The 2025 Pittsburgh Pro results left the bodybuilding community with mixed emotions. In a recently uploaded IFBB AMA YouTube video on May 15, 2025, Lee Priest broke down the aftermath and thought Nick Walker should have won.
According to the official Pittsburgh Pro scorecards, Lunsford and Walker were tied. A sudden-death tiebreaker round determined who would leave with gold. In head judge Steve Weinberger’s opinion, Walker narrowly lost because he got softer in the finals while Lunsford appeared harder.
The outcome has left many in the community talking. Rich Gaspari and six-time Olympia champ Dorian Yates have argued that Walker deserved the win. In contrast, Bob Cicherillo explained that Lunsford won because he displayed fewer weaknesses onstage. To shed some light on the event, Priest gave his take on who looked better.
Lee Priest Says Derek Lunsford ‘A Bit Off’ at Pittsburgh Pro, Thought Nick Walker Should Have Won
In the YouTube video, Priest explained that Walker looked his best. He believes judges should have awarded the bodybuilder who improved the most since their last performance.
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“Nick comes in looking the best he’s looked. Reward the guy that’s actually done the work. This guy, he’s a bit off. Yeah, shot for shot, they are close, but overall, yeah, it could’ve gone either way but I think Nick still was better polished, and a couple little ones that Derek might have had him in was by a little bit. The ones that Nick had Derek in, the margins were a lot bigger,” he shared.
Priest emphasized that Walker should have won the Pittsburgh Pro.
“If you’re looking at them both, I think still, Nick should’ve been the winner.”
Forging ahead, Priest expects fans to get behind Walker in hopes of exacting vengeance against Lunsford at the Mr. Olympia.
“The way it is now, people still think that Nick won so the storyline is still going to be the same once Nick qualifies for the Olympia. They’re still going to be going, Nick is going to get redemption on Derek at the Olympia now.”
Based on arm separation, Priest favored Walker over Lunsford in the front double biceps pose.
“It’s close [the front double biceps], but I go for Nick just because of the arm separation. The only thing I see on Derek is the lats flaring out a bit more, whether that’s because Nick’s got the longer torso and he’s shorter, it just makes them flare out more, but the quads on Derek don’t look as good.”
He was drawn to the freak factor and size of Walker, though acknowledged that Lunsford’s lats looked bigger in the front double.
“I just keep getting drawn to Nick from the freaky mass and the better separation. It’s almost like Derek is trying to do a vacuum and pull the abs in. I prefer when people sit down on their abs, and that’s the thing too, when you pull it up, your lats come out. If you’re like that and squeeze down, your lats go down a bit. That’s why Nick’s lats aren’t flared out as much.”
In addition to Priest, Jay Cutler and Milos Sarcev also unpacked the Pittsburgh Pro results. While they wouldn’t call Lunsford’s win an outright robbery, they emphasized that many fans believe Walker should have won the show.
Walker will head to Teaneck, New Jersey, in pursuit of his Olympia qualification at the 2025 New York Pro this weekend. Our team at Fitness Volt will be providing full coverage of the action.
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