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Leme, Pacheco and Davis React to PBR World Finals Returning to T-Mobile Arena

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – World leader Jose Vitor Leme knows the emotions that come with finally being able to lift the PBR World Championship trophy over his head.

Leme’s 95.75-point, world title-clinching ride last year on current world No. 1 bull Woopaa at the PBR World Finals in Arlington, Texas, will obviously be something he never forgets.

Still, the 24-year-old wants to experience winning a world title inside T-Mobile Arena and Las Vegas, which has hosted 26 of the first 27 PBR World Finals until the COVID-19 pandemic forced the PBR to shift its season-culminating event to Texas last November.

“Vegas brings something special for me and for everybody,” Leme said. “All the lights. All the fans around here. All of this is special. This makes the World Finals more fun. I want to feel what winning a world title at T-Mobile is like.

“It would be perfect.”

Individual tickets for the 2021 PBR World Finals are now on sale to the public, as PBR heads back to T-Mobile Arena and Las Vegas on Nov. 3-7.

Leme has had plenty of success inside T-Mobile Arena. Most notably, Leme went 6-for-6 in his premier series debut to win the 2017 World Finals just 10 days after arriving in the United States from Brazil.

The 2017 Rookie of the Year will forever cherish his Finals victory, but he believes there will be a different set of emotions in winning a World Championship in Las Vegas.

“They are very different circumstances, but both are very special,” Leme said of his Finals victory in comparison to his Arlington world title. “2017 was when I arrived here and my first event, so I will remember that for all of my life. The world title too. But I think it is different. Both of those are very, very exciting.”

 
Leme regained the world No. 1 ranking this past weekend at the PBR Las Vegas Invitational at the MGM Grand Garden, which was the PBR’s first event in Las Vegas with fans since the 2019 PBR World Finals.

Energy and excitement could be felt throughout the MGM Grand Garden. Tourism is beginning to pick up in Las Vegas, and the PBR fans that made the journey to Vegas for the final event of the Unleash The Beast first half could be seen out and about like the 2019 PBR World Finals: late-night afterparties, trips to the pool and five-star food.

2016 World Champion Cooper Davis, the No. 3-ranked bull rider in the world, said it was great to see people returning to Las Vegas.

“It is nice getting to Vegas and seeing everything getting back to normal,” he said. “That’s the best part of this whole deal. Seeing people walk around and having a good time. That is the biggest part of it. We are getting ready to go to the Finals again, and it has that Vegas feel again.”

Davis also felt a bit of nostalgia walking around Vegas and checking into his hotel room.

The 27-year-old won the first PBR World Championship to be awarded inside T-Mobile Arena four years ago.

“I love Vegas,” Davis said. “Getting here today brings back all the feelings, walking into the MGM.”

Davis is one of three riders to have won a PBR world title inside T-Mobile Arena. The other two riders to clinch the PBR’s gold buckle and its $1 million champion bonus are 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco and two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood.

Pacheco is only 18.5 points behind Leme in the world standings, and he, too, is stoked for the Finals to be returning to Vegas in less than five months.

“It is a special place,” Pacheco said. “I won my world title there, and I like that place. I like to stay in Vegas. I like the atmosphere. I like being here, and all the events here I ride good – PBR Finals and Last Cowboy (Standing).”

Leme, Pacheco and Davis are attempting to make history once again later this year at T-Mobile Arena. If one can finish off 2021 with a World Championship, then that rider will become the seventh man in PBR history to win multiple world titles.

 

LEME LOOKS TO BUILD ON WORLD LEAD IN BISMARCK

Leme is the only rider among the Top 3 in the world standings who is slated to compete at the Dakota Community Bank & Trust PBR Bull Riding Challenge in Bismarck, North Dakota.

The fifth-year pro has drawn WSM’s Foghorn Leghorn (16-8, all levels) for Round 1 at the Bismarck Event Center before taking on The Right Stuff in a $10,000 bounty matchup.

Fans can watch all the action from Bismarck exclusively on RidePass, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday and Saturday night.

Three of the Top-5 riders in the world are competing in Bismarck – No. 1 Leme, No. 4 Dener Barbosa and No. 5 Joao Ricardo Vieira.

Other riders tentatively slated to compete in Bismarck include No. 11 Junior Patrik Souza, No. 14 Keyshawn Whitehorse, No. 16 Chase Dougherty, No. 18 Joao Henrique Lucas, No. 21 Jesse Petri, No. 27 Marcelo Procopio Pereira, No. 28 Mason Taylor, No. 29 Ezekiel Mitchell, No. 32 Claudio Montanha Jr. and No. 36 Dalton Kasel.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photos courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

© 2021 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.

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