From the Vault: 2024 World Champion Cassio Dias’s journey to the top
The Kansas City Outlaws' standout was on top of the world in 2024.
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – If the 2024 iteration of PBR action was collectively known as the “Year of the Rookie,” it’s only right that first-year premier series competitor Cassio Dias exited the 24-event season with his first-ever PBR World Championship.
Of course, he also earned the Rookie of the Year honors as the top-performing new kid on the block while setting and resetting several different tour and rookie-related records outright.
He’s the first athlete listed on PBR.com’s athlete page for a reason – deservedly so after outworking more than 50 other cowboys throughout a six-month stint he’ll remember forever.
Capturing seven different event titles as he blazed his way to the greater Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in mid-May, Dias captured his career-first win Dec. 12 in St. Louis, Missouri.
And boy oh boy did that seem to light a fire under the talented Brazilian, as he went on to capture the tour’s showcase in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the VERY next weekend.
Adding event titles to his collection during stops in a pair of major media markets including Chicago and Los Angeles, it was clear that a star had been born. The question remained: How long would it be until he was crowned a World Champion?
Racking up additional victories in Little Rock, Arkansas; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Louisville, Kentucky to round out his seven wins on the season, Dias wasn’t just riding the MOST bulls or producing quality efforts. He was going head-to-head with the most revered bulls in all the land.
And when we think back to a pair of rides which not only stood out in context of Dias’s breakout season but which sent shivers throughout the bovine athlete sector of competition, it was easily his pair of dances with the eventual 2024 YETI World Champion Bull, Man Hater.
Originally teaming up with the very bull who had never been bested in PBR competition back in L.A. for a scoreboard-shattering 94.75 points, it was clear the two were the perfect pair.
Ever-evident a month later when the two athletes danced for another rank effort, this time marked 93.25 points as one of the Champ’s nine 90s on the year.
Despite bringing quite the respectable point advantage within the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings into Cowtown Coliseum, a nasty back injury quickly paved a path for No. 2 and fellow rookie John Crimber to make up some ground.
Exactly what the youngster did, eventually coming within striking distance when the final nights of action switched gears to invade AT&T Stadium during the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship. Hell, Crimber’s 95-pointer aboard Big Bank had fans believing the 18-year-old was set to finish off what would’ve been one of the most epic comebacks in the sport’s history.
But Dias, who was fighting through a hefty bill of health concerns, donned the chaps and shirt of his late hero, Lane Frost, and powered his way through when the lights were brightest.
Eventually matching up with Ricky Vaughn as the weekend came to a close, Dias did exactly what Dias does, throwing down another rank 92.5 points in electric fashion as members from the pack met him on the dirt before raising him to the air.
Ending his season with seven event wins, 10 Top 5 finishes and 16 Top 16 finishes, he was truly a treat to watch each and every time he stormed into any given arena and put his skillset on display.
And with the 2025 Unleash The Beast season right around the corner, set to blast off from Tucson, Arizona, Nov. 15-16, what better time to look back on the star’s breakout campaign?
So, sit back and relax. Make sure you’ve got your tickets to THIS weekend’s season-opener inside Tucson Arena and get ready to re-live the rookie’s standout season!
Today, PBR.com’s From the Vault series looks back on the Brazilian’s epic 2024 World Championship journey!
PUEBLO, Colo. – When J.W. Hart, head coach of the Kansas City Outlaws, met Cassio Dias on the morning of the 2023 PBR Team Series Draft, he didn’t know what to expect.
Assistant coach Guilherme Marchi was adamant that the Outlaws draft Dias, and Hart trusted his judgment, but he still needed to meet the guy first.
“When I met him, he was a little ol’ kid that had a big ol’ dip of snuff right in the front of his lip, and his hat was flat and his ears were bent over,” Hart said. “He didn’t know one bit of English.”
Despite the language barrier, Hart had one question.
