PUEBLO, Colo. – Seven bulls will have a chance to become the 2015 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Champion Bull.
The finalists are: Jared Allen’s Air Time (Jared Allen’s Pro Bull Team), Smooth Operator (Dakota Rodeo-Berger/Struve), Sweet Pro’s Long John (D&H Cattle Co.), Roy (Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls), Bruiser (D&H Cattle Co.), Stone Sober (D&H Cattle Co.) and Jeremiah (Square Up-Smets/Dodson). Selected in a vote by the Top 35 bull riders in the world, each bull has competed on the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) this year and has shown what it takes to be classified as a world champion.
The 2015 World Champion Bull will be the bull who accumulates the highest total score during the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals taking place at the Thomas & Mack Center on Oct. 21-25 in Las Vegas. The winner will be announced Oct. 25 after the final round of competition.
As a World Champion bull contender in 2014, Air Time has dispatched all eight of the riders he has faced this season, including dumping both 2013 PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney and 2010 World Champion Renato Nunes, twice. He has an average bull score of 45.12 points and has posted one of the highest bull scores to date this year, 47.50 while earning high-marked bull of the event three times in 2015.
In 2015, riders are 0-for-6 against Roy, who holds an 88.24 percent career buckoff rate. This is the second year Roy has been named a top bull contender who was up for the title last year. Roy has been ridden just twice in his career, facing 15 riders total on the BFTS. He was the high-marked bull in two events this season, earning a career-high 46.25 points in Las Vegas in May, and 46 points in Tucson. The big white bovine is the half-brother to two-time PBR World Champion bull, Bushwacker.
Smooth Operator, Sweet Pro’s Long John, Bruiser, Stone Sober and Jeremiah are all earning their first World Champion Bull contender nominations.
Making 15 appearances this season, Smooth Operator has been ridden just once for a 95.45 percent buckoff rate on the BFTS in 2015. Guilherme Marchi, the 2008 World Champion, is the only rider to cover the spotted bovine as he notched 83.5 points on him in Billings, Montana, earlier this season. Smooth Operator has a 22-1 record over his three years on the BFTS.
Sweet Pro’s Long John has made 26 outs in his career on the BFTS with an 82.61 percent career buckoff rate. In 2015, he went 12-3 for an average bull score of 45.29 points. Long John earned the high-marked bull of the event four times this season, Oklahoma City (46), Billings (46.75), Colorado Springs (46.75) and Tulsa (45.50).
Bruiser has the opportunity to be the first bull ever named a PBR World Champion bull as well as an ABBI Classic Champion. He has an average bull score of 44.76 points and a buckoff rate of 84.38 percent, tossing two of the eight riders he has faced this year. Bruiser was the high-marked bull of the Springfield, Missouri, event with a score of 46.25 points.
Stone Sober has not been ridden this year, going 8-0. In 30 outs during his BFTS career, the bovine has been ridden just once, by Emilio Resende for 88 points in 2013. He currently has a 96.77 buckoff percentage and a 44.00 average bull score. He has been named the high-marked bull twice in 2015 — in Kansas City (46.25) and Thackerville (45.25).
Jeremiah is unridden in 10 outs in 2015. Shane Proctor lasted the longest, going 6.14 seconds in Biloxi. Jeremiah is 13-0 for his career. He has an average bull score of 43.92 and has bounced such top riders as J.W. Harris, Kaique Pacheco and Silvano Alves this season.
Tickets to see these bulls in action at the 2015 PBR World Finals are on sale now and can be purchased at UNLVtickets.com
The event begins at 6 p.m. PT each evening, Wednesday, Oct. 21-Saturday, Oct. 24, and at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday, Oct. 25. The Ford Blue Carpet arrival of the contestants starts at 4 p.m. Wednesday – Saturday and at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
CBS Sports Network will broadcast every round of the 2015 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals live at 9 p.m. ET on Oct. 21-24. The World Finals pre-show will air live from the Thomas & Mack Plaza at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Round 5 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round will be live at 4 p.m. ET on Oct. 25, with its pre-show beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.
For more information on the World Finals, please visit www.pbrworldfinals.com.
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