FORT WORTH, Texas – If you thought the Austin Gamblers would be content to sit on their laurels after winning the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series Championship, think again.

The 2022-23 regular-season champions traded for 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco after failing to win the world’s largest gold buckle in the first two years of the league, and that move paid off in a huge way in Las Vegas last month.

Now that another offseason is upon us, the Gamblers have been the first to get out there and make some moves.

The first move was signing free agent, former Carolina Cowboy, and seven-time PRCA bull riding world champion Sage Kimzey last week.

Now, the Gamblers are back at it again, inking veteran Dener Barbosa to a contract.

“I’m very happy for this opportunity, especially with Sage coming,” Barbosa said with Bruno Zecchin translating. “They’re probably the best team in the league, fighting for every title, and I hope I can do good this year and ride for the whole season and be part of this dream team.”

The 2016 PBR Brazil Champion, Barbosa is a career 409-for-728 (56%) across all levels of PBR competition and was pegged to be a world title contender when he came to the United States in 2016. He finished No. 8 in the world in 2017.

But injuries have been Barbosa’s story since then, with his lifetime surgery count reaching the double digits. There was a broken foot in 2018, a broken back in 2022 and, most recently, a broken hand in 2024 that kept him from competing in all but three regular-season events for the Arizona Ridge Riders.

In 2023, when he was with the Nashville Stampede, a concussion meant he could compete in just six events. In 2022, thanks to the broken back, he was unable to compete for the Stampede at all after being selected No. 15 overall in the inaugural PBR Teams draft.

It’s been a challenging run for Barbosa, who hated sitting on the sidelines and watching the Ridge Riders struggle to a No. 9 seed in the regular season before being eliminated in the Ride-In Round in Las Vegas.

“It was very frustrating,” Barbosa said. “My time for recovery was six months, but I shortened it to three months in order to help the team because it’s not good seeing your team on the bottom of the standings. So I worked very hard to come back and help the team move up.”

That’s undoubtedly an attitude that attracted the Gamblers.

That and the fact that, when healthy, Barbosa is still a top contributor and a huge threat in the bucking chutes.

While he only competed in four total events for the Ridge Riders in 2024, he went 5-for-10 (50%).

While he was cut from the 2024 Unleash The Beast, he won two Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour events to earn his way back on tour, qualified for the PBR World Finals via the Velocity Global Standings, and ultimately finished No. 30 in the world.

He finished as high as No. 6 in the world as recently as 2023 and placed No. 7 in 2021.

If Barbosa can put together a full campaign, he could easily be another MVP threat for Austin, joining two-time World Champion and two-time MVP Jose Vitor Leme, Pacheco, Dalton Kasel, and Kimzey.

It’ll also be interesting to see how Barbosa performs for a team that consistently sits near the top of the standings—the 2024 Ridge Riders and the 2023 Stampede finished near the bottom of the pack.

“I feel good about it, especially having the Gamblers interested in me,” Barbosa said. “It shows me that I’m valuable. It shows me that I’m a good rider, and they see me like a good rider to be on this team.”

With the addition of Barbosa, the Gamblers continue to add depth to what is already the deepest roster in the league.

Like when they added Pacheco earlier this year, it sends a clear message: the Gamblers are out for blood. 2025 PBR Teams Championship or bust.

However, if Barbosa learned anything from competing on the Ridge Riders this past season, it’s that the only thing that matters is what happens when the chute gates open.

“How I see it, it doesn’t matter if you have a good team on paper,” Barbosa said. “You’ve got to show it on the dirt.”

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media