NEW YORK CITY – It was a celebration seven months in the making for Kaique Pacheco, and Madison Square Garden loved every second of it.
The 2018 World Champion brought the New York City crowd to life in Round 1 of the Monster Energy Buck Off at The Garden, presented by Ariat, when he rode a wild and Western Viper for 88.25 points.
The ride was Pacheco’s first on the Unleash The Beast since he underwent season-ending surgery on his left elbow (free arm) last June after he was injured at a PBR Brazil event.
Viper stumbled out of the chutes and nearly trapped himself back inside before erupting with a series of high leaps and bursts to the thrill of the crowd. Once Pacheco saw he had made the 8-second mark, he ripped off his blue helmet and tossed it across the arena.
The gold-buckle fire that Pacheco had in his eyes from when he began the 2015 season in New York had returned.
If there was any rider that put forth a statement on the first night of the 2020 season, it was Pacheco.
“I am so excited to be back and come back riding,” Pacheco said. “I stayed out of competition for a long time. I am really happy. I knew I could come back, and I will do the same thing I have done in past years. I will keep my focus on riding bull by bull.”
Three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes is in attendance this weekend and is working the Portuguese RidePass broadcast.
Moraes saw the determination that everyone else did in Pacheco.
“Kaique is back,” Moraes said. “It started inside the chute. That bull is a chute fighter. Kaique kept his cool like always. Then he got out there. That bull did not have an original trip, and he stumbled a little bit, which made it a little bit more difficult to make the whistle on that kind of bull.
“He is back 100 percent. That is what it takes. A good ride on a difficult bull. He is back.”
Pacheco is only the second rider in 18 outs at all levels of competition to successfully convert aboard Viper. The 25-year-old knew he was going to be tested by the bull in Round 1.
“When I saw the draw, I saw I had a young bull who could be crazy and hard in the chute,” Pacheco said. “I see he bucked a lot of times. My friends have rode him a couple of times. I knew I had to do my best, like I do on all bulls. I needed to work on this bull because he is crazy in the chute. He bucked different with me today.”
Pacheco is trying to work his way back onto the Unleash The Beast after finishing 79th in the 2019 world standings. He has six World Champion invites left before being subject to the UTB cutline, but he is well on his way to getting a Top 35 ranking once again.
2019 was bad from the start for Pacheco. He missed the first five UTB events of last season recovering from a torn left PCL/MCL and looked like a shell of his former self trying to ride with a brace.
He was 9-for-29 (31.03%) in 11 Unleash The Beast events before he tore those ligaments in his left elbow on June 14 at the PBR Brazil event in Americana.
“That happens,” Pacheco said. “It was hard because I hurt my knee at the (Velocity) Finals and I started late. When I started riding better, I got hurt again. That happens. It is life. It was good to make my knee healthy again and try and take off the knee brace.”
The six-year pro finished Round 1 Friday night tied for third place with two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood (88.25 points on Birthday Cake) for 13 world points.
Pacheco already earned 38 points in the world standings in November by going 6-for-9 in three PBR Australia events.
He will head into his Round 2 matchup against Pearl (0-0, UTB) sitting in sixth place in the world standings with 51 points.
“I am ready,” Pacheco said.
A victory this weekend in New York would not only get Pacheco back on the Unleash The Beast, but also put him immediately in the world title conversation once again.
“New York is one of most important events on the tour,” Pacheco said. “This is a big event. We have four majors with a lot of points.”
Pacheco added that he believes winning a Major is a necessity toward winning a world title.
“I think so,” he said. “These Majors help a lot because you can make a lot of points.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko