tell. As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article here at IronMag. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It is bound to generate lively conversation.
Author Bio:
Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.
