EUGENE, Ore. – As a full house inside of Matthew Knight Arena roared on Saturday night, Rafael Jose de Brito (Potirendaba, Brazil) captured a career-first PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast (UTB) event win as the Kubota Emerald Chute Out came to a close.

As one of the standouts in the recently concluded inaugural season of the PBR Team Series, the 2022 Texas Rattler started the weekend off at No. 9 in the UTB standings with his eye on inching his way upward into the Top 5 in the world. Sitting in eighth place in Friday’s Round 1, courtesy of his 87-point ride aboard Reba McEntire’s The Hammer (Dakota Rodeo/Chad berger), Brito hit the gas in Round 2.  

Paired with All Shook Up (Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) as Saturday evening began, the talented 30-year-old Brazilian exploded from the chutes. The solid 88-point ride punched his ticket to the final round.

Brito then selected Black Gold (Cooper/ Scruggs Bucking Bulls) as his bovine opponent in the championship round.

With fans inside the ‘Home of the Ducks’ on the edge of their seats and three-time PBR World Champion Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil) cheering him on from the back of the chutes, Brito erupted from the chutes on the muscular animal athlete to record the highest ride score of the championship round and the talented rider’s career.

For Brito’s 91-point championship round score and his 3-for-3 standout weekend, he was handed a check for $44,245. He also collected 137.5 points towards the standings.

Video highlights of Round 2 and the championship round, including Brito’s winning ride, courtesy PBR, click here.

The talented Texas Rattler moved to No. 5 in the PBR Unleash The Beast Standings, 280 points behind world leader Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil).

Despite his best efforts and tying for the No. 3 spot in Round 1, Leme had a less-than-ideal weekend after bucking off of his Round 2 pairing with Punchy Pete (Wentz Bucking Bulls/ King Rodeo) on Saturday. Despite punching his ticket into the championship round based on his Friday night ride, the 2022 Austin Gambler top draft-pick doctored out. Although the weekend was an upset for him, Leme held tight to No. 1 in the standings.

Before Brito’s monstrous 91-point ride, fellow Brazilian Rafael Henrique dos Santos (Quitman, Georgia) was leading the pack.

After landing in a three-way tie for fifth place in Round 1 courtesy of his 87.5-point ride on I’m Your Daddy (Cooper/ Scruggs Bucking Bulls), Santos conquered Dr. Feel Good (Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) in Round 2 for 85.75 points. After selecting Pookie Holler (Dakota Rodeo/ Brian & Ashley Pintar/ Clay Struve/ Chad Berger) in the championship round, drama unfolded as judges stopped the clock just under seven seconds alleging his free arm had touched the bull.

Young gun Ezekiel Mitchel (Rockdale, Texas) leapt from the back of the chutes, scrambling to hit the challenge button and ask for a replay.

After a lengthy review and multiple cameras angles reviewed, the ride was deemed qualified - no touch had occurred - netting Santos a 90.25-point score. A giant smile spread across Santos’ face and a massive celebration erupted on the back of the chutes as he made a beeline to Mitchell to shake his hand.

For his 3-for-3 weekend and second-place overall finish, he earned 94.5 points and $19,010.

Starting the weekend at No. 33, Santos catapulted to the No. 18 spot in the UTB season standings.

2022 Arizona Ridge Rider top draft pick Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil) rounded out his weekend with a third-place finish.  

After finishing within the Top 10 on Friday night, the veteran Brazilian was paired with Close Call (D&H Cattle Company) in Saturday’s Round 2, collecting 80.75 points to secure his spot in the championship round.

De Castro selected HomeBru (D&H Cattle Co/ Buck Cattle Co.) as his matchup for the final round.

In his signature steadfast manner, De Castro climbed aboard the talented animal athlete looking as calm as could be.

Despite being in control for the full 8 seconds, his ride score of 89 points was not enough to launch him further up the leaderboard.

Collecting 69.5 points and $10,865, De Castro moved two spots from No. 10 in the UTB standings to No. 8 as the battle for the next world title heats up. 

Texan Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas) finished fourth, courtesy of going 2-for-3 during the two days of competition.  

In Friday’s opening round, the 26-year-old bested Cold Chill (D&H Cattle Co/ Futrell) for 88.75 points and a second place finish.

Paired with Big Twist (D&H Cattle Co/ Ireland) in Round 2, the 2022 Missouri Thunder rider launched from the chutes with dirt flying for an impressive 90.25-point score.

Alvidrez then selected Alakazam (D&H Cattle/ Buck Cattle/ Tommy Julian) for the championship round in hopes of catapulting himself up the leaderboard to narrow the gap between himself and Leme in the world title race.

Despite his best efforts, he was no match for the talented animal and was thrown to the dirt in 4.82 seconds.

Alvidrez still holds the No. 2 spot in the standings. After collecting 68 UTB points, he now trails Leme by 115.5 points.

2018 PBR World Champion Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) rounded out the Top 5 with a 2-for-3 weekend.

On Friday night, Pacheco was dispatched by his Round 1 matchup, Pearl’s Ghost (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger), in a mere 2.41 seconds.

The 2022 Nashville Stampede athlete then paired with Back Jack (Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) in Saturday’s long round, recording an 86-point score to sail into the championship round.

Selecting Kid Knapper (Phillips/ Cooper/ Scruggs Bucking Bulls) for the final round, the 28-year-old showcased his true champion form with a 90.75-point score.

Pacheco earned 50.5 points to hold tight to the No. 3 spot in the UTB standings.

In the bull pen, Cool Whip (Julian/ Staci Addison/ D&H Cattle/ Crooked W) was unrivaled, crowned the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event. The powerful reigning bull turned heads in Saturday’s championship round when he posted a massive 46-point score for his 3.93-second buckoff of Chase Dougherty (Decatur, Texas).

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

The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to Los Angeles, California, for the PBR Socal Showdown on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 6:45 p.m. PST and Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1:45 p.m. PST.

PBR Unleash The Beast – PBR Kubota Emerald Chute Out  Matthew Knight Arena -Eugene, Oregon  1. Rafael Jose de Brito, 87-88-91-266.00-137.5 Points. 2. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 87.5-85.75-90.25-263.50-94.5 Points. 3. Luciano De Castro, 86.75-80.75-89-256.50-69.5 Points. 4. Andrew Alvidrez, 88.75-90.25-0-179.00-68 Points. 5. Kaique Pacheco, 0-86-90.75-176.75-50.5 Points. 6. Boudreaux Campbell, 87-85.25-0-172.25-34.5 Points. 7. Koltin Hevalow, 85.5-84.5-0-170.00-22 Points. 8. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 87.5-81-0-168.50-27 Points. 9. Ramon de Lima, 80.5-81.5-0-162.00-20 Points. 10. Cooper Davis, 0-89-0-89.00-19.5 Points. (tie). Chase Dougherty, 89-0-0-89.00-29.5 Points. 12. Jose Vitor Leme, 88.25-0-0-88.25-16.5 Points. (tie). Chase Outlaw, 88.25-0-0-88.25-16.5 Points. 14. Dalton Kasel, 0-87.75-0-87.75-16 Points. 15. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 87.5-0-0-87.50-14 Points. 16. Tate Pollmeier, 86.75-0-0-86.75-9.5 Points. 17. Wyatt Rogers, 0-86-0-86.00-14.5 Points. 18. Conner Halverson, 0-85.75-0-85.75-12.5 Points. 19. Braidy Randolph, 0-85-0-85.00-10 Points. 20. Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-84.75-0-84.75-9 Points. 21. Silvano Alves, 0-80.25-0-80.25-8 Points. 22. Kyler Oliver, 0-67-0-67.00 Jesse Petri, 0-0-0-0.00 Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0.00 Wingson Henrique da Silva, 0-0-0-0.00 Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00 João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00 Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0-0.00 Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00 Sandro Batista, 0-0-0-0.00 Austin Richardson, 0-0-0-0.00 Flavio Zivieri, 0-0-0-0.00 Tyler Manor, 0-0-0-0.00 Aaron Williams, 0-0-0-0.00 Casey Coulter, 0-0-0-0.00

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media