Bodybuilding coach Chris Aceto sees the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro turning into the event of the year. On April 6, 2025, he discussed Vitaliy ‘Goodvito’ Ugolnikov’s potential and compared him to Jay Cutler. He also laid out his expectations for Pittsburgh, set for May 10-11.
The recent 2025 Arnold Classic South America contest wrapped up with a newly crowned champion. Goodvito emerged as the titleholder, shocking fans of the sport with a freaky physique. Goodvito’s legs were enormous and conditioned, rivaling the lower body of former two-time Mr. Olympia winner Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay.
Now, attention has shifted to the Pittsburgh Pro, where Goodvito will make a push for gold against a stacked lineup, featuring former two-division Olympia champ Derek Lunsford, Nick Walker, Martin Fitzwater, and Michal Krizanek.
Chris Aceto Talks ‘Freaky’ Goodvito’s Win in South America, Compares Him to Jay Cutler, & Predicts Pittsburgh Pro as ‘Show of the Year’
In a recent YouTube video featured on RxMuscle, Aceto touched on Goodvito’s major win in South America. However, he does believe the surging Pro will have to refine his front lat spread to be competitive against the best in Pittsburgh.
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“He won, he was the best guy onstage. Freaky legs, freaky width, big arms on the front double, crazy glutes and hams, small midsection on the abs and thighs. His vulnerability is of course, the front lat spread, which I think it’s just the way he poses it. I’ve never met him.”
Aceto was unsure why there weren’t more big-name bodybuilders competing in South America.
“I mean, they are probably not giving out chump change, I’d imagine for prize money either, so I don’t know why people don’t go down. I was surprised with the lineup. I didn’t know what the lineup was until the show started, but I was expecting, you know, not expecting but you’d imagine so and so, someone with a name would be in the show.”
He believes Goodvito’s physique is starting to resemble Jay Cutler‘s.
“He looks like Jay Cutler there,” adds Aceto. “Yeah, I don’t think he has anything to lose [in Pittsburgh]. It’s turning out to be the show of the year really.”
“He put on a ton of muscle,” said Aceto. “250 [is what he weighed at 2025 Arnold Classic South America].”
Aceto also touched on Nick Walker’s latest physique update. He didn’t put much stock into it as he doesn’t fully trust pictures on social media until athletes hit the stage.
“A picture is not worth a 1,000 words, it’s worth a 1,000 filters. I’m not saying by any means he’s filtering his pictures, he looks tremendous. I just mean that you just can’t tell anymore the way people look. Samson looked super dialed five weeks out.
He looked about the same onstage as he did five weeks out. I’m not saying Nick is not going to change in five weeks. Pictures can be deceiving. I’ll give you an example, I thought Derek’s pictures looked really good running into the Arnold, but I thought he looked a lot better in real life than the pictures running up to the show,” he shared.
With a $100,000 cash prize on the line and the roster looking like a mini Olympia, the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro will be a telling event. It could serve as a prelude shakeup for the Mr. Olympia, especially considering Lunsford, who just won the 2025 Arnold Classic, will be in attendance aiming to regain his crown.
As his coach, Aceto sees a high ceiling for Goodvito. Time will tell how he compares against more elite bodybuilders when he squares off for gold in Pittsburgh.
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