PUEBLO, Colo. – The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) will bring its thrilling, adrenaline-filled, edge-of your seat excitement to Biloxi, Mississippi, for the third consecutive year for the Battle at the Beau, brought to you locally by Sonic on Aug. 7-8 taking place at Mississippi Coast Coliseum. 

Battle at the Beau will be the first event of the second half on the 2015 PBR Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS). The first half ended with the Last Cowboy Standing event in Las Vegas on May 23-24. After the long summer, the riders are well-rested and ready to meet their 2,000-pound foes.

During the two-day event, fans will experience the “toughest sport on dirt†in which the most intense battle between man and beast will play out. A purse of $140,000, including the $30,000 event title, will be up for grabs as well as valuable points needed to qualify for the PBR’s $2.3 million Built Ford Tough World Finals taking place in Las Vegas on Oct. 21-15. 

Leading the way into Biloxi will be four former PBR World Champions: reigning champion Silvano Alves (2014, 2012, 2011), J.B. Mauney (2013), Renato Nunes (2010) and Mike Lee (2004). Current No. 2 in the PBR world standings Matt Triplett, and fan favorites Reese Cates and Ryan Dirteater are also in the lineup.

Previous winners in Biloxi include Valdiron de Oliveira (2014) and Lee (2013), both of whom are scheduled to return to the Playground of the South for the competition.

Alves will be returning to the BFTS in Biloxi after being sidelined in April when he broke his left hip at the PBR event in Nampa, Idaho. It was the first time in Alves’ career that he has ever been injured so severely. Alves is currently eighth in the PBR world standings and trails leader Joao Ricardo Vieira by 1,856.67 points.

Welcoming Alves back to competition in Round 1 will be Flip Out from Rocking I Rodeo Company. Alves and Flip Out have never met. Flip Out was last ridden in Des Moines, Iowa, in April by Robson Aragao for 83.75 points.

Oliveira, the 2014 winner in Biloxi, will take on Whiskey (Ricky West Bucking Bulls) in Round 1. The bovine is making his debut this weekend.

Drunk Chicken (Universal Rodeo/Terry Williams) will take on No. 1-ranked Veira in the opening round of competition. This weekend is the first time Drunk Chicken has bucked on the BFTS.  

Some of the highly-touted bull power that will be on display during the championship round at Mississippi Coast Coliseum include Meat Hook (Bar 3D Bucking Bulls), Cowboy’s Dancehall’s Panda Trax (JD Nix Rodeo Company) along with Percolator, I’m a Gangster Too and Buck Dynasty, all from Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls.

The competition format is simple. Each bull rider faces one bull during Round 1 on Friday and Round 2 on Saturday. Following Saturday’s round, the 15 riders with the highest cumulative scores after the two rounds will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round that same day. The overall event winner will be the rider who has earned the most event points after the three rounds, winning at least $30,000 for first place.

Tickets for this weekend’s two-day event are priced from $20 to $100. They can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or through the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office or via phone at 800-726-2781.

The Built Ford Tough Championship Round of the Battle at the Beau will air on CBS Sports Network, the home of the PBR, on Sunday, Aug. 9, at 6 p.m. ET. Fans can also catch each night of the action on PBR LIVE via CarbonTV.com. PBR LIVE is now available at no charge to all fans and media.

Biloxi is one of 27 cities visited on the 2015 PBR Built Ford Tough Series schedule. The season kicked off Jan. 2-4 at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, and will conclude at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 21-25 where the 2015 PBR World Champion, the bull rider who has earned the most points during the 2015 season, will be crowned, receive the coveted World Championship belt buckle and a $1 million bonus. Tickets and additional information about the World Finals can be found at http://www.pbrworldfinals.com/.