In methotrexate-naive patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 256) enrolled in the GO-BEFORE trial of golimumab, MRI findings at baseline and within the first 24 weeks were predictive of radiographic progression at 1 year. MRI scans of wrists and hands were taken at 0, 12 and 24 weeks, as well as after 1 and 2 years, and scored using the RAMRIS system. Baseline synovitis and bone oedema scores, and changes therein over the first 24 weeks, were compared with radiographic and MRI progression at 1 and 2 years of follow-up. High baseline levels and poor early improvements in both synovitis and oedema were significant independent predictors of 1-year radiographic progression. Incorporating these measures into regression models also improved the prediction of 1-year radiographic outcome, compared with assessment of clinical disease activity alone. Some of the associations remained significant at 2 years.