PUEBLO, Colo. – It’s the PBR’s 30th anniversary season, and all year long, PBR.com has been celebrating the league’s history and the legends of the sport.
But a milestone year like this one wouldn’t be complete without a definitive ranking.
Who are the best bull riders in PBR history?
It’s a question PBR Top 30, presented by Pendleton Whisky, will officially answer. Each week this summer, head over to the PBR’s Facebook and YouTube pages to watch the latest episode and reminisce about the top riders and bulls the world has ever seen.
This week, the rider countdown climbed to spots No. 6-4.
Featured in this installment is two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme, who has rapidly become one of the greatest bull riders of all time.
“Jose Vitor Leme – he’s the GOAT,” PBR CEO and Commissioner Sean Gleason said simply.
In addition to his two world titles, Leme set or tied six PBR records in 2021 – most 90-point rides in a season (24), most round wins in a season (21), highest-scoring ride (98.75 points), highest rider score (50 points), highest average ride score in a season (89.82 points) and most event wins in a season (8, tied with Justin McBride). That 2021 season is widely considered the greatest of all time and bettered another stellar season in 2020.
Since 2018, Leme has finished No. 2 in the world standings three times (2018, 2019, 2023) and finished lower than that just once – he finished No. 5 in 2022 when he missed significant time due to injury and could not complete the PBR World Finals.
But Leme was stellar even dating back to 2017. He won the PBR Brazil title that year before making his U.S. debut at the Velocity Tour Finals, qualifying for the PBR World Finals, where he went 6-for-6 to win the event and Rookie of the Year honors.
“He showed up, rolled into the Velocity Finals as his first event,” PBR co-founder and nine-time World Champion Ty Murray said. “The PBR World Finals was his second event, and he kicked everybody’s ass. That’s not normal.”
Today, PBR.com’s From the Vault series looks back at that season, when the Brazilian phenom had no idea the career that was in front of him.
Leme wins 2017 PBR Brazil championship (8/21/17)
BARRETOS, Brazil – Jose Vitor Leme capped off an impressive season by riding Zorro for 88.5 points to clinch the 2017 Monster Energy PBR Brazil Finals event title, the 2017 PBR Brazil Rookie of the Year award and 2017 PBR Brazil championship on Sunday night.
Leme was flawless in Barretos, going a perfect 5-for-5 to hold off Otniel da Silva (4-for-5, 339.3), Fernando da Conceição (4-for-5, 336 points), Junior Quaresma (4-for-5, 329.75 points) and Junior Patrick (4-for-5, 323.75 points) for the event victory.
The 21-year-old finished 1,862.5 points ahead of Lucas Divino for the 2017 championship.
“I always wanted to be here,” Leme said. “When I started to ride bulls, I wanted to be champion of PBR Brazil. Today, I am realizing this dream.”
Leme goes perfect 6-for-6 to win World Finals and Rookie of the Year (11/6/17)
LAS VEGAS – Jose Vitor Leme was standing on the bucking chutes inside South Point Arena in Las Vegas on Oct. 28 nervously pacing back and forth with sweat trickling down his neck prior to the start of the 2017 Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Finals.
His uncertainty was apparent as the young 21-year-old bull rider, who had just arrived in the United States for the first time in his life 24 hours earlier, could not understand anything being said around him nor did he know what to expect in his first PBR event on American soil.
Eight days later, and it is safe to say Leme is no longer nervous.
Leme is instead $416,000 richer and the 2017 PBR Rookie of the Year following one of the greatest performances in PBR World Finals history.
The 2017 PBR Brazil champion capped a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the 2017 Built Ford Tough World Finals by riding Magic Train for a career-high 94.25 points to become the 20th World Finals event winner in PBR history.
“I’m really, really surprised because I watched a few videos of that bull and he didn’t buck as great as he did with me,” Leme said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “He really surprised me. I kind of got wowed by what he was doing and I had to step up my game and God just gave me the strength to keep going and ride him through the whistle and make that great 94-point ride.
“I really did not expect that, he caught me off guard and it’s amazing.”
Leme’s ability to dance with bulls paying big dividends (11/8/17)
EDMONTON – Jose Vitor Leme’s calves and thighs were muscular sculptures inside the locker room last weekend at T-Mobile Arena.
While normally hidden underneath his riding jeans, inside the locker room Leme’s physique was on display as he walked around in a pair of shorts.
The 5-foot-5-inch bull rider spent his teenage years playing semi-professional soccer after taking up the sport when he was 11 years old.
It was during his time on the soccer field in Brazil that the 2017 PBR World Finals event winner perfected how to make quick, agile adjustments and continue at a high-speed of movement while changing his direction.
Countless hours at practice led to his chiseled legs and body. Low and behold, those physical attributes and lessons he learned as a teenager in Brazil have proven to be major advantages when he switched over to bull riding at 18 years old.
“It is really amazing how soccer has helped me,” Leme said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “I don’t think that has come to be a bad experience. I didn’t really start riding (bulls) until I was 18. To be a soccer player, you have to be real athletic and quick to make real short, quick motions and you have to do the same thing on the back of a bull.
“That really helped me.”
Leme: ‘I cannot think of anything else that is not the world title.’ (12/28/17)
PUEBLO, Colo. – The almost dazed, confused and astonished look on Jose Vitor Leme’s face as he posed for photos inside T-Mobile Arena with a massive $300,000 check has finally disappeared.
The 21-year-old is not nearly as flabbergasted as he was following his 6-for-6 performance at the World Finals that made him the fourth rookie in PBR history to ever win the World Finals.
Walking away with a PBR-record $416,000 less than 10 days after first stepping foot in the United States was a lot for Leme to take in, but he said last week that his disbelief is now evolving into greater confidence for 2018.
“Today when I stop to look back to remember everything I've gone through to get here, now I have a sense of how important it is for me to get this victory because it completely changed my life,” Leme said with the help of Miriaham Garcia translating.
Leme hasn’t spent much of his winnings just yet, choosing to invest the majority of his money vs. making reckless purchases.
He did, though, make two noteworthy buys.
Leme first bought his mother, Silvia, a house in Brazil, and he then bought himself a new Ford truck.
If he rides the way that he did at the World Finals, as well as how he envisions himself riding in his mind, then he may have a lot more to invest with in the coming years and seasons.
“For 2018, I cannot think of anything else in my head that is not the world title,” Leme said. “That's my goal. That's what I came for. This is my dream and I will do everything to accomplish it.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media