Tune in on RidePass at 8 p.m. ET to relive Smooth Operator's 2019 YETI World Champion Bucking Bull win.
By Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – While he was a YETI World Champion Bucking Bull contender for several years, Smooth Operator finally broke through in 2019 when, at 9 years old, he secured his first world title. In the process, he’s become one of the PBR’s most difficult bulls to ride, regularly challenging for YETI Built For the Wild Bull of the Event titles and turning in eye-popping bull scores.
Read on to relive Smooth Operator’s Top 5 bull scores in his career, and tune in to watch him clinch his world title when RidePass airs Championship Sunday from the 2019 World Finals for FREE Friday night beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
1. 47 points against Chase Outlaw (4.11 seconds), 2019 PBR World Finals
Smooth Operator’s best score on the Unleash The Beast came at the most important time imaginable. With the YETI World Champion Bull title on the line and Smooth Wreck, Heartbreak Kid and Fearless hot on his heels, Smooth Operator could not let up during his final out. He delivered in kind, dispatching Chase Outlaw in 4.11 seconds for a huge 47 points, securing his first world title – and taking a victory lap.
2. 46.75 points against Ezekiel Mitchell (2.00 seconds), 2020 Chicago Invitational
Following his World Championship win, Smooth Operator made his 2020 season debut – and began his title defense – in Chicago. In his very first out of the season, he put the field on notice with a 46.75-point bull score for his 2-second buckoff of Ezekiel Mitchell.
T3. 46.5 points against Cooper Davis (7.74 seconds), 2018 PBR World Finals
Smooth Operator has a knack for showing up big when the stakes are high. At the 2018 PBR World Finals, he was in a hotly contested world title race when he faced off against Cooper Davis in the championship round. Davis was en route to an eighth-place finish at the event and a No. 7 world ranking for the season, and very nearly bested Smooth Operator. But the bovine came out on top, bucking Davis off in 7.74 seconds for 46.5 points.
J.W. Harris finished the 2015 season ranked No. 7 in the world, but couldn’t get past Smooth Operator in Seattle. Smooth Operator dispatched Harris in 2.44 seconds in the championship round, and his 46.5 points was the highest-scoring buckoff of the event.
T5. 46.25 points against Dylan Smith (6.99 seconds), 2019 PBR World Finals
Smooth Operator’s two outs at the 2019 PBR World Finals were two of the best of his career. Before clinching the world title against Outlaw, Smooth Operator faced off against Dylan Smith in Round 2. Smith shocked many by hanging on for as long as he did, but Smooth Operator eventually got the best of him in 6.99 seconds, earning 46.25 points in the process.
T5. 46.25 points against Jose Vitor Leme (3.77 seconds), 2019 Jack Daniels Music City Knockout
In 2019, Jose Vitor Leme was one of just two riders – along with Cody Teel – to make the 8 seconds aboard Smooth Operator in his world title campaign, earning 92.5 points in Columbus, Ohio. In Nashville, however, Leme was not so lucky. Smooth Operator tossed him in 3.77 seconds for 46.25 points to get his revenge.
T5. 46.25 points against Cooper Davis (93.75 points), 2018 Atlantic City Invitational
Smooth Operator doesn’t give up scores very often, but when he does, they’re huge: he has a career 90.18-point ride score average across all levels of competition. In Atlantic City in 2018, Cooper Davis made the 8 seconds for a massive 93.75 points, while Smooth Operator earned 46.25 points. Davis won the championship round and placed second in the event, while Smooth Operator was the highest-scored bull.
