PUEBLO, Colo. – If there was one thing missing from this electric 2024 Unleash The Beast season, it was Sage Kimzey.

The seven-time PRCA bull riding world champion made the jump to compete in the PBR during the 2023 PBR Camping World Team Series and decided to stay on to compete on the UTB full-time for the first time this season.

Kimzey began the season as a member of the highly-touted rookie class – he may be a world champion, but he’d never competed in the PBR enough to trigger his Rookie of the Year eligibility – alongside the likes of Cassio Dias, John Crimber and Caden Bunch, and looked to contend for a world title.

But while Dias, Crimber and Bunch are ranked in the Top 10 in the world, Kimzey's hopes came to a screeching halt in early February in Sacramento, California, when he injured his elbow and had to undergo surgery.

He anticipated he’d be out for the rest of the season.

But after surgery and two months of physical therapy, Kimzey was back in the draw – and back in the world title hunt – this past weekend at the First PREMIER Bank PBR Sioux Falls, presented by Cooper Tires, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“At the end of the day, it was a wink from God above because I thought it was going to be full reconstruction on my elbow,” Kimzey told CBS Sports Network’s Kate Harrison in Sioux Falls. “Ended up just being a minor clean-out deal. I actually had surgery on Friday and was back doing PT on Monday. So it was really a huge blessing, and I didn’t lose any of my normal physical strength or any of my fitness. So it’s real good. Quick turnaround, for sure, but I just eye down these last five events and get everything lined up because, at the end of the day, there’s a huge opportunity in front of me.”

Kimzey ultimately went 1-for-4 in Sioux Falls – not the performance he would’ve wanted, to be sure, but still good enough for a seventh-place overall finish.

His qualified ride came in Round 2 when he covered Blue Suede Shoes for 87.75 points to place third in the round.

“That’s the difference in a healthy Sage Kimzey, right?” two-time PBR World Champion Justin McBride said. “Because that ride was never no guarantee from jump to jump. Like, that was a real fight. Yep, looks perfect. Now he’s going to get a little back. There’s a lot of pressure on his hand, on that elbow that he had to recover from. That’s just a real heart of a champion right there to finish that ride.”

For Kimzey, the ride signaled a return to where he wants to be. After starting the season a blazing 5-for-6 in his first two events, he then went 1-for-11 in his subsequent five events before surgery.

“It feels really good,” Kimzey said. “I mean, before I had the surgery, I struggled quite a bit. And having it fixed, coming back – wasn’t the prettiest ride I’ve ever made, but it felt pretty good because there was a lot of effort into it, and it’s all the hard work paying off. So it felt good.”

McBride, for his part, was grinning.

“That’s bull riding,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be pretty. You just have to get the job done, and Kimzey’s been doing that really well for a long time.”

Unfortunately, with all the time Kimzey spent on the sidelines, he’s fallen to No. 31 in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings. He still has four regular-season events left to make up ground – the next being the Wrangler PBR Billings, presented by Cooper Tires, on April 12-14, where he’ll take on DirtyBru in Round 1 (April 12 at 9:30 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV) – but that brings up the World Finals question.

WORLD FINALS WATCH

The 2024 World Finals begins with the four-day Eliminations on May 9-12 at Cowtown Coliseum. The Top 40 in the UTB standings, plus five invites, will each attempt one bull per round. Out of the Elimination rounds, 20 riders will advance to AT&T Stadium for the Championship Rounds on May 18-19 – the Top 15 in the UTB standings, plus the Top 5 riders in the aggregate that have not already qualified.

If Kimzey doesn’t meet either criteria, he will have to compete in the Ride for Redemption rounds on May 15-16, also at Cowtown Coliseum. There, the 25 contestants not advancing plus 15 invites compete in two additional rounds, with the Top 5 in the aggregate advancing to the Championship Rounds.

The Championship Rounds start with a clean slate and consist of the 25 qualifiers competing in two rounds per day. At the end of the fourth round, the highest-ranked rider in the UTB standings will be crowned the PBR World Champion.

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Current Top 15 1. Cassio Dias 2. John Crimber 3. Dalton Kasel 4. Eduardo Aparecido 5. Alan de Souza 6. Koltin Hevalow 7. Austin Richardson (out) 8. Joao Ricardo Vieira 9. Caden Bunch 10. Brady Fielder 11. Kaique Pacheco 12. Julio Cesar Marques 13. Cody Jesus 14. Thiago Salgado 15. Keyshawn Whitehorse 16. Kaiden Loud

Danger Zone 17. Leonardo Castro 18. Cort McFadden 19. Wingson Henrique da Silva 20. Daylon Swearingen 21. Felipe Furlan 22. Vitor Losnake 23. Alex Cerqueira 24. Clay Guiton 25. Boudreaux Campbell 26. Mauricio Gulla Moreira 27. Jose Vitor Leme (out) 28. Bob Mitchell 29. Ednelio Almeida 30. Conner Halverson 31. Sage Kimzey 32. Jesse Petri 33. Marco Rizzo 34. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto 35. Luciano de Castro 36. Ezekiel Mitchell 37. Wyatt Rogers 38. Callum Miller 39. Silvano Alves 40. Eli Vastbinder 41. Mason Taylor 42. Andrew Alvidrez

But before we get to AT&T Stadium, the important benchmark is that No. 15 ranking in the UTB standings. With No. 7 Austin Richardson out for the season, No. 16 is Kaiden Loud with 278.5 points. Kimzey is 117.5 points behind. The event winner in Billings receives 100 points just for winning the aggregate, not even taking points for round placements or ride score bonuses into account.

If Kimzey can put together a few strong finishes down the stretch, he could absolutely position himself well heading into his second career PBR World Finals.

Kimzey finds himself in good company in the danger zone, along with PBR World Champions Daylon Swearingen, Silvano Alves and Jose Vitor Leme, who will miss the rest of the season due to injury.

In a season led by some incredible rookies, there’s no relying on past accomplishments. It’s time to put up or shut up, and Kimzey is ready for the fight.

“Just get ready,” he said.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media