by Christian Duque
Is Nick Walker trying to pull a Samson Dauda? How’s Samson doing lately? He won the Olympia, lost the Olympia, competed in Columbus, and didn’t win. Then he competed in Prague, didn’t win there, either. And now Nick Walker, who beat guys like Tonio Burton and Brandon Curry at this year’s Olympia out of sheer pity or politics, got rid of a real coach like Kyle Wilkes, and is now going to fly solo? Nick claims he knows his physique and he’s done with coaches. That’s seemingly a dig not just at Wilkes, but possibly at Matt as well. That’s a pretty bold statement for a guy who missed two consecutive Olympias in 2023 and 2024. He fell short for his big comeback at the first ever Pittsburgh Pro in men’s open bodybuilding, too. He did win his 3rd NY Pro title in 2025, but many people (myself included) would have given that win to William “The Conqueror” Bonac.
In 2024, Nick also got a big gift when he defeated Martin “The Martian” Fitzwater. In 2025, Martin decimated Walker at the Olympia. And now, with the fans doubting him, The Mutant announces quite possibly the worst news imaginable. He’s going to self-prep. He did stop short of saying he would do this alone by saying he’ll always have an eye – or eyes – on him, but he’s just not going to have a coach. So what could this all mean for one of the biggest talkers in the fitness industry?
Well I think that promise is very strong because we’re talking about an individual that has gone on record as saying he’s going to accomplish things that he just has not been able to do. He remains a very young competitor – relatively speaking – but time is not on his side. With younger guys getting pro cards and breaking into the ranks, the fans are starting to doubt his abilities to capitalize on what he has promised. Some argue that he has already seen his best days. He has won the Arnold Classic and he has won three New York Pro titles, but has the talk become too much to back up?
The fact is, Nick has not been able to beat anybody of substance for probably three or four years. And while he did beat Martin in New York last year, I don’t really consider that a defeat. I believe that he won because of the fact that he is who he is. At the time Martin had only won the Detroit Pro and was not on the radar. It was easy to screw him over because nobody was really going to complain. I did sound off and some of the fans did as well but he was not a top Olympian. For that to happen now it would be unheard of. It just could not happen. But back in 2024 when Martin was still cutting his teeth, a lot of people just chalked it up to his day was coming and Nick was already established. I don’t particularly subscribe to that way of thinking and I hate the fact that bodybuilding allows for guys to win based on their name or what they have accomplished in the past, but it is what it is. That to me is politics. Politics pure and simple, but others will argue there are no politics in bodybuilding.
The fact is Nick Walker has won the second and the third biggest titles in bodybuilding but has always come short of the Olympia. Ever since he won his pro card at the North American Championships he has been a competitor that people have thought could go all the way. Most people only see the size as his path for the top title, though.
The reality of the matter is that while Walker does have the size and he does have the vascularity, he has an ugly physique. He does not have the proportions that would make him in my opinion a viable candidate to be Mr Olympia. He is also somebody that has not been able to make the kind of improvements that in my opinion would warrant consideration. Take this year’s Olympia for example, he had no place beating guys like Tonio or Brandon. I think that if it wasn’t for the fact that his name sells tickets that he would not have been in the Top 6. And if he continues on that path he may find himself outside of the Top 10. Therefore I don’t understand why he would decide to drop a coach that has had some luck with him and instead go on to prep himself. Did he not learn anything from Samson? I mean Samson’s career has totally taken a nosedive and I don’t see it getting any better unless he works with a top tier coach again. And Nick had that.
Nick had a coach that was really in his corner and he basically cut ties with him. And while everybody was expecting him to hire another big-name coach, for him to say he’s going to do it on his own is almost like shooting himself in the foot. Has Nick ever coached himself? And now he’s going to do it when he’s got everything in the world to lose?
The fans are growing very restless with this guy. He has become the butt of jokes. A lot of people think that he is all talk and very little product. And the one thing that he’s got going for him is the fact that he sells tickets. But after this year’s Olympia and what he brought to the stage, I think that a lot of fans are starting to sour on him. He still talks a big game, but if all he’s going to have is his mouth, those placings are going to start to drop. Could you imagine a day when Nick Walker competes in Las Vegas and is not in the first call outs? When you are 6th, you are barely in that first call out. Like I said, he beat out two guys that were a lot more deserving, but that honestly do not have the kind of fanbase that he has.
At no point in time was he compared to Derek, Hadi, or Andrew. If anything, Martin should have placed much higher but nobody made the case that Nick should have. And now that he’s going to self-prep, I would be very curious what contest he’s going to do to qualify. I highly doubt they’re going to give him a fourth New York Pro title – especially if he comes in looking like trash.
If they do that, it would be a sad day for that prestigious title. And could you imagine if this self coaching experiment fails? Could you imagine if he tried to compete at a non top three show and did not get the win? I could see him making a complete jackass out of himself. And I highly doubt that Kyle would want to work with him again. Nick burned Kyle once before and this is why I always say that friends should not mix friendship with business. Because Nick went ahead and burned the guy again. Not only do I think Kyle wouldn’t work with him, but I don’t think Matt would, either. I also don’t think any big-name coaches would want to take the chance on this guy. I don’t want to say he’s damaged goods, but he’s definitely not somebody that I would give the benefit of the doubt to. He’s a liability. And who knows if he even sticks to the plan? Who knows if he eats what he needs to eat, if he trains when he needs to, because at the end of the day he’s very quick to blame others and very seldom does he ever take responsibility for his actions.
We have also seen sponsors become ever tiresome when it comes to working with Nick. The placings aren’t good, the personality isn’t good, so what really is there? As soon as that fanbase starts to dwindle, I suspect that his career will be in the garbage can.
And I’m not saying it’s because the guy has me blocked. I do think it’s very juvenile for a professional athlete to block a member of the media for whatever reason. I also think that after this past Olympia when some fans accused him of flipping them off, and he denied it like he is incapable of doing so, made him seem like a very questionable character. Everyone is capable of flipping someone off, but he made it seem like that was the farthest thing from the truth, like it wasn’t even something he was capable of doing. And not only would it be a bad look if he was cursing out fans, but the fact that he cannot take any accountability is even worse. He has become somewhat of a caricature of what a successful bodybuilder should be. So now that he’s going to self-prep, I feel like he is just setting himself up for a huge fail. And he’ll have no one to blame. Who knows, maybe that’s the medicine he needs.
If the self prepping experiment turns out to be successful I will be the first to retract. I will be the first to congratulate the guy, but I just don’t think that he has the wherewithal to prepare himself. I think that his career has taken a turn for the worse and he needs help. He needs a lot of help. He needs more than the eye of one or two fanboys that are going to tell him that he looks great when in reality he needs a lot of improvement. I also don’t know how his sponsors are going to take this. I think that we are seeing a bodybuilder that could be a top guy, maybe not a Mr Olympia but definitely a top guy, pissing away a good thing. And why? Maybe it’s an inflated ego, maybe he’s delusional, maybe he’s just playing stupid. I hate to say it because I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but there are plenty of stupid people on this planet. And Nick Walker is probably one of them.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article, here, at IronMag. What do you think will come of this self-prepping experiment? As always, I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It’s guaranteed to generate lively conversation.
