Path to Victory: Lima Never Dwelled on Past Failures
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Prior to this past weekend, the last time Ramon de Lima won an Unleash The Beast event, he was attempting to assert himself as a World Champion contender when he won the 2018 Iron Cowboy title.
Lima, though, would not go on to become a World Champion two years ago, nor would he step back atop the shark cage as an event winner again until he went 3-for-3 at the Bad Boy Mowdown in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The 29-year-old went 41 premier series events between the two victories. He was also cut from the Unleash The Beast tour last year in Little Rock in the exact same arena in which he was victorious Saturday night.
To be blunt, Lima went from a star on the rise to the bottom of the barrel a year ago.
It took Lima seven months, three of which were because of a broken left collarbone sustained on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour, to make his way back to the Unleash The Beast.
Now he heads into this coming weekend’s Gwinnett Invitational in Duluth, Georgia, sitting No. 8 in the world standings.
Round 1 airs exclusively on RidePass beginning at 6:45 p.m. ET.
“All of the athletes need to understand there are ups and downs, but the main key for me is to try to erase all the bad memories of what happened in the past,” Lima said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “I just erase it and look forward about what is going to come. The new stuff, what I know I can do. I know I am capable of doing what I just did. I try to erase all the bad memories and focus on the future, and God has been great for me. I have been working very hard, and I will continue to do so.”
Lima – a career 45.17% premier series rider – had to battle like crazy at the end of last season to finish 31st in the final world standings and qualify for the World Finals a third consecutive season. 2019 was a vast drop-off from his eighth-place finish in the 2018 standings.
The third-year pro took another step toward erasing the bad taste of 2019 by going a flawless 3-for-3 inside Simmons Bank Arena this weekend.
The Rio Branco, Brazil native began his weekend with 85.25 points on Choctaw Bingo before riding Rocket Man for 87.5 points in Round 2.
By the time he climbed aboard Big Black in the championship round, Lima – the event leader – had already clinched his second career victory. Regardless, he made sure to finish his weekend with a bang, riding Big Black for 90.5 points and his first career 90.
While being 90 points is always a great accomplishment, that is to be expected aboard a bull like Big Black, who has now been ridden for 90 or more points on 12 occasions.
Rocket Man, though, had only been ridden three times in 53 attempts at all levels of competition before Lima made it to the 8-second mark.
“Rocket Man is a challenge,” Lima said. “He bucked Joao (Ricardo Vieira) off the other day. He has been bucking a lot of guys off, and I knew he was really hard to ride, and I was focused and ready to ride him.”
Rocket Man had bucked off 22 consecutive riders on the premier series before Lima conquered him.
“This is a bull that me and Justin McBride talked about during the Global Cup; if there was any one bull that we didn’t really want a part of our team, it was this little bull,” CBS Sports Network and Team USA Eagles assistant coach J.W. Hart said on this weekend’s broadcast. “He is so wiry and difficult to have a prediction of what he is going to do, which direction he is going to go, what day he is going to have, and Ramon de Lima made him look like a day off. No. 1 in the standings here, watch him to move up as the year goes on.”
Rocket Man bucked Vieira off in Sacramento, California, this past January in 5.51 seconds.
Vieira and Lima have developed a close friendship in recent years, and the No. 3-ranked bull rider said he was happy to hear his close friend had won the event while he was at The American.
“Ramon is a strong person who is always working hard to get a good ride,” Vieira said. “We always talk and work hard to be successful. I was very happy that he won the Little Rock event. He has good projects for his life, and with this (title) he can start his projects.”
Lima has talked about wanting to purchase more cattle, and building a house in the future.
Vieira and Lima began their friendship in 2017 when Lima made the move to the United States in February to compete at The American Semi-Finals. Once Lima started competing at PBR events, he and Vieira would share hotel rooms and continued to get to know each other.
“We always talk a lot about riding good and taking advantage of the money you can earn here,” Vieira said. “Take advantage of the money you earn to have a better life as this doesn’t last forever, riding bulls. It can end very quickly so you have to take advantage of it every moment.”
Lima added, “It is really amazing. He always tells me to not let my head down. Always kind of work for it, the title will come in time, and the victory will come. There it is.”
Lima calls Vieira not only a friend, but also a mentor.
Nevertheless, if Lima continues on his recent surge, he will join Vieira as a contender for the 2020 World Championship.
Lima is currently 374.84 points behind world leader Jose Vitor Leme, whose status for Duluth is still in question because of three broken ribs.
“It is really amazing to have Joao as a friend, and kind of like a mentor, because he is so dedicated in everything he does,” Lima said. “If I ride good, he will be happy, and I will be happy if he rides good. If we are both in the race for a world title, it will be a healthy competition.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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