Samson Dauda Wins 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro One Week After Finishing Third in Mr. Olympia

The Nigerian Lion goes from bronze to gold

Written by Stephen Sheehan, CPT Last updated on November 14, 2023

Although his trip to Orlando, FL didn’t result in a first-place finish, Samson Dauda still impressed the judges enough to capture the bronze medal at the 2023 Mr. Olympia contest. Coming off a strong showing that saw him make the leap from sixth to third in his second Olympia appearance, the Nigerian Lion wasted no time stepping on stage again.

Just one week after sharing the podium with newly crowned champion Derek Lunsford and 2022 winner Hadi Choopan, Dauda delivered a decisive win at the 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro. Held over the weekend of Nov. 10-12, 2023, competitors from nine of the 11 IFBB Pro League divisions put their physiques on display in Bucharest, Romania, with Dauda taking home top honors in the Men’s Open category.

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2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro Division-by-Division Results

The 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro featured nine division battles — only one of which ended with a Romanian native emerging victorious. Here are the full results from the contest:

Men’s Open

Heading into the contest, most expected Samson Dauda to dominate the Men’s Open division — and the massive bodybuilder didn’t disappoint. The 2023 Arnold Classic winner secured his second victory of the year (and a $10,000 prize) by besting 2022 Romania Muscle Fest Pro champion Behrooz Tabani Abarghani, who could not compete in this year’s Olympia due to visa issues. Surprisingly, Nathan de Asha, who also missed the biggest bodybuilding show of the year after being denied entry into the United States, finished fourth.

Samson Dauda (United Kingdom)
Behrooz Tabani Abarghani (Iran)
Marcello de Angelis Rezende (Brazil)
Nathan De Asha (United Kingdom)
Mohamed Foda (Egypt)
Andrea Presti (Italy)
Alfred Chiriac (Romania)
Volodymyr Byruk (Ukraine)
Jan Turek (Czech Republic)
Kevin Brucher (Germany)
Gianluca Di Lorenzo (Italy)
Roberto Buonomo (Italy)
Pavel Cervinka (Czech Republic)
Hameed Juma (Bahrain)
Anton Bippus (Denmark)
Pavel Beran (Czech Republic)

212 Bodybuilding

Like Dauda, Ahmad Ali Ashkanani enjoyed a more successful outing in Romania than he did in Florida. Coming off a fifth-place finish in the Olympia 212 division, the Kuwait native secured his spot in the 2024 Olympia by finishing ahead of Giuseppe Zagarella and Radoslav Angelov, who took second and third, respectively.

Ahmad Ali Ashkanani (Kuwait)
Giuseppe Zagarella (Italy)
Radoslav Angelov (Bulgaria)
Alexandru Vasile Uta (Romania)
Lucas Garcia (Brazil)
Dawid Cnota (Poland)
Daniel Vasilica (Romania)
Vincent Alliot (France)
Junior Pagula (Brazil)
Morad Zahir (Morocco)
Victor Eric Lopez Garcia (Mexico)
Vincente Santamaria (Spain)

Classic Physique

Having already won the 2023 Europa Pro back in September, Wesley Vissers earned his second pro show win of the year. The Classic Physique competitor finished seventh at the 2023 Olympia and will look to improve upon that mark in Las Vegas, NV, on Oct. 10-13, 2024.

Wesley Vissers (Netherlands)
Ruben Lopez Reyes (Spain)
Alexander Westermeier (Germany)
Sebastien Theurel (France)
Ali Shams Ghamar (Iran)
George Achampong (Denmark)
Nicolas Alberto Concepcion (Philippines)
Mehmed Mehmedov (Bulgaria)
Chris Pistolas (Greece)
Pekka Kotipohja (Finland)
Milos Stojanovic (Serbia)
Francesco Della Vedova (Italy)
Karol Rogaczewski (Poland)
Luc Andre Steinker (Germany)
Fernando Gornals Margol (Spain)
Alberto Milani (Italy)

Men’s Physique

Stepping on stage for the first time since the 2022 Warsaw Pro, Miroslav Juricek made the most of his return with a clean sweep of first-place votes. As a result, the Czech Republic native will get to make his Olympia debut next year.

Miroslav Juricek (Czech Republic)
Caike DeOliveira (USA)
Furker Er (Turkey)
Mohammad Ali (Austria)
Jeffrey Darko (United Kingdom)
Alessandro Cavagnola (Italy)
Mauro Fialho (Spain)
Alexandru Panek (Romania)
Alessandro Colacchi (Italy)
Andrea Amato (Italy)
Andrea Antonelli (Italy)
Giuseppe Riserbato (Italy)
Jaime Maso Lopez (Spain)
Hamad Al-doseri (Bahrain)
Oskar Tchorzewski (Poland)
Mishal Alhassan (Saudi Arabia) — Tied for 16th
Aryan Ali (Germany) — Tied for 16th
Nasreddine Bouakouk (Algeria) — Tied for 16th
Nikolay Rashkov (Bulgaria) — Tied for 16th
Jose Luis Rivas (Spain) — Tied for 16th

Women’s Bodybuilding

Leyvina Rodrigues Barros cemented her case as one of the top female bodybuilders in the world by parlaying her well-balanced physique into a well-earned victory in the Women’s Bodybuilding division. After finishing well outside the top 10 in her Olympia debut in 2022, she will look to vault up the standings in the 2024 contest.

Leyvina Rodrigues Barros (Brazil)
Anastasia Korableva (Romania)
Tiana Flex (South Africa)
MayLa Ash (USA)
Barbara de Freitas Moojen (Brazil)
Hagit Seindlis (Israel)
Jacqueline Fuchs (Switzerland)
Viktoria Knysh (UAE)
Gemma Lancaster (United Kingdom)
Ivana Dvorakova (Czech Republic)
Simone Ellis (England)

Women’s Physique

Raluca Raducu represented Romania well by narrowly beating out runner-up Caroline Alves Dos Santos for the Women’s Physique division title. A one-point advantage allowed the IFBB Pro to stamp her ticket to the 2024 Olympia.

Raluca Raducu (Romania)
Caroline Alves Dos Santos (Brazil)
Sahar Rahmani (Iran)
Natalia Bystrova (Russia)
Silvia Cuartero Martinez (Spain)
Julia Glazycheva (Russia)
Jo Kelly (United Kingdom)
Modesta Halby (Denmark)
Marina Kassinopoullou (Cyprus)
Emilija Martic (Canada)
Tanya Chartrand (Canada)
Petra Osterwald (Switzerland)
Dany Jacot-Descombes (Switzerland)
Christina Kremser (Austria)
Sarah Crail (Australia)
Emilia Balkova (Bulgaria) — Tied for 16th
Tatiana Bulut (Turkey) — Tied for 16th
Cristina Chatti (Spain) — Tied for 16th
Diana Hristova (Bulgaria) — Tied for 16th
Lisa Kurzamann (Austria) — Tied for 16th
Laura Pyszora (United Kingdom) — Tied for 16th
Natalia Spierings (United Kingdom) — Tied for 16th

Figure

Two years removed from earning runner-up status at the Romania Muscle Fest Pro, Tereza Linhartova took home the title in the Figure division. Her ultra-sculpted physique and posing skills gave her the decisive edge over Romanian Stefana Sandu.

Tereza Linhartova (Czech Republic)
Stefana Sandu (Romania)
Rejoice Godwin (Spain)
Jennifer Reece (Canada)
Jennifer Zienert (Germany)
Sonja Ivanov (Germany)
Daiane Aparecida Freitas (Brazil)
Maria Ignacia Mas Delgado (Spain)
Veronica Gallego Garcia (Spain)
Anna Kohckar (Ukraine)
Behnaz Nasrollahi Azar (Germany)
Charlotte Goubet (France)
Helen Zavitsanou Pistolas (Greece)
Yadviga Zakurina (Russia)
Maria Ignacia Mas Delgado (Brazil)
Reem Albareeq (Bahrain) — Tied for 16th
Vanessa Happle (Germany) — Tied for 16th
Cristina Araujo Silva (Spain) — Tied for 16th
Lubomira Steftcheva (Bulgaria) — Tied for 16th

Bikini

After settling for second place at the 2023 Italian Olympus Pro back in October, Alice Marchisio achieved her goal of earning a gold medal. Her first pro win gives her a chance to compete in the Olympia.

Alice Marchisio (Italy)
Valerya Fedorenko (Ukraine)
Giuditta Taccani (Italy)
Dorottya Zoe Toth (Hungary)
Kerry Sexton (United Kingdom)
Rania Stamatiadou (Greece)
Irene Iravedra Cunarro (Spain)
Violeta Palamarchuk (Ukraine)
Lorena Blanco (Spain)
Andrina Scharli (Switzerland)
Luca Katai (Hungary)
Sara Lujza Rogacsi (Hungary)
Mara Carro (Germany)
Natalia Koursari (Greece)
Aleksandra Duba (Poland)
Johanna Durr (Germany) — Tied for 16th
Noemi Lavacca (Italy) — Tied for 16th
Anna Thaarup (Denmark) — Tied for 16th

Wellness

Despite being one of the last competitors to enter the show, Gisele Machado proved she’s still a force to be reckoned with in the Wellness division. The Brazilian bodybuilder claimed her fourth pro show victory of 2023 in lopsided fashion, earning unanimous first-place votes. Although she did not compete in the 2023 Olympia, Machado should take the stage in Las Vegas in 2024.