Chase Outlaw Wins BlueDEF Finals and 2016 BlueDEF Championship

LAS VEGAS – Chase Outlaw (Hamberg, Arkansas), the hottest rider in the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) became both the BlueDEF Tour champion and the BlueDEF Finals event winner on Monday night at South Point Arena in front of a boisterous crowd.

The Arkansas cowboy won Round 3 with 87.5 points aboard Tom Horn (Double Bar J Cattle Co.), he then finished in third place in the championship round when he covered Gas Pedal (Humpz and Hornz/KMH Wes Ibrahimi) for 85 points. Outlaw jumped six places in the PBR world standings after earning 360 total points and crucial confidence going into the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals. Outlaw also won a total of $79,133.33 along with two belt buckles.

Nathan Schaper (Grassy Butte, North Dakota) finished in second place after riding JJ’s Pride (Joy Flowers/Wilson) for 77.5 points in Round 3. He won the championship round with the second highest score of the night, 87 points aboard King Buck (BMC Bucking Bulls). Schaper earned 205 points towards the world standings along with $18,133.33

Finishing in third was Neil Holmes (Houston, Texas) who scored 86.5 points on Blues Man (Davis Rodeo Ranch/Jerome Davis) during Round 3. He earned a total of 188.3 points along with $13,800.

Zane Cook (Fort Gibson, Oklahoma) was the fourth place finisher, picking up 150 points. He also took home $11,733.33 after riding War Party (BMC Bucking Bulls) during the championship round.

Juliano da Silva (Eloi Mendes, Brazil) earned 120 points towards the world standings when he covered Locomotive Exhaust (Lane & Austin Leffew/Lorenzo Pasillas) for 82 points during Round 3.

Five qualifiers from this weekend have advanced to the Built Ford Tough World Finals that start on Wednesday. Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria), Emilio Resende (Santa Helenado Goias, Brazil), Holmes, Cook and da Silva will all compete at the brand new T-Mobile Arena later this week.

American Bucking Bull Inc. also crowned a champion on Monday with their Maturity Champion being named. Slinger Jr. (Rockin I Rodeo Co.) won first with 88 points. Splitting second was Margy Time (D&H Cattle Co.) and Gangster Can Do (01 Cattle Co./Robbie Schroeder) each with scores of 87.33. ABBI paid out a total of $15,000 in the Maturity class.

The PBR’s grand finale will begin at Las Vegas’ brand-new T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. PT and will culminate on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. PT with the crowning of the 2016 world champion.