“Can you stay on bulls?”
Dias may not have known what Hart was asking, but he knew the correct answer: “Yes, sir.”
“He had that little grin. ‘Yes, sir. Yes, sir,’” Hart said. “That was my first impression, and that’s what I see every time I see him. His little git face with a giggle to him, and ready to go get it on.”
That was on May 17, 2023.
On May 19, 2024, Dias stood atop the stage in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, amid celebratory chaos, gazing down at his newly won World Championship gold buckle.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As the regular season for the 2024 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast concluded Saturday night in Louisville, Kentucky, Brazilian phenom Cassio Dias’s(Sao F. de Sales, Brazil) rookie season for the ages remained on full display as he went 2-for-3 to win the Cooper Tires PBR Louisville, presented by Pneu-Dart, furthering his stronghold on the No. 1 rank in the World Championship race.
The win marked Dias’s seventh of the regular season, one off the all-time PBR record, as he readies to make his career-first PBR World Finals appearance where he will look to clinch both the World Championship and Rookie of the Year honor.
Dias virtually rewrote the record books for a rookie in the 2024 individual season. He led all riders with eight 90-point rides, twice as many as the second-place rider in the statistical category, John Crimber (Decatur, Texas), who had four. He also led in overall round wins, with 13, and championship round wins, with eight.
“It’s just God who blessed me every step of the way, every moment of my life. I just have to give the honor and glory to him,” Dias said on the dirt immediately following his win. “I am riding bull by bull. I know I did great, and it’s been an amazing season so far, but there’s still a lot of work to do at the World Finals.”
PUEBLO, Colo. – Last week, No. 1 Cassio Dias clinched the No. 1 spot in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings heading into the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, beginning on May 9 in Fort Worth, Texas.
But that doesn’t mean this world title race is over.
Not by a long shot.
Since winning his sixth event of the season in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the first weekend of April, Dias has fallen into a slump, going just 2-for-8 in his last three events and failing to crack the Top 10.
While he’s had other cold stretches this season, this is the first time he’s failed to place in the Top 10 in three consecutive events.
Dias leads No. 2 John Crimber by 494.5 points, so he has plenty of breathing room, but with the World Finals just two weeks away, now is not the time you want to go cold.
PUEBLO, Colo. – Week after week, it becomes increasingly apparent that Cassio Dias is on a crash course with history in 2024.
The No. 1 rider in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings is leading his closest competitor, No. 2 John Crimber, by 580.5 points with just four regular-season events remaining before the PBR World Finals, beginning on May 9 in Fort Worth, Texas.
This past weekend at the First PREMIER Bank PBR Sioux Falls, presented by Cooper Tires, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Dias earned his sixth event win of the season – by far leading the league and closing in on the record for most wins in a season (eight, held by Justin McBride and Jose Vitor Leme).
Making Dias’s feats even more remarkable is that he’s still a rookie. While he chases the World Championship, he also has designs on Rookie of the Year honors.
All told, Dias’s season is shaping up to be one of the best of all time.
But where does it stack up among other Rookie of the Year seasons?
After all, Leme was Rookie of the Year, as were Kaique Pacheco, Jess Lockwood, J.B. Mauney, Silvano Alves, J.W. Hart and Kody Lostroh, to name a few. Those are some big names with quite a few gold buckles between them.
PUEBLO, Colo. – Closing out the biggest and most prestigious regular season event of the Unleash The Beast tour, No. 1 Cassio Dias and No. 1 Man Hater teamed up once again in a major way.
Forcing each and every fan in attendance inside The Pit to go crazy as he bested the bovine for an insane 93.25 points (remaining the only rider to ever beat the all-but-soon-to-be 2024 YETI World Champion Bull), Dias rocketed to the top of the scoreboard for his heroic efforts.
Able to opt into a head-to-head showdown against the bull with the fourth overall selection in the short round draft, it was practically a good ole case of déjà vu as the 2024 PBR Rookie of the Year frontrunner embraced destiny once more.
