825 Ugly had a beautiful and long life by bucking bull standards. Ugly started his career as a superstar bovine athlete for Don and Janelle Kish. Ugly came out of their much-decorated West Coast breeding program and was a son of the prolific sire Too Legit. He was popular with cowboys and fans — there was even a plush Ugly stuffed animal that could be bought at arenas back in those PBR Bud Light Cup days (now the PBR Built Ford Tough Series).
He was the 2002 PBR Bull of the Finals, where he bucked off Justin McBride with a nasty wreck and earned a bull score of 46 points. Ugly was also the last bull Chris Shivers had to ride before facing Little Yellow Jacket in their fabled $1 million match-up. He bucked off 82 percent of his riders; the cowboys that did manage to cover him included Brendon Clark, Greg Potter and Troy Dunn — all of whom earned scores of 91.5 points atop the great bull.
Although a beloved fixture on tour, his name matched his personality. He was just plain ornery. Until the day he passed, he wouldn’t let anyone pet him. And he would just as soon run over you as look at you.
“He lived up to his name, he wasn’t one of those bulls that was also a pet or mellowed out with age. He definitely had his own personality,” owner Jason Diedrich said.
In 2007, as his career was winding down, Diedrich and Scott Accomazzo bought Ugly from the Kishes to add the genetics to their herds. The Kishes already had an Ugly daughter that turned out to be so good that they ultimately regretted selling Ugly, according to Diedrich. Diedrich put him on 5-10 of his best cows each year and shared that he always had a 100 percent success rate. He also collected Ugly, but hasn’t done anything with those straws yet.
“He lived like a king and even had a barn stall in the winter,” Diedrich said. “He proved himself in the arena and deserved it. He accomplished more professionally in his lifetime than most people do.”
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