LAS VEGAS – Lucas Teodoro was 13 years old when he first stepped inside a bull riding arena near his hometown of Serra Negra, Brazil.

The adolescent was too scared to be a bull rider, but he quickly became enthralled with the idea of becoming a bullfighter after learning of the sport through a family friend named Mateos.

Teodoro was still not really sure what he was doing, though, as he stood inside the arena for a local jackpot bull riding.

He had watched some videos of famous PBR bullfighters Frank Newsom and Joe Baumgartner, but even so, he was still raw to the say the least.

“We had a place that had a jackpot every Sunday where I used to live, and I started to go there and get in front of bulls,” Teodoro said. “I didn’t get close to bulls, I would just run. I was protecting bull riders at those jackpots.”

It was not too long before the kid was being hooked, yanked and tossed across the arena.

“I didn’t get too many injuries, but I got hooked by a bull when I started to get around bulls because I didn’t have a clue what to do,” Teodoro said. “I just wanted to go there. So I sure got hooked a bunch of times. Just bumps and bruises.”

Teodoro quickly learned he had to perfect his skills to protect himself, and especially the bull riders that were putting their lives and safety in the hands of a kid.

The aspiring bullfighter continued to practice, practice and study.

Within three years, he was hired to fight bulls at professional rodeos throughout Brazil.

By the time he was 17 years old, Teodoro knew what his ultimate dream was.

Teodoro had seen the likes of three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes, 2002 World Champion Ednei Caminhas and Guilherme Marchi make the journey to the United States.

He thought to himself, ‘Could I do the same thing and fulfill my own American dream as a bullfighter?’

“I did my first rodeo as a professional, and since then I’ve had goals in my life,” Teodoro said. “I wanted to be at the best rodeos in Brazil, and at the PBR Brazil, and I did it for a couple years. And then I decided that I wanted to step up. That’s when I wanted to come here to the U.S. and fight bulls in the PBR.”

Teodoro will make history on Wednesday night at the 2018 PBR World Finals when he becomes the first Brazilian-born bullfighter to cowboy protect at the PBR’s season-culminating event.

The 31-year-old is a replacement for the injured Shorty Gorham and will be joining Newsom, Jesse Byrne and Cody Webster on the dirt at T-Mobile Arena.

The top bull riders in the world vote on which bullfighters work the PBR World Finals.

Fans can watch the PBR World Finals on CBS Sports Network beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET. RidePass will also be offering a companion broadcast at 9:30 p.m. ET.

“I’ve been working hard for this,” Teodoro said. “I’ve been fighting bulls for a couple of years in Brazil, and then I started to make my way here. It’s been a long road. I had to learn how to speak English in Brazil to come here, because I knew that I would need it.”

In fact, Teodoro enrolled in private English classes at 17 years old.

He spent seven years perfecting the language because he knew he could not fight bulls in the U.S. without being able to talk with his fellow bullfighters, event promoters and cowboys.

“It’s different than the bull riders,” Teodoro explained. “The bull riders just came here and they ride and they can make money with no English, but I need to be hired by people, so that way I figured I needed to learn and be able to communicate.”

Teodoro may be a rookie bullfighter at the 2018 PBR World Finals, but he had been cowboy protecting at some of the most prestigious events in Brazil before moving full time to the United States in 2015.

He has been selected to fight bulls at the historic Barretos rodeo five times, as well as the prestigious Rio Verde and various PBR Brazil events, including Americana.

Teodoro competed at Barretos for the first time in 2012, the same year in which he came to the United States for a few months and made his PBR debut at a Touring Pro Division at the Fort Worth, Texas, Cowtown Coliseum.

“It was pretty cool because it was my first event and I didn’t know anybody,” Teodoro said. “All the bull riders been helping me since then, like introducing me to people and helping me just try to get a job.”

In many instances, Teodoro could hop in the truck with Brazilian bull riders and drive to bull ridings in search of work.

He would spend some months in the United States before heading back to Brazil.

“For the first two years, I was back and forth in Brazil because I still had some jobs there and I wasn’t very busy here,” Teodoro said. “And then in 2015 I decided to move here (full time) and then I started to go to some Velocity events.”

Three-time World Champion Silvano Alves then introduced Teodoro to Newsom during J.W. Hart’s annual bull riding in Decatur, Texas.

“I’ve kind of watched him and had my eye on him,” Newsom said. “He kind of matured, got a little better and got a little better. Then he come and helped me with my (bullfighting) school. I started using him at some of the Velocities. He’s just steadily improving.”

Newsom quickly became impressed by Teodoro’s commitment to the craft and his willingness to improve – let alone the fact that Teodoro has been preparing for this opportunity since he was a teenager.

“He is a good young man,” Newsom said. “Works hard. Good bullfighter. Just really putting the work in to improve. I was proud for him to get here.

“He’s got a good mind on him. When you talk to him, he’s listening and understanding stuff. It seems like he’s picking up just the style of the way we fight bulls, the teamwork and the mentality of the teamwork. He’s pretty tough. He’ll take a hit and get right up, get back to work.”

Teodoro’s wife, Ingrid, and the couple’s two-month old son, Gabriel, are here in Las Vegas.

Wednesday night will be the fulfillment of two lifelong dreams for the bullfighter.

One, obviously, is fighting bulls on the PBR’s grandest stage.

The other, though, is being able to work side-by-side with Newsom, Byrne and Webster.

“To be in the arena with Frank means a lot,” Teodoro concluded. “It’s a second dream coming true because being at the Finals, and also being with Frank, Cody, Jesse and all them guys.

“I am so proud.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko