GET SOCIAL 
SHOP NOW AT:
WRANGLER.COM

What 2 Watch 4: No. 1 Yeti World Champion Bull Contenders Smooth Operator and Chiseled to Square off on CBS National Television

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – The battle for the 2020 YETI World Champion Bull title will be front and center during the championship round of the PBR TicketSmarter Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, in Salt Lake City.

The top two bulls in the world – 2019 World Champion Bull Smooth Operator and 2019 ABBI Classic Champion Chiseled – will be bucking in the same event for the seventh time this season, and both enter the Unleash The Beast event tied atop the world standings with an average bull score of 45.75 points.

 
Fans can watch the conclusion of the PBR TicketSmarter Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, Sunday on CBS national television at 1:30 p.m. ET. Round 1 airs exclusively on RidePass on Friday night beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET.

While bulls are never facing off directly, nor are their bull scores tied to the performance of the other, Chiseled has outscored Smooth Operator at five of the six events they have previously bucked at together.

“There could be something else in there, but those two are the frontrunners,” two-time World Champion and CBS Sports analyst Justin McBride said. “Those are the most consistent by far. I would probably give Chiseled the edge just because he has a little bit more ‘wow’ factor to him. He has a little more snapshot that last jump to him all the time. But, that Smooth Operator can bring it, too.

“They are two different types. I look at Chiseled a lot more like a (SweetPro’s) Bruiser where guys should be lining up to get on him. Paying to get on him. You are going to win if you can stay on him. You are going to win if you stay on Smooth Operator too, but it is going to be a way different feel.”

 
Both bulls head into Salt Lake City with plenty of momentum and proof that they may just be the favorite in the back-and-forth championship race.

Chiseled is coming off a 46.25-point bull score for bucking off Mason Taylor just shy of the 8-second mark (7.27 seconds) last weekend in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Smooth Operator returns to competition following a one-week break. Smooth Operator last bucked in Bismarck, North Dakota, where the 10-year-old was scored an impressive 46.75 points for his 5.87-second buckoff against Marco Eguchi.

Smooth Operator has bucked off 17 consecutive riders on the premier series.

Smooth Operator and Chiseled have accounted for five of the 13 bull scores of 46.25 points or higher this season.

No. 4 Hocus Pocus (45.16 points) and three-time World Champion Bull SweetPro’s Bruiser are also set to buck in the championship round.

This weekend is also the first outdoor Unleash The Beast event since last year’s Last Cowboy Standing event at Cheyenne Frontier Days.

WHO’S IN / OUT – 2016 WORLD CHAMP DAVIS REMAINS QUESTIONABLE

This weekend’s event at Days of ’47 Arena is optional for all bull riders, and the PBR has invited 37 riders to compete. The first 30 draw spots were filled based on the 2020 world standings. Riders with World Champion exemptions, riders with guaranteed event exemptions or riders with approved injury exemptions filled remaining spots. The remaining draw spots were then filled based on the current season’s world standings.

Many of the PBR’s top international riders had returned home to Australia, Brazil and Canada once the PBR went on hiatus following the last Unleash The Beast event in Duluth, Georgia, on March 15, and some are still working on getting government approval to return for the second half.

2016 World Champion Cooper Davis is still unsure if he will be able to compete in Salt Lake City, and is tentatively in the draw. Davis has been receiving treatment and going to physical therapy after aggravating a lower back injury last weekend in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

 

Riders inside the Top 35 that are not competing this weekend

No. 3 Jess Lockwood (reconstructive hamstring surgery)
No. 4 Colten Jesse (not cleared to compete)
No. 8 Dener Barbosa (in Brazil)
No. 10 Fabiano Vieira (head injury)
No. 11 Eduardo Aparecido (in Brazil)
No. 12 Ramon de Lima (in Brazil)
No. 19 Claudio Montanha Jr. (in Brazil)
No. 23 Aaron Kleier (in Australia)
No. 26 Dakota Buttar (in Canada)
No. 27 Tye Chandler (hip surgery)
No. 28 Ryan Dirteater (broken collarbone)
No. 29 Lachlan Richardson (in Australia)
No. 35 Brock Radford (in Canada)

Alternates this weekend

No. 36 Rafael Henrique dos Santos (-0.66 points behind No. 35 Brock Radford)
No. 37 Cody Casper (-3.66 points)
No. 38 Paulo Lima (-2.16 points)
No. 39 Dakota Louis (-6.66 points)
No. 41 Marcus Mast (-9 points)
No. 43 Jake Lockwood (-10 points)
No. 44 Keyshawn Whitehorse (-11.16 points)
No. 45 Cody Campbell (-12.66 points)
No. 53 Cannon Cravens (-37.16 points)
No. 54 Keith Hall (-38.16 points)
No. 55 Junio Patrik Souza (-39.16 points)
No. 57 Devon Weaver (-42.16 points)
No. 59 Grayson Cole (-43.16 points)
*Subject to change

Riders competing via exemption

No. 106 J.B. Mauney (-71.66 points)
No. 174 Cody Nance (-83.16 points)

Longtime veterans and fan favorites J.B. Mauney and Cody Nance notched their first qualified rides of the 2020 Unleash The Beast last weekend in Guthrie.

Mauney rode Ridin Solo for 87.25 points as he has started the season 1-for-5. Nance is also 1-for-5 following 85.5 points on Twisted.

Nance has a rematch against War Cry (5-2, UTB/METC) in Round 1 after the bull disposed of him in 2.72 seconds at the Monster Energy Team Challenge and in 6.9 seconds at the 2019 PBR World Finals.

Mauney will take on Livin’ on a Prayer (0-0, UTB).

LEME HIGHLIGHTS ROUND 1 REMATCHES

 
World leader Jose Vitor Leme bounced back from an 0-for-2 showing at PBR Bullnanza by winning the WCRA’s Stampede at the E and $62,500. Leme also earned 44 world points to push himself back to a 247.25-point lead in the world standings.

Leme has two rematches this weekend against War Party (3-4, UTB) in Round 1 and Rudy Can Do (4-0, all levels) in Round 2. The 24-year-old rode War Party for 87.75 points at the Anaheim Invitational two years ago. Rudy Can Do bucked Leme off in 2.71 seconds at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event in Sioux Falls this summer.

2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco will look to continue his late push for the 2020 World Championship and win a second straight event when he takes on Major Threat (6-5 UTB/METC) in Round 1.

Round 1 Rematches:

Amadeu Campos vs. Ain’t Easy Being Me (3.15 seconds in Little Rock, Arkansas)
Cody Nance vs. War Cry (0-2)
Cody Teel vs. Mr. Clean (4.18 seconds last year in Anaheim, California)
Jose Vitor Leme vs. War Party (87.75 points two years ago in Anaheim)

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

© 2020 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.

Related Content