World-Class Bull Riding Returns to Fort Worth
PBR’s Elite Unleash The Beast Returns to Dickies Arena
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August 28-29
In 2020, Dickies Arena in the heart of Fort Worth welcomed the elite PBR (Professional Bull Riders) for the first time in league history. Fast forward a year, and Fort Worth once again readying to host the premier series in professional bull riding with the elite Unleash The Beast slated to buck into Dickies Arena Aug. 28-29 with the PBR Tractor Supply Co. Invitational, presented by Ariat.
Last season in the Lone Star State, former semi-professional soccer player turned bull riding phenom Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) went a near perfect 2-for-3 to clinch his league-leading sixth premier series victory of 2020. On Championship Sunday, Leme rebounded from a close 7.32-second buckoff aboard Dixie Explosion in Round 1, with a Round 2-winning, 89.75-point ride on Milk Man to advance to the championship round atop the event leaderboard. As the last man to leave the chutes for the first-ever PBR event inside Dickies Arena, Leme clinched the victory when he covered Boogie Bomb for 88.25 points, the top score of the championship round. The Fort Worth win was Leme’s second consecutive event victory following a golden-finish the weekend prior in Salt Lake City, Utah. 4
KEY MAGAZINE
August 2021
Earning a critical 120 world points, Leme further his stronghold on the No. 1 ranking, expanding his lead over No. 2 Joao Ricardo Vieira to a then season-best 429.59 points. As the season progressed, Leme punctuated his 2020 campaign by capturing his career-first PBR World Championship at the first-ever PBR World Finals held in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium. Going a torrid 22-for-34 (64%) in 2021, Leme won a league-best seven events and 16 rounds, while recording nine 90-point rides, en route to the gold buckle. Presently No. 1 in the world, Leme is mounting a potentially record-setting season en route to what would be his historic second consecutive PBR World Championship. Having logged 10 round wins and 12 90-point rides to date in 2021, Leme is on pace to break the season-record in both statistical categories. In 2013, two-time PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney registered a league-best 19 round wins, while in 1999 Cody Hart logged a PBR best 16 90-point rides.
Further, should Leme repeat as the league’s World Champion, he would join Silvano Alves as the only riders to win the coveted gold buckle in back-to-back seasons. Alves who won his first two titles in 2011 and 2012. Photos courtesy Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
