How Nashville Won Davis the 2016 World Title

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Cooper Davis’ memorable 91-point ride on Catfish John at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals will forever be viewed as the ride that pushed Davis over the hump and propelled him to the 2016 World Championship last year.

One cannot argue with Davis’ determination last year as he overcame a 795.33-point deficit at the beginning of the second half to win the world title.

However, the fact of the matter is that if Fabiano Vieira did not opt out of the final round of the 2016 Music City Knockout in Nashville because of a dislocated shoulder, Davis would not have won the 2016 world title if the season played out exactly the same way as it did with Davis winning the event.

Davis earned 905 points toward the world standings last year when he outlasted Kaique Pacheco in the final round of the Music City Knockout.

Vieira had originally eliminated Davis in the semifinals when he lasted longer on Hammer It Again (4.06 seconds) than Davis did on Who Dey (3.19 seconds).

Davis, though, was then given new life in the tournament when Vieira could not compete against Pacheco in the final round because he had dislocated his riding arm attempting to ride Hammer It Again.

Therefore, that opened the door for Davis (4.21 seconds on Pearl Harbor) to defeat Pacheco (2.54 seconds on Jared Allen’s Air Time).

What would have happened if Vieira never got hurt?

Well, Davis would have earned only 280 points toward the world standings. That result would have had him finishing 136.58 points behind Pacheco in the final world standings.

“It had something to do with it for sure,” Davis admitted last weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “There was luck involved with it, but I am not going to turn down luck anytime I can get it. I read on Facebook every day I got lucky last year. Heck, I got lucky. I just got lucky, but there was a lot of hard work that went into that luck.”

What if Pacheco won the event and Davis only finished runner-up? Davis still would have won the world title by a mere 83.42 points.

The PBR Major victory propelled Davis, who had never won a regular-season event at the time, to a career-high No. 3 in the world standings and it was the beginning of his march toward the world title.

It is a prime example, and reminder, of just how important this weekend is for the 2017 world title race.

The Built Ford Tough Music City Knockout begins on Friday night at Bridgestone Arena at 9 p.m. ET and one rider can earn potentially 1,205 points toward the world standings.

A PBR Major victory can transform a pretender into a World Champion contender.

The current Top 3 in the world standings – Eduardo Aparecido (Iron Cowboy), Pacheco (Last Cowboy Standing) and Jess Lockwood (New York) – have won the other three PBR Major events in 2017.

Davis, the No. 7 rider in the world standings, understands he can jump right back onto the doorstep of the No. 1 world ranking with a second consecutive Music City Knockout victory.

“It is very important because it is double the points basically,” Davis said. “You can’t put all the pressure on Nashville, but, at the same time, you can’t go there and stub your toe in a position like mine right now.”

The defending World Champion begins the event 1,211.67 points behind Aparecido and is coming off a strong 4-for-4 showing in Tulsa.

Davis capped his third-place finish in Tulsa with an 88-point ride on Nailed in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round.

 
Tulsa was Davis’ first four-ride weekend since going 4-for-6 at the World Finals last year. The performance raised his riding average up to 45.1 percent and his 23 rides this season is tied for the third-most on tour.

“This guy is riding so good – as good as anybody on tour right now,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said on the CBS Sports Network broadcast.

Davis agreed with the assessment that he is starting to ride like he did during his late-season push last year.

“I haven’t felt this good in a year,” Davis said. “My mind is right and the physical ability is there.”

Davis is competing in Bracket C this weekend and has drawn EVH’s Itchy(0-0, BFTS) for Round 2 on Friday night. Davis has a first-round bye and will face the winner of the Silvano Alves vs. Emilio Resende matchup.

It is no secret Davis benefitted largely from his victory last year in Nashville.

Therefore, with him being farther behind in the world title race than he was a year ago, does he believe this weekend is a must win?

“No. It is go have fun,” Davis said. “If I win cool. If not, there are quite a few more events to go make up ground.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko