LOS ANGELES, Calif. – After missing the majority of the 2024 Unleash The Beast season due to injury, two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio, Brazil) was dominant in Round 1 of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeles.

After going 1-for-2 in his return last week in Salt Lake City to finish 11^th after being sidelined for two months with a lower-body injury, Leme arrived in Los Angeles as the No. 31 man in the standings.

Paired with Hoof Stock Genetics Mud Train (Canyon Oaks/ JD Nix) toward the end of the night, the franchise rider for the Austin Gamblers in the separate PBR Camping World Team Series was seemingly unphased by his uncharacteristically high ranking. Firing from the chutes as the Southern California crowd went wild, he remained in complete control.

The crowd inside of Crypto.com Arena then roared as his 88.5-point 2score was announced, topping the round.

Leme earned 28 Unleash The Beast points and moved to No. 26 in the standings with his second round win of the 2024 UTB season.

Marking the fifth time in history that the UTB’s courageous cowboys and extraordinary animal athletes treated like kings have traveled to Los Angeles, the two-day weekend is the 12^th event of the 24-event 2024 regular season. With just 12 more events to go until the PBR World Finals in May, the race for a world title and gold buckle is at the halfway point – with riders putting it all on the line for precious Unleash The Beast points.

World No. 1 Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil) was hot on Leme’s heels in second place in Round 1.

After increasing his lead in the standings across the past two weekends in Sacramento and then Salt Lake City, the 2023 MVP runner-up for the Kansas City Outlaws was paired Hell Storm (Julio Moreno/ Bar CB). The 22-year-old Brazilian earned a solid 87.25-point score for his electric ride.

Holding tightly to his No. 1 position in the standings, Dias earned 18 Unleash The Beast points. He now leads world No. 2 Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas), who is out injured, by 208.33 points.

A pair of Texas cowboys shared third place in the round as the Los Angeles event got underway, as Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas) and rookie phenom John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) collected matching 87-point ride scores.

First up in the duo was Mitchell paired with Little Tex (Humpz and Hornz/ Frances Dandy). Sitting at No. 51 in the standings, Leme’s Austin Gamblers’ teammate knew he needed a qualified ride to push him up the standings. Rocketing out across the arena, he recorded just that.

Later in the round, Crimber, a must-watch for the 2024 PBR Teams New Rider Draft, was paired with Badger (Phenom Genetics/ Sankey/ Ready Team) as his fellow riders cheered.

Both cowboys earned 16.5 Unleash The Beast points, moving Mitchell to No. 47 in the standings and jumping Crimber one position from No. 5 to No. 4.

Rounding out the Top 5 was 19-year-old Marco Rizzo (Quitman, Georgia). Sitting at No. 52 in the standings, Rizzo readied to ride Ah Hell (Cooper/ Scruggs Bucking Bulls).

Matching his bovine partner’s agility, Rizzo sailed through the air with the powerful animal to earn an 86-point score.

The fifth-place finish netted 15 Unleash The Beast points and moved him to No. 48 as he heads into Championship Saturday.

The Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeles continues with Round 2 followed immediately by the championship round on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 6:45 p.m. PST.

PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.

PBR Unleash The Beast– Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeles Crypto.com Arena -Los Angeles, California Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points) 1. Jose Vitor Leme, 88.5-0-0-88.50-28 Points. 2. Cassio Dias, 87.25-0-0-87.25-18 Points. 3. John Crimber, 87-0-0-87.00-16.5 Points. (tie). Ezekiel Mitchell, 87-0-0-87.00-16.5 Points. 5. Marco Rizzo, 86-0-0-86.00-15 Points. 6. Clay Guiton, 85.75-0-0-85.75-14 Points. 7. Jake Gardner, 85.5-0-0-85.50-13 Points. 8. Eduardo Aparecido, 85.25-0-0-85.25-12 Points. 9. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 84.75-0-0-84.75-11 Points. 10. Kaiden Loud, 84-0-0-84.00-10 Points. 11. Wingson Henrique da Silva, 83.75-0-0-83.75-8.33 Points. (tie). Julio Cesar Marques, 83.75-0-0-83.75-8.33 Points. (tie). Eli Vastbinder, 83.75-0-0-83.75-8.33 Points. 14. Koltin Hevalow, 83.5-0-0-83.50-8 Points. 15. Cort McFadden, 82.5-0-0-82.50-8 Points. 16. Vitor Losnake, 77.75-0-0-77.75 Cody Jesus, 0-0-0-0.00 João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00 Alan de Souza, 0-0-0-0.00 Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0.00 Alex Cerqueira, 0-0-0-0.00 Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00 Felipe Furlan, 0-0-0-0.00 Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0.00 Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00 Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00 Ednélio Almeida, 0-0-0-0.00 Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0.00 Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0.00 Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00 Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0.00 Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00 Kyler Oliver, 0-0-0-0.00 Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0.00 Daniel Keeping, 0-0-0-0.00 Nick Tetz, 0-0-0-0.00 Warlei de Oliveira da Silva, 0-0-0-0.00 Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media