COLUMBUS, Ohio – Chase Outlaw stuck out his right hand and shook H.D. Page’s hand on the back of the bucking chutes inside The Schottenstein Center following his 7.43-second buckoff against SweetPro’s Bruiser.

The No. 2 bull rider in the world standings was smiling from ear to ear, and so was Page.

“That son of a bitch got lucky!” Outlaw exclaimed before letting out a yell.

Page laughed and responded, “When he came back around the right and you had him gathered up, I thought you had him.

“Get some more glue.”

Outlaw then laughed, yelled, laughed again and let out a couple of F-bombs.

The Hamburg, Arkansas, bull rider was just so fired up following his first attempt at riding the three-time World Champion Bull.

He was able to get past Bruiser’s usual backwards surge at the 4-second mark and seemed to have a solid grip as the bull turned away from his hand to the right.

Bruiser, though, then dug deep to rip Outlaw from his bull rope just before 8 seconds.

“Great out by Bruiser,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said on CBS. “Great effort by Outlaw. Everything was lining up perfectly. This was going to be 93-94 points. Whatever you want to mark it. It was going to be a ton.”

Outlaw was searching for answers amidst a series of F-bombs on the back of the chutes and pure joy about having the opportunity to climb aboard Bruiser.

“I don’t know what happened, but oh my, did he feel so good,” Outlaw said. “I ain’t mad. I tried like hell.”

The matchup was one of two marquee showdowns during the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

It was during Outlaw and Page’s conversation that Jose Vitor Leme came through with a 92.5-point ride on Smooth Operator to win the 15/15 Bucking Battle. When Smooth Operator spun left and into Leme’s hand, Outlaw yelled in excitement.

“Oh he goes left! Get it!”

Leme leads Outlaw by 219.16 points heading into Championship Sunday at the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic, presented by Cooper Tires.

“It is hard to explain,” Leme said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “I am just happy. Smooth Operator is one of the top two bulls in the world. It couldn’t be a better time for me to draw him. The way I am riding, the position I am in. It was a great matchup. I thank God for all the blessings he has given to me and the opportunity. Everything worked out so great. That was awesome.”

Fans can catch all the action from Columbus Sunday live on CBS Sports Network (3 p.m. ET) and on RidePass (2:45 p.m. ET).

The four athletes – Outlaw, Leme, Bruiser and Smooth Operator – are all in contention for World Championships this season.

Bruiser once again proved on Saturday night that he may indeed have another run at a record-setting fourth world title in 2019.

The 8-year-old bull was the high-marked bull of the 15/15 Bucking Battle after earning 45.75 points.

“He was real good,” Page said. “Those are two hardheads going right there, and I thought Chase had him dialed up. Bruiser jacked over his hand there just enough to pop his rope out.”

Bruiser is the No. 1 bull in the world standings with a 45.6-point average.

He is 5-0 this season with buckoffs against some stout competition in Outlaw, 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis, three-time World Champion Silvano Alves, 2016 World Finals event winner Ryan Dirteater and Ezekiel Mitchell.

“He is a competitor,” Page said.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko