Bento Follows his Idol’s Footsteps through the Arenas as a Bullfighter
By: Jorge Cardoso
When he was around 10 years old, Carlos Bento and some friends played riding on small bulls as if they were the big names of bull riding at that time in the farms in Itapira, in São Paulo.
One day, between one joke and another, he saw his brother falling under one of the bulls and, impulsively, acted quickly, helping him not to suffer any kind of injury.
“From that moment on, I enjoyed playing that way,” Bento said. “Every other time I was a bullfighter. I was afraid of the bulls also hurting me, but I was thin and fast, so I managed to get away from them.”
And it was during a rodeo in his city that chance would change his life. In 2008, he asked his father to take him to see how bullfighters acted inside the arena. He was not interested in what happened in the competitions; his total attention was with the men who helped the contestants not to get hurt.
“I loved to see the rides, the horses; but my attention was almost exclusively on bullfighters only,” Bento said.
Standing there on top of the chutes, Carlinhos saw one of the bullfighters having problems with his jersey.
“I realized that it was getting in the way, and he then took it off and came running towards where I was, and suddenly he handed it to me, asking if I could hold it,” Bento said. “I said yes.”
The bullfighter was Lucas Teodoro, popularly known as Gaucinho, who has worked in the Brazilian arenas with PBR Brazil and is currently in the United States.
At the end of the event, Bento went to hand the jersey to Teodoro.
“I followed him to the car and said I wanted to be a bullfighter, and he told me that it was necessary to be focused, to work hard, because it was a serious thing, and he told me many motivating things,” Bento said.
“I asked him for MSN and Orkut, because at the time we didn’t even talk on Facebook or WhatsApp,” he joked.
And the two talked every day, including Bento traveling to rodeos just to see Teodoro.
“I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” Bento said. “I became a real fan.”
They trained together for a few months, and even became travel partners afterwards, as Bento took courses and became a bullfighter like his idol.
“He is my mirror. If I am what I am today, it is because I am inspired by him,” Bento said. “I have always followed in his footsteps, and still follow. I think he is a great professional, and a great friend for me.”
Similar scene
Bento lived a similar scene in 2019 during the Monster Energy PBR event in Brotas. Fan Alan Rogério de Abreu asked for a photo with his idol, and was given a PBR Brazil bullfighter shirt.
PBR Digital Editor Darci Miller contributed to this report.
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