PUEBLO, Colo. – Two heavy hitters will be returning to competition when the Unleash The Beast begins its 2022 season on New Year’s Day in Indianapolis and live on CBS Sports Network (8 p.m. ET).
Two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood and eight-time PBR World Finals qualifier Chase Outlaw will be crawling into the bucking chutes inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday night, and it will be the first opportunity to see if they are ready to challenge reigning World Champion Jose Vitor Leme for the 2022 gold buckle.
Lockwood is the last man to successfully defeat Leme in the world title race before a torn left hamstring in March 2020 altered his career. Lockwood has yet to return to the same form that won him two world titles (2017, 2019) since undergoing reconstructive surgery on his hamstring 21 months ago and an additional core muscle repair surgery last year.
The Volborg, Montana, native shut things down at the end of last regular season, making 2021 the first time in Lockwood’s six-year career he has failed to qualify for the World Finals. Lockwood begins 2022 with five injury exemptions to attempt to earn a full-time spot back on the Unleash The Beast.
Lockwood is 7-for-34 on the premier series since first tearing his hamstring almost two years ago. However, he told PBR.com he feels “great” for the 2022 season opener and that he received some minor treatment from his surgeon Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia this past November.
The 24-year-old has a favorable rematch for Round 1 in Indianapolis (8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network) when he squares off against Lil 2 Train (31-17, UTB/METC). Lockwood is a perfect 2-for-2 against Lil 2 Train for an average of 91.38 points.
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Two-time World Champion and CBS Sports analyst Justin McBride said that Lockwood will be one of the biggest questions at the beginning of the PBR’s 29th season.
“I am excited to see, good or bad, what becomes of Jess,” McBride said. “He is the riddler. He is the biggest question of the year. He is hands down -- if he is Jess of 2019, he is the biggest threat to Leme. It is then game on to see who can win it. Everybody is wondering: does that Jess exist? I don’t know. Nobody does.”
Another man to keep an eye on will be Outlaw.
Outlaw has only competed in three Unleash The Beast events, and seven PBR events in total, in the last two years because of reconstructive shoulder and knee surgeries. The 29-year-old has undergone five shoulder surgeries in total since 2015, including two following the 2019 PBR World Finals when he finished behind Lockwood and Leme in the world standings.
Outlaw appeared poised to return to action last spring after he vigorously rehabbed his left shoulder under the watchful eye of Dr. Nat Grubbs and South Arkansas Rehabilitation, only to then tear his right ACL in the practice pen.
Outlaw went 1-for-5 in three UTB events before opting to get his knee surgically repaired and shutting down his 2021 campaign.
The Hamburg, Arkansas, bull rider posted on social media last week some footage of him practicing for the New Year with the message: “Look out because I’m comin for ya 2022.”
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Outlaw will begin 2022 with four Unleash The Beast injury exemptions. He has drawn Hell On The Red for Round 1 on Saturday night.
Additional riders competing via injury exemptions for the season-opener are Cody Nance, Kyler Oliver, Stetson Lawrence and Taylor Toves.
There are four alternates in the draw in Austin Richardson, Adriano Salgado, Cole Melancon and Manoelito de Souza Jr.
TOP 30 RIDERS OUT OF COMPETITION FROM LAST YEAR
In 2022, riders who finished inside the Top 25 of the 2021 world standings will be guaranteed five Unleash The Beast events before being subject to the cutline. Riders who finished 26-30 will be given four.
Five riders from last year’s Top 30 are unable to compete in Indianapolis.
No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme (core muscle injury)
No. 4 Joao Ricardo Vieira (not cleared to compete)
No. 12 Junior Patrik Souza (broken left leg)
No. 28 Alex Cerqueira (in Brazil)
No. 29 Colten Fritzlan (left shoulder surgery)
Meanwhile, Joao Ricardo Vieira is out for Indianapolis as a precaution after a friend he stayed with in Brazil tested positive for COVID-19.
“I am not going to Indianapolis, maybe I go to New York, because last event (in Brazil) I stayed with a friend who test positive for COVID,” Vieira said on Monday. “I feel okay, and I don’t have COVID. I took a test (Sunday night), and it was negative. I went to the doctor, and he says I need to stay alone for 10 days, and I cannot go to Indianapolis.”
Souza’s recovery from a broken leg at the Finals is going well, and the 28-year-old is targeting a potential return in February.
INDY POINTS & EVENT FORMAT
Indianapolis is a one-day Unleash The Beast event. The Top 12 riders from Round 1 will advance to the championship round. One rider can earn a maximum of 138 world points in Indy.
Here is the world points breakdown for the season opener.
Round Points: 20, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Event Average Points: 80, 50, 36, 21, 17, 12, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1
Ride Score Bonus Points: 9, 8, 7
YES… DAYLON SWEARINGEN IS YOUR WORLD NO. 1
Indianapolis is the official start of the 2022 UTB season, but the overall season is already underway thanks to international PBR events and Touring Pro Division events.
Therefore, Daylon Swearingen is technically the No. 1-ranked rider in the world to start the season. Swearingen has already earned 104 world points by winning the 2021 PBR Canada Finals and placing second at the WCRA Cowtown Christmas Championship Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas.
Swearingen has ridden six of his first seven bulls to begin the year, and he will take on WSM’s Time in a Bottle (1-1, UTB) in Round 1 in Indianapolis.
ROUND 1 REMATCHES
Lockwood vs. Lil 2 Train is one of 10 rematches tentatively scheduled for Round 1.
Adriano Salgado vs. Dirt Track Dirty (84 points last year in Shipshewana, Indiana)
Austin Richardson vs. Proctor’s Pride (5.17 seconds at the 2019 PBR World Finals)
Boudreaux Campbell vs. Mule Train (89.75 points at the 2021 PBR World Finals)
Cody Teel vs. Big Black (3.01 seconds in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2019)
Cole Melancon vs. Dixieland Delight (3.52 seconds last year in Greensboro, North Carolina)
Cooper Davis vs. I’m A Secret (4.13 seconds last year in Nashville)
Jess Lockwood vs. Lil 2 Train (2-for-2; 91 points at 2020 Global Cup USA)
Marcelo Procopio Pereira vs. Lil Hott (3.3 seconds last year in Nashville)
Paulo Lima vs. Show Me Homie (2.97 seconds at the 2016 Velocity Tour Finals)
Stetson Lawrence vs. Apper’s Mind Freak (89.875 points in 2019 in Little Rock, Arkansas)
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media