FORT WORTH, Texas – These days, if you greet Cassio Dias, he responds with a friendly, “Hello, how are you?” in English.
The 22-year-old bull riding phenom has been in the U.S. for less than a year, and his English skills have markedly improved just in that short time.
“I told him the other day, ‘You need to learn how to speak English because if you speak more English, more sponsors come and more money comes for you,’” said 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi, Dias’s assistant coach on the Kansas City Outlaws. “It’s not all about the money, though. People want to talk to him, like the American riders and fans. He’ll be more free to talk to other guys, and I think that’s going to help him more. You see Jose Vitor (Leme) – his English is so good, and I think that helped him to have more success in his career. He’s able to speak with people. I think that makes a guy more free, more available, and more happy, too, because it’s so hard when you come to another country and you don’t speak English. You feel more alone. You want to talk to somebody, but you can’t because your English is not good.
“He’s wanting to learn and I’ve been helping him. He has an open mind. He knows he needs to speak English to speak with other people than us for his life, for his career.”
It’s clear that Dias is settling in and making himself a home in the United States, and PBR fans can only hope he’s in it for the long haul.
His competitors, however, might be another story.
Dias is ranked No. 1 in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings with the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast beginning with Eliminations on May 9-12 at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
In fact, Dias’s lead in the standings is so large – 560.5 points over No. 2 John Crimber – that he has already clinched the No. 1 spot in the Championship Rounds to decide the World Champion, which will be held on May 18-19 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“I feel ready,” Dias said with Marchi translating. “Mentally, physically, and I’m very excited. I’m prepared and anxious and ready for Finals, and I’m very happy to make it there, to my first Finals in my career.”
Dias didn’t just make it to the Finals. He blew his competition away from pretty much the word go. Following his breakout season with the Outlaws in 2023 that saw him fall just one ride short of the MVP award, he stormed into his rookie UTB season with a 53% riding percentage (37-for-69), leading the league in outs, rides, round wins (13) and 90-point rides (8), in addition to an astounding seven event wins.
That’s not just a good season – that’s a great season, no matter how you slice it. Should Dias win the World Finals event title, he would tie Leme and Justin McBride – two two-time PBR World Champions – for the record of most event wins in a single season with eight.
Most Single-Season Event Wins All-Time
T1. Justin McBride, 8 (2007)
T1. Jose Vitor Leme, 8 (2021)
T2. Jose Vitor Leme, 7 (2020)
T2. Cassio Dias, 7 (2024)
T4. J.B. Mauney, 6 (2013)
T4. Justin McBride, 6 (2005)
T4. Cody Hart, 6 (1999)
*All riders won the world title that season
Dias finally let the emotion show after his seventh event win in Louisville, Kentucky, during the last weekend of the regular season.
“The success I had there, my seventh event win – I always want to pick the better bull and not worry about scores,” Dias said. “I also try to improve myself. Every time, I can do better, I can do better, and (the bulls) don’t care about if I’m going to ride or not going to ride. I just try to ride for my confidence. That’s why I had big success and won those seven events. I ride some bulls that they don’t like to pick because they’re hard, and I try to push to be better. It don’t matter if they’re going to the right or going to the left or switch direction. I’m riding all kinds of bulls to prepare my mind.”
Marchi, who Dias says has become like a father figure to him, has been helping him get ready to perform on the biggest stage of his life.
“We talk every morning, and I told him, ‘That’s the week to prepare yourself. That’s when you come here and prepare more. The second guy is second right now. Just do your job,’” Marchi said. “Don’t put pressure on you by thinking about the second guy or the third guy. Don’t care about nobody.
“I said, ‘This is the week you wait for.’ And he said, ‘Yes, I’m ready.’ I told him, ‘You feel some pressure?’ He say, ‘A little bit because it’s my first Finals, but I’m thankful for that, and I’m ready.’ Also, he’s talking about a couple of bulls he rode this year and saying, ‘I wish I could get on that bull in the short go to try to win.’ That’s the mind you have to have.”
The PBR can thank Marchi for the Dias show we’ve been treated to for the last year. Marchi was familiar with Dias, the 2022 PBR Brazil Champion, and insisted that Outlaws head coach J.W. Hart select him in the 2023 draft.
Dias lived at Hart’s house as he got his feet under him during his first Teams season.
“I’m glad to have Guilherme and J.W. on my side because my dad rode bulls, but he never did so good,” Dias said. “I learned a lot of things with Guilherme and J.W., and I feel so welcomed with what J.W. did for me. They brought me to his house and opened their doors for me, and I’m so grateful for that. What I learned with Guilherme and J.W. this year, it changed my life. They changed the way I think about riding bulls, the way I think about treating people, the way I think about treating my wife. I ride the best bulls and I’m now the best rider in the world, and they were so welcoming for everything at the house and call me all the time. It makes me strong.”
Dias will take on Sava in Eliminations Round 1 on Thursday. Action begins with the pre-show at 8:30 p.m. ET, followed by Round 1 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
He feels all eyes on him as the bull riding world descends on Fort Worth, but his goal is to block out the noise and focus only on the bull riding.
“I try not to care about other people, if they beat me or not,” Dias said. “I need to do my job right. If I don’t do my job right, I don’t expect to win. When I do my job right, I wait for the results. The first day, it’s about staying strong. I believe in God, and I believe in myself. And when you have that kind of mindset, I believe in myself, I know I can ride good, and I prepare for it. It’s going to be the first Finals for me, and all the pressure is on me right now.”
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media
