Spotted Demon and Legit Making Season Debuts in Glendale

By: Justin Felisko
January 18, 2019

GLENDALE, Ariz. – A bovine athlete looking to cap a steady career with a world title and another bull hoping to begin his first march to a World Championship are set to make their season debuts this weekend in Arizona.

Spotted Demon and Legit are just two of the standout bulls set to buck during the 15/15 Bucking Battle on Saturday night following Round 1 of the Ak-Chin Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, at Gila River Arena.

Julio Moreno and Dallas Schott have decided to bring back Spotted Demon for another season following the bull’s unexpected third-place finish in the 2018 PBR World Champion Bull race. The 10-year-old bovine also was named the 2018 Bull of the Year in the PRCA.

“We are rodeoing too,” Moreno said. “Just a farewell year. Hopefully he does good and continues super good at rodeos and good at the PBR’s and we might have a chance.”

Spotted Demon, who recovered from two abscesses during the offseason, will match up against Claudio Montanha Jr. in the only rematch of this weekend’s 15/15 Bucking Battle.

Montanha lasted just 2.29 seconds against Spotted Demon last season in Sacramento, California. Spotted Demon was marked 44.75 points for the buckoff, which was his first of 2018.

Spotted Demon went 7-3 last season and averaged a career-high 44.95 points per out.

 
15/15 Bucking Battle Matchups
Cody Teel vs. Canadian Mist (14-2, UTB)
Cody Jesus vs. M.A.G.A. (5-2, UTB)
Lucas Divino vs. Sidewinder (2-0, UTB)
Brennon Eldred vs. Frequent Flyer (23-0, UTB)
Dakota Buttar vs. Wicked Hou (2-1, UTB)
Matt Triplett vs. Heartbreak Kid (24-0, UTB)
Derek Kolbaba vs. Night Sweats (8-3, UTB)
Alisson de Souza vs. Medicine Man (8-3, UTB)
Cooper Davis vs. After Midnight (20-2, UTB)
Stetson Lawrence vs. Texas Comfort Air’s First Blood (2-1, UTB)
Rubens Barbosa vs. Fearless (7-0, UTB)
Claudio Montanha Jr. vs. Spotted Demon (39-6, UTB)*
Jose Vitor Leme vs. Wicked Dreams (0-1, UTB)
Chase Outlaw vs. Legit (3-0, UTB)
Jess Lockwood vs. Sosa’s Alley Cat (16-2, UTB)
*Rematch

Meanwhile, all eyes will certainly be on Legit on Saturday night.

Legit arrives in Glendale as a potential 2019 World Champion Bull contender following a surprising Co-Bull of the Finals victory with Hocus Pocus at the 2018 PBR World Finals.

In Las Vegas, Legit rose to the occasion during Round 2, which is usually known as the rank pen of the Finals, and outscored everyone with a 46-point performance for bucking off Luis Blanco (2.36 seconds).

The 5-year-old bull was even better in the championship round, disposing of 2018 World Finals event winner Marco Eguchi in 4.23 seconds with a belly roll and change of direction for a 46.5-point score.

Judd Leffew sold a portion of his bull to Chad Berger at the Finals, and Berger said in Chicago he was excited to see how Legit performs in 2019.

“God, I think he looks like he has all the tools to be one,” Berger said. “Hell, who knows. He has as good a shot as any bull out there right now. Though there is always the chance something else comes along. We know how that goes.”

Legit has only bucked three times at the premier series level.

Legit has been staying with Leffew at his ranch in California and will officially relocate to Berger’s ranch in either North Dakota or Oklahoma in the coming weeks.

Berger does not think he has to change much with Legit. He has a history of purchasing bulls and then elevating the bull’s game, though.

The Mandan, North Dakota, stock contractor says you eventually develop a sense for how each bull needs to be handled.

“You just try and figure him out,” Berger said. “You have to be around him long enough to know if you need to change anything, but right now I don’t think he needs a lot changed. Just handled and hauled.”

Legit has a history of being a hell raiser at home, and he gets to match up against the always-bulldozing Chase Outlaw.

Outlaw is currently No. 2 in the world standings, but he is already 1,092.5 points behind world leader Jess Lockwood.

Lockwood has been nearly flawless in 2019, winning the first two premier series events of the season and going 8-for-8 on the PBR’s Unleash The Beast. Overall, Lockwood is 10-for-13 at all levels of competition and just recently picked up 55 world points at the Denver PBR Chute Out Velocity Tour event this week at the National Western Stock Show with a 2-for-3 showing.

Lockwood had ridden 10 consecutive bulls at all levels of competition before his 2.12-second buckoff against Smooth Wreck in the championship round in Denver.

The 21-year-old will look to remain perfect on the premier series when he takes on 50 Blown Fuse in Round 1 and Sosa’s Alley Cat in the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

Saturday night will be Sosa’s Alley Cat’s season debut on the Unleash The Beast, but No. 3 Jose Vitor Leme won the Corpus Christi, Texas, Velocity Tour event on Dec. 1 with a rank 91.5-point ride on the bovine.

Leme takes on Wicked Dreams in the 15/15 Bucking Battle and is 1,197.5 behind Lockwood.

Five-time Wrangler National Finals qualifier Joe Frost was supposed to face off against Wicked Hou in the 15/15 Bucking Battle and make his PBR premier series debut in Glendale. However, Frost doctored out of the event after sustaining a groin injury Wednesday night in Denver when he was bucked off by Big Kahuna in the championship round.

Cannon Cravens (right calf) also is out because of an injury and was replaced by Stetson Lawrence. Lawrence takes on Texas Comfort Air’s First Blood.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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