Professional Bull Riders gathered in Simmons Bank Arena to ride in hopes of securing a spot at the PBR World Championship on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Jose Vitor Leme held on tight to pull off two 90-point rides, winning the elite Unleash the Beast’s PBR Bad Boy Mowers Mowdown. 

Leme has two world championship titles on his belt buckle already, and this win puts him closer to his goal of a third. 

Should he win, the Brazilian would become the first rider in history to win the world championship three consecutive seasons and the third three-time PBR world champion.  

“I just want to keep riding now, keep working hard for it like I do every time. Ride my bulls and do my job,” Leme said. 

Friday evening Leme tied with Dalton Kasel for second after a re-ride draw on Choc Tease, with a time over eight seconds, giving him 89.75 points. 

On Championship Saturday, Leme had a monstrous ride on Hang em’ High, garnering a whopping 90.25 points. 

Many fans thought that the championship would belong to Kyler Oliver, who received 90.0 points in his first round of the evening and won the first round on Friday night. Oliver currently holds the No.3 position for worlds. 

Leme had the pick of the pen for his rounds on Saturday, choosing Diddy Wa Diddy, previously having a perfect ride in May of 2021 for 93.25 points. 

And what a pick it was as Leme matched the bull buck-for-buck in his final round of the championship, gaining 92.0 points and the elite win. 

Leme came to Arkansas as No.9 but received $46,914 and 145.5 world points for his efforts in climbing his way to the top five. 

Currently, he is 160.6 points behind Daylon Swearingen, the No.1 spot holder. 

Swearingen and the No. 2 spot holder Jose Ricardo Vieria were unable to advance in the competition and gained no world points. 

Oliver finished eighth after a groin injury in his second round left him unable to ride in the championship round. He went 1-for-2 and gained 34 world points. 

The only other rider to go 3-for-3 was another Brazilian, Manoelito De Souza Junior, who received $21,145 and 106.5 world points in a career-best second place.

In round one, Souza covered Homegrown for 89.5 points and gained another 87 points in round two with Skull Crusher. 

Souza had the second pick of the pen and chose YETI PBR world champion bull Whoopa, which he delivered the ride of his career on and gained 92.75 points. 

The ride pushed him from No.20 to No.13 and now the 26-year-old is only 39 points away from No.10. 

Homestate rider Chase Outlaw and Brazilian Mauricio Moreira tied for third place. 

Moreira came back from a buck-off with two impressive rides atop Jersey Tough with 89.25 points, and I’m Legit Too with 90.5 points. He currently holds the No.5 spot in the world championship and is 189.66 points away from Swearingen. 

It was Outlaw’s first event back after sustaining a groin injury in January, but he seemed to make a full recovery based on his rides. 

He finished the first round with 88.75 points on Night Moves but had a buck-off in the second round after 3.46 seconds on Vanilla Ice. Determined to finish strong, Outlaw rode Big Black for 91 points and climbed from No.47 to No.27. 

Lane Nobles rode out in fifth place and jumped 19 positions to No. 33 after having back-to-back rides in the opening round. 

PBR Unleash the Beast will be traveling to Glendale, Arizona for the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational, hosted by Cooper Tires on Saturday, March 12 at 6:45 p.m. and again on Sunday at 1:45 p.m.