Lima Looking to Match Mental Confidence with his Strength

ARLINGTON, Texas – Ramon de Lima was physically unfazed as he stood underneath the giant scoreboard at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night.

Historically, winners of the PBR Iron Cowboy are dripping in sweat or are at a loss of breath. Lima’s physical specimen though was on display in Texas. There was no sweat. No look of exhaustion.

The spitting image of Lima was instead a stoic bull rider ready for the next challenge that may be awaiting him during his ultimate pursuit of a 2018 World Championship.

He was an Iron Cowboy.

“I kind of train every day really hard to prepare myself for situations like this,” Lima said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “I really wasn’t tired at all, I could have got on more bulls if I had to. This is the only thing I do. This is what I do for a living.”

Even after Lima was demolished by Medicine Man in 1.67 seconds in Round 3 of the WinStar World Casino & Resort Iron Cowboy, powered by Kawasaki, Lima ripped off the tape that was tightly wrapped around his riding glove and began to re-wrap.

Alex Marcilio – Lima’s former roommate in Decatur, Texas, — bucked off Carrot Top in 2.04 seconds, keeping Lima’s Iron Cowboy aspirations alive.

Lima bounced back 10 minutes later to ride Wild Goose for 86 points in Round 4. He then looked on as Marcilio was bucked off by Gangster’s Wildside in 1.77 seconds to clinch Lima the Iron Cowboy championship, $127,350 and 830 world points.

 
“The first bull that bucked me off was away from my hand and that makes it a little harder, especially that caliber of bull,” Lima said. “The second to last bull was into my hand and that favors me. I got a good start on him and had to finish, sit there, and wait for the whistle.”

It was sweet, but friendly, revenge for Lima after losing the 2017 Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour championship to Marcilio on a tiebreaker.

Lima is the new the world No. 1 bull rider for the first time in his career. He leads No. 2 Dener Barbosa by 220 points heading into the Bad Boy Mowdown Friday night in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

After using his impressive physical strength and stamina to win Iron Cowboy, Lima acknowledged he needs to have the same kind of mental strength he had at Iron Cowboy – where he didn’t let a PBR record crowd of over 46,000 – affect him.

“I handle that really good,” Lima said. “I always ride thinking I am out of the Top 20. I am not even there in the driver’s seat. I need to learn how to deal with that pressure because if I don’t, then that is going to take over and hurt me in a competition.

“I won’t let it hurt me at all.”

Lima was a proven champion in Brazil prior to coming to the United States last season.

He won the 2015 Liga de Nacional de Rodeo Brazilian national title, which is the same championship world No. 3 Claudio Montanha Jr. won in 2016.

The Rio Branco, Brazil, native said he hopes to use his Iron Cowboy winnings this weekend to buy himself a ranch back home.

Lima’s best ride at Iron Cowboy was his 88-point effort on the previously unridden After Midnight in Round 2.

 
Following that ride, PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert said an Iron Cowboy title for Lima would be good evidence that there is potential for Lima to go from pretender to World Champion contender.

“Nobody has taken off with (the title race) right now so there is no reason that if they (Lima and Marcilio) can ride those kind of bulls that they shouldn’t be in the hunt,” Lambert said.

Lima said, “I am real excited to get on a rank bull and nobody has ever rode him. To ride him and show I can be a World Champion. I can ride the rank ones too.”

The 27-year-old won his first career event last month in Sacramento, California, for 715 world points. He has earned all but 100 of his world points in the two victories.

It may feel like he has been a boom or bust rider, but he also ranks second in the PBR in qualified rides (14) and his 60.87-percent riding average is ranked third overall (riders with minimum of 20 outs).

Lima’s Iron Cowboy victory makes him go from pretender to contender.

Two-time Iron Cowboy champion Joao Ricardo Vieira finished second and third in the world standings each year that he won the Iron Cowboy. Vieira believes this victory will certainly change Lima’s personal outlook on his chances at winning a gold buckle.

“It is really good when you win the Iron Cowboy,” Vieira said. “It is the big event of the season. This is my favorite. All of the guys love this event. If you win, you have more power and more confidence. You say I am the Iron Cowboy. I am tough. I am ready for all of the bulls.”

Does Lima feel like he evolved as a bull rider in a span of less than 4 hours inside AT&T Stadium?

“Without a doubt,” he concluded. “This is something amazing and great. With the caliber of riders and the caliber of bulls. The amount of bulls you have to ride to win it, without a doubt this makes you more confident.

“I know I can be in that Top 5 at the end of the year and possibly No. 1.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko