SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – Jason Malone had every intention of making a return to the PBR and its Built Ford Tough Series when he decided to undergo nerve decompression surgery on his left elbow in March 2015.

It was a frustrating decision for Malone, who was arguably coming off the best season of his professional career. He had won the inaugural 2014 Velocity Tour championship and competed in career-high 11 BFTS events.

Still, the surgery on his riding arm was only going to hold him back two months.

No big deal, so Malone thought.

What ensued, though, was even far from his own imagination.

The surgery wound up being a failure, and Malone ended up missing two years of competition because of another elbow surgery, as well as a neck injury.

“The doctor cleaned the elbow out and did what they call a nerve decompression,” Malone said of his original surgery. “Anyway, there was still some garbage – some loose bones and stuff left in the elbow -- and it was still giving me some trouble.”

Malone didn’t rush back in 2015. He could tell something wasn’t right in his elbow, but he figured maybe he just needed some more time off.

That was far from the truth, he later learned. 

“I got on a few bulls after taking more than the required time off because I knew it wasn’t right,” Malone said. “It felt just as wrecked as it did before the surgery.”

When he returned, Malone tried competing at some open bull ridings.

“I got on a few bulls at some open bull ridings with my hand turned around backwards,” Malone said. “As long as the bull had some rhythm and everything, it felt good. But something real rank or anything that threw any dirt at me, it felt like they were going to jerk me down over the front every jump.”

Malone went to Touring Pro Division events in Goodland and Sterling, Colorado, with no success.

“It was really hard,” Malone said. “After the first surgery, I did go to some Touring Pros in the middle of the summer in 2015. I went to two and said, ‘No way.’

Malone eventually underwent elbow surgery again in January 2016. The procedure involved cleaning out his elbow again, while also completely re-routing a nerve in his elbow.

“He rerouted the nerve completely, so he put the nerve on the side and it is feeling really good,” Malone said.

Malone finally made his return to bull riding last April before a neck injury at an open bull riding ended his 2016 season as fast as it began.

“My third bull back, I landed and jacked up my neck pretty good,” Malone said, shaking his head. “I didn’t break anything. I just stretched a lot of ligaments and tendons to the excess in the back. I just tweaked it just right.

“It has been aggravating to say the least.”

The 32-year-old is now ready to make one last push at the PBR before time becomes too late.

Malone is competing at this Saturday night’s Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Southaven, Mississippi.

Other top riders scheduled to tentatively compete in Southaven include 2004 World Champion Mike Lee, three-time World Champion Silvano Alves, 2016 Velocity Tour Champion Chase Outlaw, 2015 Velocity Tour Champion Gage Gay, 2015 Rookie of the Year Kaique Pacheco, 2014 Rookie of the Year J.W. Harris, Matt Triplett and Fabiano Vieira.  It will be just his fourth PBR event in the last two years.

“I was really wanting to get back, but, at the same time, I kind of threw my hands up,” Malone admitted. “If it is meant to be, it is meant to be. If I am supposed to go get a job, I will get a job, but here I am.”

Malone was bucked off by Pistol Pete in 4.67 seconds in Biloxi, Mississippi, last weekend, but previously finished third at the Goliad, Texas, TPD event on Nov. 12 and second at the TPD event in San Antonio on Dec. 3.

He has drawn King Buck for Round 1 in Southaven.

Malone said this is the best he has felt in a long time, but he also is aware that he isn’t no spring chicken anymore. He turns 33 years old in February.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going tJo be able to keep doing it,” Malone said. “My elbow for one. It seemed like my body. I am not 18 anymore, but I am feeling good for whatever reason. I think as long as I ride, there is going to be things that feel good enough, but not as good as before, but definitely good enough to get the job done.

The San Antonio, Texas, bull rider does not want to look too far into the future or to think about what could have been.

Instead, he is just putting his career in his faith’s hands and seeing where it all goes.

“I am not trying to force my will,” Malone said. “God is in control. If I am supposed to be doing something else, I am going to find joy in that too.

“That being said, the last two years I have been getting ready for this. I am ready.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko