15/15 Bucking Battle Preview: Confident Mitchell Gets Rematch with Chiseled

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – Ezekiel Mitchell spent a week this summer training with Jess Lockwood at the two-time World Champion’s Montana ranch, and the two talked about a variety of things during their workout sessions in Lockwood’s workout shed as beads of sweat were bouncing off the floor.

Mitchell explained to Colby Yates on RidePass this past weekend that Lockwood, who has been working as a guest analyst for the PBR’s OTT network, told him he needs to “start making those championship round bulls count” to take the next step in his career.

So far, during the second half of the Unleash The Beast season, Mitchell is doing just that.

Mitchell had posted back-to-back 90-point rides in championship rounds before 2019 YETI World Champion Bull Smooth Operator bucked him off in 3.7 seconds on Saturday night at the PBR TicketSmarter Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires.

Regardless, Mitchell has been one of the hottest riders going this second half with three consecutive Top-10 finishes, including a sixth-place showing this past weekend in Salt Lake City.

 
“No matter what the score (is), I am trying to get it done,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know. It has been cool. I am just worried about the next one. I don’t really care about the ones that have already happened; I care about the next one.”

Never before had Mitchell even surpassed the 90-point threshold until this month.

Mitchell has begun the second half 6-for-9, including a 90-point ride on Good Night Robicheaux and 90.25 points on Zorro. Those two rides certainly caught the attention of two-time World Champion and CBS Sports Network analyst Justin McBride.

“The one that showed up and finally decided to show up and be a real bull rider was Zeke,” McBride said last week following the Unleash The Beast event in Guthrie, Oklahoma. “That was awesome. He can do that every weekend if he decides to. He’s got a lot more cowboy in him than most guys. He has great fundamentals. He uses normal equipment. He does not look for a crutch, a Band-Aid, or a magic freaking potion.”

McBride added that Mitchell even has the potential to be in the conversation with the World Champion he spent a week training with in Montana this summer.

“All Zeke has to do is be committed when he climbs into the chute and focus just on bull riding, and not everything else,” McBride said. “When he can do that, he is just as good as Jess or Jose (Vitor Leme) or anybody else. He just hasn’t been able to focus like those guys.”

Mitchell was in a significant championship-round slump before breaking through with his 90-point ride on Good Night Robicheaux in Bismarck, North Dakota, on Aug. 8. In fact, Mitchell had bucked off 12 consecutive bulls in the final rounds of premier series events dating back to last season.

The 23-year-old is now 2-for-10 in the championship round this season, but Mitchell has been fearless when stepping onto the shark cage for champ-round drafts, expressing an old-school mentality when it comes to picking his opponent.

Half of the bulls Mitchell has selected in championship round drafts this season are World Champion or World Champion-caliber bulls – 2019 YETI World Champion Smooth Operator (twice), three-time World Champion SweetPro’s Bruiser, current No. 1 YETI World Champion Bull contender Chiseled and the late Air Support.

Mitchell selected Smooth Operator, who has now bucked off 18 consecutive riders, with the fourth pick of the championship round draft on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

 
“I don’t know what I like about him, but I know for sure I want to ride the best of them,” Mitchell told CBS Sports’ Kate Harrison. “It is a rematch. Rematches have been going really good for me here lately. They took my other two previous matches I wanted (Bruiser and Chiseled). He was the only one left on the table that I knew I could have to be a bunch of points.”

Mitchell may not have been able to conquer Smooth Operator last weekend, but he will get another rank test this Saturday night at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth against one of the bulls he wanted originally in Salt Lake City – Chiseled.

The No. 11-ranked bull rider has drawn the No. 1 bull in the world for the 15/15 Bucking Battle, and Mitchell will be attempting to hit a home run for the first 15/15 ride of his career on CBS national television. Mitchell is 0-for-9 so far in his career when he it comes to 15/15 Bucking Battles.

World No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme rode Chiseled for 94 points last weekend in Salt Lake City.

Mitchell and Chiseled are no strangers either.

Chiseled bucked Mitchell off in 4.63 seconds during his season debut in Sacramento, California, this past January. Chiseled was marked 46.5 points. It is one of six rematches for the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

However, Mitchell is trending upward, and he will arrive in Fort Worth with plenty of confidence for his matchup.

Fans can watch the 15/15 Bucking Battle Sunday on CBS national television at 3 p.m. ET.

“It is everything,” Mitchell said of riding with his current level of confidence. “You can go from being on the bottom of the world to the top just like that. It carries your momentum. Continuously doing good, you continue to feed off it. Letting that negativity get in your mind can be the difference from being 95th in the world to being No. 1.”

15/15 Bucking Battle Matchups
No. 20 Derek Kolbaba vs. Big Black (21-12, UTB)*
No. 19 Claudio Montanha Jr. vs. Honey Man (13-2, UTB/METC)
No. 18 Marco Eguchi vs. Preachers Kid (14-0, UTB)
No. 17 Mauricio Moreira vs. SweetPro’s Bruiser (58-16, UTB/METC)
No. 16 Mason Taylor vs. Total Feeds Bushwacked (26-7, UTB/METC)*
No. 15 Cody Teel vs. Smooth Over (24-11, UTB/METC)
No. 13 Matt Triplett vs. Hocus Pocus (15-2, UTB/METC)$
No. 11 Ezekiel Mitchell vs. Chiseled (12-7, UTB/METC)*
No. 9 Cole Melancon vs. I’m Legit Too (13-6, UTB/METC)
No. 7 Kaique Pacheco vs. Apper’s Mind Freak (26-5, UTB/METC)
No. 6 Lucas Divino vs. Hostage (16-3, UTB)
No. 5 Colten Jesse vs. Young Man’s Blue (6-0, UTB/METC)*
No. 4 Daylon Swearingen vs. Blue Crush (18-5, UTB)*
No. 2 Joao Ricardo Vieira vs. Marquis Metal Works Coriolis Effect (1-0, UTB)
No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme vs. Axle (1-0, UTB)
*Bull previously bucked off the rider
$Rider previously has ridden the bull for a qualified ride

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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