Barbosa Undergoes Surgery on Right Shoulder; Out 6 Months
By: Justin Felisko
November 15, 2018
Dener Barbosa underwent reconstructive right shoulder surgery and will miss six months of competition.
PUEBLO, Colo. – 2016 PBR Brazil champion Dener Barbosa announced on Thursday he will miss six months after undergoing reconstructive right shoulder surgery on Wednesday.
Barbosa has been plagued by a right shoulder injury for the last five years. The Paulo de Faria, Brazil, native first underwent surgery in 2013 before injuring his shoulder again three years later at the PBR Brazil event in Rio Preto, Brazil, event a month before the 2016 PBR Brazil Finals.
According to Barbosa, Dr. Tandy Freeman has been recommending Barbosa undergo surgery since he first arrived in the United States at the end of the 2016 season and qualified for the 2016 World Finals as an international wild card.
Barbosa would go on to finish his rookie season (2017) eighth in the world standings, and he concluded 2018 ranked 15th.
However, Barbosa, who also missed five months earlier this year because of a broken right foot, admitted he has “seen his performance fall heavily” by the limitations he faced trying to move his free arm.
“Yes, I decided to because it was disturbing me a lot to ride,” Barbosa said Thursday.
Despite his limitations, Barbosa still finished with the best riding percentage on the Unleash The Beast in 2018. Barbosa was 32-for-59 (54.24 percent) in 20 events.
Barbosa competed in seven fewer events than Kaique Pacheco and still finished only 10 rides behind Pacheco for most in the PBR.
The 24-year-old had five Top-3 finishes on the premier series in 2018.
Barbosa is a career 50.5 percent (71-for-141) bull rider on the premier series.
He decided to have Freeman operate on his shoulder Wednesday in Dallas following this past weekend’s 2018 PBR World Finals. He went 2-for-5 in Las Vegas.
The third-year pro is expected to be out of competition for six months.
Barbosa believes this decision will ultimately help him accomplish his goal of one day being a PBR World Champion.
“That’s why I operated,” Barbosa said. “I dream of being a World Champion and my shoulder was disturbing me a lot.”
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