PUEBLO, Colo. – The 2023 Unleash The Beast series begins this weekend with the PBR Monster Energy Invitational in Tucson, Arizona (Nov. 26-27).
Round 1 from Tucson Arena airs exclusively on RidePass on Pluto TV at 8:45 p.m. ET before CBS Sports Network carries all the action on Championship Sunday (4 p.m. ET).
PBR.com will be counting down the final days leading up to the UTB season opener by looking back at the top bull riders from the conclusion of the 2022 season.
Today, we look at No. 1 Daylon Swearingen
No. 1 Daylon Swearingen
World Championships: 1
Best World Standings Finish: 1 (2022)
2022 Premier Series (UTB) Stats
Rides: 26
Attempts: 60
Riding Percentage: 43.3%
Top Ride: 93 points on Big Black (World Finals) & I’m Legit Too (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Average Ride Score:
Wins: 3 (St. Louis, Missouri; Los Angeles; World Finals)
15/15 Bucking Battle Victories: 0
Round Wins: 7
Top 5: 7
Top 10: 11
90-point Rides: 9
2022 UTB/Team Series Recap: Daylon Swearingen bounced back from a Round 1 buckoff (5.22 seconds vs. Lil 2 Train) at the 2022 PBR World Finals to rip off six consecutive rides on his way to winning the 2022 World Championship and PBR World Finals event title. Swearingen’s 6-for-8, event-winning performance at the Finals helped him fend off World Champions Jose Vitor Leme and Kaique Pacheco, as well as perennial world title contender Joao Ricardo Vieira, in one of the closest World Championship races in PBR history. Swearingen finished 442.49 points ahead of Pacheco in the world standings.
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Swearingen entered Dickies Arena with a slim 8.99-point lead in the standings after going 2-for-3 at the 2022 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals. His path to a gold buckle at the World Finals began with 93 points on Big Black in Round 2. He then took over the No. 1 ranking for good by riding Hey Bartender for 89.25 points in Round 3. Never looking back, Swearingen went on to ride Train Station (85.75 points) in Round 4, Lone Survivor (91.75 points) in Round 5 and Satan’s Seed (87.75 points) in Round 6.
Swearingen then began Championship Sunday with 92.25 points on I’m Legit Too to eliminate all of his challengers from the title race except Pacheco, who would buck off Manaba in 5.9 seconds in the championship round to cement Swearingen the 2022 World Championship.
Three months earlier, a World Championship was the last thing on Swearingen’s mind after coming within fractions of an inch of possibly losing his life during the 15/15 Bucking Battle on Feb. 11 at the PBR Express Ranches Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage, in Oklahoma City. Then ranked No. 4, Swearingen was making a sensational ride aboard Vanilla Ice before bucking off just prior to the 8-second mark and landing in a compromising position underneath the 1,500-plus pound bovine athlete. He had nowhere to go as Vanilla Ice’s rear hooves came crashing down on his helmet, sending shards of green plastic across the arena.
It was a miracle Swearingen did not fracture his skull, and many rightfully so were quick to credit his helmet for saving his life. Swearingen rebounded from his serious wreck in Oklahoma City by shockingly winning his next two premier series events – the PBR TicketSmarter Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, in St. Louis and the PBR Pluto TV Invitational in downtown Los Angeles. Swearingen overtook the world No. 1 ranking for the first time during the Unleash The Beast regular season during that four-day span in late February.
Swearingen would not win another event until the World Finals, making him the seventh rider in PBR history to win the PBR World Championship and PBR World Finals event title in the same season.
The Piffard, New York, native’s remarkable season, which included leading Team USA to a Global Cup victory at AT&T Stadium, did not push the Austin Gamblers or Nashville Stampede to select Swearingen with the No. 1/2 picks in the PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter. Even more so, the Texas Rattlers decided to select Swearingen at No. 3, only to trade him less than an hour later to the Carolina Cowboys during a draft-night blockbuster trade involving Swearingen, Mason Taylor, Vieira and Cody Jesus.
Swearingen, of course, was a little surprised by the whole turn of events, but he had been hoping to land with Carolina so that he could ride for his childhood mentor Jerome Davis. The PBR Ring of Honor inductee was thrilled to have Swearingen on his team, and Swearingen would help the Cowboys go 15-13 in their inaugural season. Swearingen ranked second in the league’s individual aggregate with an 18-for-31 (58.06%) performance.
Outlook: Swearingen may have been one of the most underappreciated World Champions in recent memory, to no fault of anyone. Swearingen’s herculean push to win the world title in ways got lost in the shuffle with the PBR Team Series Draft and ensuing PBR Team Series season this past summer. Team success was celebrated more so than looking back at the 2022 season, which, again, made sense.
However, Swearingen continued to show during the PBR Team Series that his championship performance was no fluke, and he could very well be a favorite to win the title again in 2023. Only two riders in PBR history have won back-to-back world titles – Jose Vitor Leme (2020/2021) and Silvano Alves (2011/2012), as Swearingen hopes to become the third during the PBR’s 30th anniversary season.
Swearingen had no problem competing anywhere in the world to gain points for a world title last year, earning a league-leading 149.99 world points outside the UTB, but this year the World Champion will be awarded to the rider who earns the most points on the Unleash The Beast tour, including the 2023 PBR World Finals. Swearingen still would have won the title last year under this same system, but there will be an added focus on how Swearingen defends his gold buckle on the UTB this coming season. A fast start to the Unleash The Beast season in Tucson could get Swearingen, who is still only 23 years old and in the prime of his career, off and running to a second consecutive world title. Any rider who falls behind in the world title race will not be able to make ground up on the Velocity Tour like they could in past seasons. The 2023 World Champion will be the best rider on the Unleash The Beast and at the World Finals, and Swearingen very well could be that guy for a second straight year.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
