Alvidrez and Pereira Use Career-Best Performances To Improve Chances of Qualifying for World Finals

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – Andrew Alvidrez and Marcelo Procopio Pereira each entered the PBR Monster Energy Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, with their 2021 World Finals aspirations still cloudy, but they both left the Honda Center with a lot more clarity on Saturday night.

Alvidrez and Pereira both went a perfect 3-for-3 to push themselves further away from the World Finals bubble conversation and into the Top 30 of the world rankings.

Alvidrez rode Mr. Clean for a career-best 90.25 points, which is also his first 90-point ride on the premier series, to propel himself to a huge second-place finish.

The 24-year-old entered the event ranked 35th in the world standings, but the 93 points he earned pushed him to No. 28 ahead of next weekend’s PBR ZipRecruiter Invitational in Newark, New Jersey.

The Seminole, Texas, bull rider qualified for his first World Finals last season, but he could not compete at AT&T Stadium because of a C-7 vertebrae fracture sustained last October.

Alvidrez has been motivated throughout 2021 to make sure he finally gets to compete at his first World Finals later this year in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena (Nov. 3-7), but he has struggled at times to return to his top-level form. That changed this weekend in Anaheim as he put together the first 3-for-3 showing of his career.

Alvidrez began the event with 86.25 points on Long Haul in Round 1 on Friday before riding Wild Eyes in Round 2 Saturday for 87.5 points.

The third second-place finish of his career pushes Alvidrez 91.75 points ahead of No. 36 Kyler Oliver in the world standings with six regular-season Unleash The Beast events remaining until the World Finals.

Meanwhile, Pereira was in a better position – No. 30 in the world standings – heading into Anaheim, but his first 3-for-3 performance of his career and career-best, third-place finish should certainly have him well on his way now to his first World Finals.

Pereira capped his weekend with 89.25 points on @PBR on TikTok in the championship round after earning a re-ride option against Black Sunshine. The 26-year-old was flawless all weekend in Anaheim, first riding Crazy Doc for 86.75 points in Round 1 and then Fred for 87.5 points in Round 2.

The Rookie of the Year contender jumped all the way up to No. 24 in the world standings, and he is seventh in the perpetually jumbled rookie standings.

Pereira will head into Newark next Saturday 185.5 points behind No. 1 rookie Chase Dougherty.

Fans can watch Round 1 from the Prudential Center exclusively on RidePass on Pluto TV at 6:45 p.m. ET.

Professional Bull Riders – PBR MONSTER ENERGY INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY COOPER TIRES
Anaheim, CA, 2021 – Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Jose Vitor Leme, 87.75-89.75-90.75-268.25-153.5 Points.
2. Andrew Alvidrez, 86.25-87.5-90.25-264.00-93 Points.
3. Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 86.75-87.5-89.25-263.50-80 Points.
4. Boudreaux Campbell, 83.75-85.5-89.25-258.50-53.5 Points.
5. Cody Jesus, 87.75-88.5-0-176.25-51 Points.
6. João Ricardo Vieira, 86.5-88.5-0-175.00-42 Points.
7. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 87.25-87-0-174.25-33 Points.
8. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 84.75-86.5-0-171.25-22 Points.
9. Fernando Henrique Novais, 81.25-73.75-0-155.00-12 Points.
10. Derek Kolbaba, 88-0-0-88.00-24 Points.
(tie). Conner Halverson, 0-88-0-88.00-17 Points.
(tie). Clayton Sellars, 88-0-0-88.00-24 Points.
13. Austin Richardson, 0-87.75-0-87.75-15 Points.
14. Kaique Pacheco, 0-86.75-0-86.75-10.5 Points.
(tie). Thiago Salgado, 0-86.75-0-86.75-10.5 Points.
16. Eduardo Aparecido, 86.5-0-0-86.50-12.5 Points.
17. Jesse Petri, 86.25-0-0-86.25-10.5 Points.
18. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 85.75-0-0-85.75-9 Points.
19. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-85-0-85.00-8 Points.
(tie). Marco Eguchi, 85-0-0-85.00-8 Points.
(tie). João Henrique Lucas, 0-85-0-85.00-8 Points.
22. Cooper Davis, 0-84.75-0-84.75-8 Points.
23. Dalton Kasel, 0-83.5-0-83.50-8 Points.
Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Chase Dougherty, 0-0-0-0.00
Junior Patrik Souza, 0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00
Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0.00
Cole Melancon, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Louis, 0-0-0-0.00
Leonardo Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Cole Skender, 0-0-0-0.00

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