The Nigerian Lion continues to gain momentum heading into 2024.
Although he fell short in his quest to win the 2023 Mr. Olympia, it took Samson Dauda less than 10 days to add two more titles to his burgeoning bodybuilding resume.
After finishing in first place at the 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro, the Nigerian Lion looked fantastic in another dominant performance from across the pond. After taking top honors in the Men’s Open division in Romania on November 12, 2023, Dauda returned to the podium at the EVLS Prague Pro 2023securing a win at the IFBB Pro League show and a $10,000 check for the second weekend in a row.
EVLS Prague Pro 2023 division-by-division results
The EVLS Prague Pro 2023 featured athletes from six divisions competing for a coveted championship, first prize money and automatic qualification to the Olympia 2024. Here are the final results based on the official command tables made available by the IFBB Pro League.
Men’s Open
Between finishing third in Olimpia 2023 and winning Defending Romania Muscle Fest Pro champion Behrooz Tabanai Abarghani for the 2023 title, Samson Dauda had all the momentum heading into the EVLS Prague Pro. However, he faced stiff competition: Michal “Krizo” Krizanek, who took home top honors at the 2022 show.
In the end, however, Dauda’s muscular frame and firmer appearance helped him fend off an impressive field that also included Rubiel Mosquera and Nathan De Asha, who finished third and fourth, respectively, behind the Colombia native.
- Samson Dauda (United Kingdom)
- Michal Krizanek (Slovakia)
- Rubiel Mosquera (Columbia)
- Nathan De Asha (United Kingdom)
- Jan Turek (Czech Republic)
- Liang Yan (Porcelain)
- roman fritz (Germany)
- Rob Cannon (United Kingdom)
- Hameed Juma (Bahrain)
- Pavel Beran (Czech Republic)
212 Bodybuilding
Like Dauda, Ahmad Ali Ashkanani followed up a solid performance at Olimpia with a win in Romania. And like the Nigerian Lion, the Kuwait native finished first in his division for the second weekend in a row.
Once again, Ashkanani got the nod over Italian Giuseppe Zagarella, who also settled for second place at the Romania Muscle Fest Pro 2023.
- Ahmad Ali Ashkanani (Kuwait)
- Giuseppe Zagarella (Italy)
- Lucas Gonzalez (Brazil)
- David Cnota (Poland)
- Giorgi Adikashvili (Georgia)
- Daniel Vasilica (Romania)
- Damian Kryszpin (Poland)
- Vicente Alliot (France)
[Related: Iain Valliere Believes the 212 Division Should No Longer Exist in Bodybuilding]
classical physique
The Classic Physique division title clash in Prague came down to two competitors who performed well at the 2023 Olympia. Urs Kalecinski, who finished third at the Olympia before winning the 2023 Texas State Pro on November 11, 2023 , came face to face with Michael Daboul, sixth at the Olympia.
Despite a strong performance from Daboul, “The Miracle Bear” emerged victorious, further cementing his status as one of the best Classic Physique competitors in the world.
- Urs Kalecinski (Germany)
- Michael Daboul (United Kingdom)
- Alejandro Westermeier (Germany)
- Sebastian Theurel (France)
- Karol Rogaczewski (Poland)
- Jordi Romero Marsal (Spain)
- Ruben Lopez Reyes (Spain)
- German shepherd (Spain)
- George Acheampong (Denmark)
- Matthias Hollweck (Germany)
- manuel moisel (Germany)
- Karar Aljalabi (Belgium)
- Chris Taylor (Germany)
- Sebastian Guncik (Czech Republic)
- Ali Khan (Afghanistan)
- alberto milani (Italy)
- Fernando Gornals Margol (Spain)
[Related: Chris Bumstead Claims Fifth Consecutive Classic Physique Championship at 2023 Mr. Olympia]
men’s physique
In another example of why momentum is important, Miroslav Juricek teamed up with Samson Dauda and Ahmad Ali Ashkanani to win the Romania Muscle Fest Pro and the EVLS Prague Pro. Both he and fellow Czech Ondrej Kmostake represented their country well by taking the first two places in the men’s physique division.
- Miroslav Juříček (Czech Republic)
- Ondrej Kmostak (Czech Republic)
- Furkan Er (Turkey)
- Adeyemi Awoyani (United Kingdom)
- Andrea Amato (Italy)
- David Wachelka (Poland)
- Dylan Crane (France)
- Jeffrey Darko (United Kingdom)
- Viachaslau Tarasevich (Belarus)
- Mohammad Almutawah (Kuwait)
- Alessandro Cavagnola (Italy)
- Panek Alexandru (Romania)
- Ramzi Boubaker (Germany)
- Oskar Tchorzewski (Poland)
- aria ali (Germany)
[Related: The Ultimate Chest and Back Workout for Upper Body Muscle]
Figure
It was another rinse and repeat situation with the figure division, as Romania Muscle Fest Pro winner Tereza Linhartova secured her second title in as many weeks. While Spain’s Rejoice Godwin took third place in her second consecutive show, Romania’s Stefana Sandu went from finishing second to dropping to fourth, while American María Luisa Díaz took the No. 2 spot in Prague.
- Teresa Linhartova (Czech Republic)
- Maria Luisa Diaz (USA)
- Rejoice Godwin (Spain)
- Stefana Sandu (Romania)
- Behnaz Nasrollahi Azar (Germany)
- Zulfya Bitiyeva (Kazakhstan)
- Kamara Graham (United Kingdom)
- Karine Hajar (Qatar)
- Tamires Silva (Brazil)
- Sonia Ivanova (Germany)
- Anna Kohckar (Ukraine)
- Natalia Sharapova (Russia)
- Gabriela Linhartova (Czech Republic)
- vanessa happle (Germany)
- Gabriela Hejna (Czech Republic)
- Alina Yaman (United Kingdom)
[Related: Superset-Style Upper Body Resistance Band Workout for Muscle Gains]
Bikini
The Bikini division title battle played out differently in Prague than in Romania. After winning the title the previous weekend, Italy’s Alice Marchisio fell to third place, while Romania Muscle Fest Pro runner-up Valerya Fedorenko stepped up to claim the win and a $10,000 prize.
Fellow Ukrainian Violeta Palamarchuk also enjoyed a successful performance, jumping from eighth place at the Romania Muscle Fest Pro to second place at the EVLS Prague Pro.
- Valeria Fedorenko (Ukraine)
- Violeta Palamarchuk (Ukraine)
- Alicia Marchisio (Italy)
- Dorottya Zoe Toth (Hungary)
- Renata Nowak (Poland)
- Sara Punzetti (Italy)
- Lisa Reith (Germany)
- Sara Lujza Rogacsi (Hungary)
- Olivia Pohankova Kovac (Slovakia)
- Petra Voldanova (United Kingdom)
- Andrina Scharli (Swiss)
- Mara Carro
- Ka’Tai Luca (Hungary)
- Johanna Durr (Germany)
- Irene Iravedra Cunarro (Spain)
[Related: Everything You Need to Know About How to Burn Fat]
Overall, Samson Dauda deserves a lot of credit for continuing to compete after putting everything on the line at Mr. Olympia 2023. While he could have easily rested on his laurels and been satisfied with a third place finish at the biggest bodybuilding show of the year , has done exactly the opposite.
So while the Nigerian Lion didn’t leave Orlando, FL with a $400,000 prize pool and the sport’s most coveted title, he certainly made the most of his trip to Europe by taking home titles in back-to-back competitions.
Cover image: Samson Dauda / Instagram
