Although Chris Bumstead announced his retirement, the bodybuilding community is still talking about his historic performance at the 2024 EVLS Prague Pro. In a recent YouTube video shared on November 18, 2024, Lee Priest called for an end to Classic Physique and explained why he wasn’t impressed with Bumstead’s runner-up showing in Prague.
It’s been an eventful few months for bodybuilder Chris Bumstead. In October, he secured his sixth consecutive Classic Physique Olympia title against finalists Mike Sommerfeld and Urs Kalecinski. While holding his trophy, ‘Cbum’ revealed that he was stepping away from competitive bodybuilding. However, days later, he had a change of heart and committed to the Prague Pro in the Open class.
It was Bumstead’s second time competing as an Open competitor and he left fans stunned by his physique. However, Martin Fitzwater’s back thickness and side poses gave him the edge on the final scorecards. While Bumstead’s performance was lauded by bodybuilders, Lee Priest argues that he wasn’t that good as an Open competitor.
Lee Priest Says Chris Bumstead ‘Not That Good’ as Open Bodybuilder: “Stay in Your Own Lane”
Priest believes people looked at Bumstead’s physique with ‘Classic eyes,’ and bluntly stated, “As an Open bodybuilder, I’m sorry, he’s not that good.”
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“People are like ‘He should have won. He should have won.’ No, he’s Classic! It’s just like if Martin had gone in Classic he wouldn’t have won because of different criteria.
Look, Bumstead looks great yes, because everyone is still looking at him with Classic eyes. As an Open bodybuilder, I’m sorry, he’s not that good.”
According to Priest, Bumstead wouldn’t have looked as impressive if he was standing next to Open talents like Samson Dauda or Andrew Jacked, who boast comparable stature.
“Put him beside Samson, Andrew Jacked, Paul Dillett, someone with similar height with 50-60 more pounds of muscle but still good shape and symmetry like an Andrew Jacked and he’d look like crap.
But yeah, being taller near a shorter bodybuilder he looks a bit more impressive but, no I wasn’t impressed. It’s like stay in your own lane people.”
If it were up to Priest, he’d abolish the 212 as well as Classic Physique and pool the prize money into a lump sum for the Open class.
“I’ve said it before: get rid of 212, get rid of Classic, just have the Open. The money from the Classic and the 212 can go to the Open, you have over a million dollars prize money and I’m sorry if you can’t get on the Open stage then you’re not fucking good enough.”
As for the winner Martin Fitzwater, Priest advised him to continue adding quality muscle and avoid stomach distention if he wants to win Olympia in the future.
“With Martin, it’s just going to take time. He has everything there,” said Priest. “What does he have to do to win the Olympia? Did they say? Nothing. Just what he’s doing. You don’t win the Olympia overnight. It takes time to get the mature muscle.
If he just keeps going like he’s going and doesn’t get any distention in the stomach and stuff and just adds quality muscle with his shape and conditioning, then he’s got everything there that he needs to win it, it’s just going to come down to the judges.”
Priest believes any of the top three—Bumstead, Fitzwater, or Shaun Clarida—could have won in Prague.
“To me, they all looked great because they were all different. If Martin didn’t win and Chris did, I wouldn’t have a problem. If Shaun Clarida had of won, I wouldn’t of had a problem because he looked fantastic,” shares Priest.
Priest isn’t the only bodybuilding expert to offer his opinion of the Prague Pro. Shahriar ‘King’ Kamali called the outcome ‘controversial’ and stressed that ‘a lot of people’ thought Chris Bumstead was the rightful winner of the event.
While Bumstead reaffirmed his retirement following the runner-up performance, talks of how he’d do at the Open Mr. Olympia have heated up. Do you think Chris Bumstead would be in title contention if he managed to compete at the 2025 Mr. Olympia in the Men’s Open?
RELATED: Mike O’Hearn Discusses Chris Bumstead Moving Into Open Bodybuilding: “I Would Like to See Him Win”
Watch the full video from the Serious and Silliness Bodybuilding with John Livia YouTube channel below:
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