T-Mobile Moments: Pacheco Overcomes Torn Knee Ligaments to Win 2018 World Championship

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – The 2021 PBR World Finals will begin in four months at T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 3-7, and the PBR World Finals’ return to Las Vegas looks to be setting up to feature an intense world title race.

From 2016-19, the state-of-the-art venue produced a series of memorable moments in PBR lore. In 2018, Kaique Pacheco put forth one of the gutsiest performances inside T-Mobile Arena to win his first World Championship following two runner-up finishes and a fifth-place result in his first three seasons.

Pacheco’s bid at winning the 2018 World Championship, though, appeared doomed at first when he tore his left MCL/PCL at the 2018 Velocity Tour Finals attempting to ride Fly Over just four days before the start of the World Finals.

But Pacheco put on a memorable performance of toughness and grit at the Finals by riding his first two bulls – 87.25 points on Rugby and 88.75 points on Smooth Wreck – and finishing 2-for-5 to hold off Jose Vitor Leme’s last-second push for his first world title.

Pacheco concluded 2018 422.5 points ahead of Leme in the final world standings. He led the PBR with five event wins and three 15/15 Bucking Battle victories and was also No. 1 in qualified rides after going 42-for-84 (50 percent) in 27 premier series events.

Pacheco used a third consecutive victory at Last Cowboy Standing in May, featuring a season-best 92.75 points on three-time World Champion Bull SweetPro’s Bruiser, to make up for the worst start of his career. The 24-year-old began 2018 a horrid 7-for-27.

The Itatiba, Brazil, bull rider took over the world No. 1 ranking with his Last Cowboy Standing victory and would not let go of the ranking for the final six months of the season.

Pacheco finished 2018 35-for-53 (66.04 percent) following his first-half slump.

 
The championship was a long time coming for Pacheco, who finished inside the Top 5 of the world standings in each of his first three seasons, including two runner-up finishes.

Fast forward to this season, and Pacheco will likely need to ride at a similar clip of 66% in the second half if he hopes to defeat Leme for the World Championship for the second time in three years.

Pacheco is currently 26 points behind Leme in the world standings. The No. 2-ranked bull rider in the world concluded the first half 28-for-48 (58.33%) with a PBR-best four event wins, six round wins and four 90-point rides. Pacheco also won a 15/15 Bucking Battle, and he is averaging a career-high 87.22 points per ride.

The 26-year-old has taken a similar approach this summer break to 2018, opting to return home to Brazil to spend time with his girlfriend, family and friends.

Pacheco understands the challenge that awaits him in the second half, and he will be recharged, healthy and ready to make a strong push at becoming the seventh rider in PBR history to win multiple world titles.

Here is a look back at Pacheco’s Top 5 rides in the first half of 2021

94 points on Chiseled (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

 
91.25 points on Homegrown (Okeechobee, Florida)

91 points on Smooth Wreck (Billings, Montana)

90.25 points on Chiseled (Nampa, Idaho)

89.75 points on The Sauce (Jacksonville, Florida), Mr. Winston (Louisville, Kentucky) and Marquis Metal Works Bill The Butcher (Arcadia, Florida)

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

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