LAS VEGAS - As Las Vegas prepares for the 2021 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals: Unleash The Beast Nov. 3-7 at T-Mobile Arena, the league has announced the 40 riders who have qualified to compete at the sport’s most illustrious event. Although 40 cowboys will take to the dirt, only one will become the 2021 PBR World Champion, earning the coveted gold buckle and $1 million bonus.

Current world leader and reigning PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme, who has been out of competition since early September due to a core muscle strain affecting his abdominal, oblique and thigh/groin muscles, will return to competition at the revered championship to attempt to complete what has been one of the sport’s most dominant seasons ever with his second straight PBR World title.

Should Leme repeat as the league’s World Champion, he would join three-time PBR World Champion Silvano Alves as the only riders to win the coveted gold buckle in back-to-back seasons. Alves won his first two titles in 2011 and 2012.

Leme won a league-leading seven Unleash The Beast events during the regular season, in addition to topping the leaderboard in round wins (19), championship round wins (5), 90-point rides (21), and riding percentage (43-for-65 – 66.15%).

The standout moment of the 2021 season for the former semi-professional soccer player came in late July when he made sports history in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In a showdown of titans, the reigning World Champion faced off against No. 1-ranked bull Woopaa, covering the powerful bull for the highest-marked ride ever in the league’s 28-year history, scored 97.75 points.

The league’s previous high score was 96.5 points, achieved four times. Michael Gaffney, the 1997 PBR World Champion, had been the most recent to accomplish the feat, riding three-time YETI PBR World Champion Bull Little Yellow Jacket for 96.5 points in Nampa, Idaho, in 2004.

In a nearly flawless display of athleticism, Leme was marked a near-perfect 49.75 points, out of a possible 50 points, while Woopaa contributed 48 points, the 10th highest bull score in the league’s history.

The monstrous 90-point ride, Leme’s 16th of the season, also tied him with 1999 PBR World Champion Cody Hart (Gainesville, Texas) for most 90-point rides during one season – a record he then went on to break later in the season. Hart recorded 16 en route to his gold buckle in 1999; Leme arrives in Las Vegas with a league setting 21.

Eager to become just the seventh multi-time PBR World Champion in league history, Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) is also in contention as the week begins.

During the regular season, Pacheco showcased his focus on a second world title, winning five Unleash The Beast events, nine rounds, three of which came in the championship round. He also recorded six 90-point rides while riding a league-best 45 bulls on the way to a 51.72% riding percentage (45-for-87).

His momentum toward his 2021 world title goal continued during the 2021 PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, finishing fifth on Sunday night to gain further ground on No. 1 Leme. Pacheco now trails his countryman by 590 points ahead of the 2021 PBR World Finals, where one rider can earn a maximum of 1,094 points.

Going 2-for-3 at the expansion series’ year-end event, Pacheco covered Blue Duck (Davis Rodeo Ranch) for 85 points in Round 1 and Rubber-Band Man (Rockin R Bucking Bulls) for 82 points in Round 2, before being bucked off by Apper’s Mind Freak (J-Z Bucking Bulls/K-C Bucking Bulls/Spark-lin Acres) in 2.95 seconds in the final round.

The remainder of the Top 5 heading into World Finals includes No. 3 Cooper Davis (-749 points), No. 4 Joao Ricardo Vieira (-1,044 points) and No. 5 Boudreaux Campbell (-1,143.5 points).

The 35 qualifiers via the world standings who will put it all on the line in Las Vegas are:

Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil)
Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil)
Cooper Davis (Jasper, Texas)
Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil)
Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas)
Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil)
Mauricio Moreira (Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil)
Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington)
Junior Patrik Souza (Sonora, Brazil)
Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas)
Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Springs, Utah)
Chase Dougherty (Decatur, Texas)
Jesse Petri (Dublin, Texas)
Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil)
Marco Eguchi (Poa, Brazil)
Claudio Montanha Jr. (Pacaembu, Brazil)
Rafael Henrique dos Santos (Sebastianopolis, Brazil)
Cody Teel (College Station, Texas)
Eli Vastbinder (Stateville, North Carolina)
Joao Henrique Lucas (Bastos, Brazil)
Marcelo Pereira (Rinopolis, Brazil)
Paulo Ferreira Lima (Bezerros, Brazil)
Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona)
Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York)
Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil)
Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas)
Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas)
Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas)
Mason Taylor (Maypearl, Texas)
Cole Melancon (Sour Lake, Texas)
Adriano Salgado (Batatais, Brazil)
Manoelito de Souza Junior (Itamira, Brazil)
Conner Halverson (Gordon, Nebraska)
Cody Nance (Paris, Tennesse)
Thiago Salgado (Navirai, Brazil)

Joining these 35 men at the 2021 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast are five qualifiers from the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT).

Readying to make their career-first appearances at the sport’s most prestigious event, Lane Nobles (West, Texas), Grayson Cole (New Ringgold, Pennsylvania), Alvaro Aguilar Alvarez (La Punta Lagos Moreno, Mexico), Leonardo Lima (Vale do Paraiso, Brazil) and Dalton Rudman (Wellington, Utah) all punched their ticket to the prestigious event.

Each rider will ride one bull per night during Rounds 1-4 from Wednesday, Nov. 3 through Saturday, Nov. 6. On Sunday, Nov. 7, all riders who recorded a qualified ride through the first four days of competition will advance to Round 5. If fewer than 30 riders recorded a score, cowboys will be drawn back based on their world rank until the requisite field of 30 is filled. Following Round 5 on Sunday afternoon, the Top 12 riders will then advance to the championship round. While Rounds 1, 2, 4 and the championship round will be done by random draw, Rounds 3 and 5 will feature rider drafted selections.

The rider with the highest aggregate score throughout six rounds will win the PBR World Finals event title and $300,000.

PBR also revealed the World Finals bullfighters who will take to the dirt to protect the best bull riders in the world. Frank Newsom, Cody Webster, Jesse Byrne and Lucas Teodoro will be vigilant throughout each 8-second ride or wreck throughout the week.

For more information on the 2021 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast Nov. 3-7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, please visit PBR.com.

CBS Sports Network will broadcast every round of the PBR World Finals. Coverage will begin at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 3, and Thursday, November 4, 11 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 5, and Saturday, November 5, and 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 7.  Sunday’s Championship Round will be live on CBS Television Network at 3 p.m. ET

PBR RidePass on PlutoTV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of PBR PWVT events. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Tune to channel 720 for the latest programming schedule.

The intense bull riding action at the 2021 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast begins at 6:40 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Nov. 3 and Thursday, Nov. 4, 7:40 p.m. PDT on Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 6, and 9:40 a.m. PDT on Sunday, Nov. 7 as the season comes to a climactic end.

Tickets for the five-day event range in price from $27 to $351. Fans can purchase tickets (PBR is selling the whole seat, but most fans will only use the edge) at the T-Mobile Arena Box Office, pbr.com, at AXS.com, or by phone through the PBR Customer Service Department at 800-732-1727. Five-day packages are also available for fans wanting to attend the entire week.