“Look, I don’t even care about the scores,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said on the CBS Sports Broadcast network with a laugh.
“Two totally different types of outs and Dias dominates both of them. That is so fun to watch.”
Putting a majority of his injury concerns in the rear-view as he continues to extend his lead atop the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings (now 481 UTB points ahead of No. 2 John Crimber after netting 169.5 UTB points for his runner-up effort at this weekend’s PBR Albuquerque Ty Murray Invitational), Dias looks like his old self as he’s back to exiting matchups with his crowd-saluting waves and celebratory smiles.
Exactly one year after making his UTB debut inside the very same arena, what a long way the talented Brazilian has come.
PUEBLO, Colo. – It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a season like the one Cassio Dias is currently putting together.
At the halfway point of the season, the rookie phenom is ranked No. 1 in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings by a gigantic 317.33 points after four event wins.
No rider on the Unleash The Beast has won four events in a single season since Kaique Pacheco won five and eventual World Champion Jose Vitor Leme won eight in 2021.
Leme’s 2021 season is regarded as the greatest the sport has ever seen, as he broke or tied six records en route to his second consecutive world title. While we may never see the likes of that season again, Dias is currently on pace to win as many events as Leme did that year.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – In one of the biggest cities on the PBR tour, World No. 1 Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil) put up the sport’s biggest ride in two years – a monster 94.75-point ride over PBR’s top bull to win the Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeleson Saturday night.
Dias’s fourth win of the season inside a sold-out Crypto.com Arena extended his lead at the halfway point of the 2024 regular season to 317.33 points over No. 2 Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas), who is sidelined with an injury.
After a great start to the weekend, conquering Hell Storm (Julio Moreno/ Bar CB) for 87.25 points on Friday night and coming in second place in Round 1, Dias faltered a bit as Saturday began. Matched with Ghost Face (Bierema Rodeo Inc./ Cooper Scruggs Bucking Bulls) in Round 2, the talented Kansas City Outlaws cowboy in the separate PBR Teams league was uncharacteristically unseated after just 3.04 seconds.
Despite the buckoff, he advanced into the championship round and set his sights on a previously unridden opponent in Man Hater (Jane Clark/ Gene Owen).
Launching from the chutes aboard the immensely talented bovine, Dias was picture-perfect with a 94.75-point score, the highest ride score of the 2024 UTB season and unmatched by any rides in 2023. The last ride in proximity to the 22-year-old’s high-scoring trip in Los Angeles was Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) covering world champion bull Ridin’ Solo (Bill McCarty/ McCoy Rodeo) in 2022 for 94.75 as well.
The ride earned Man Hater the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event with a 46-point bull score.
Before Dias made the 8 on Man Eater, the bovine athlete had bucked off more than 30 consecutive riders.”
“God gave me the strength to make all of this happen,” said Dias via the translation help of Paulo Crimber. “I just want to take it day-by-day. There is still a lot of ground left to gain and a lot of events left to go.”
In addition to a check for $50,856, Dias also earned 127 Unleash The Beast points.
PUEBLO, Colo. – This past weekend at the Tractor Supply Co. PBR Chicago in Rosemont, Illinois, Cassio Dias notched his third event win of the 2024 season.
If it seems like he’s winning at an unreal clip… well, that’s because he is.
Dias broke into the PBR last summer with the Kansas City Outlaws in PBR Teams, placing second in the regular-season MVP race and helping the Outlaws to a No. 2 finish in the regular-season standings.
Now, in his rookie year on the Unleash The Beast, he’s won three times in his first nine attempts – an astounding 33.3% winning percentage.
Simply winning three events in a season is an incredible feat. It seems to be standard issue for two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme, but he was the only rider to do it in 2023. As for how long it took him to earn his first three event wins? Thirty-three events. Leme debuted at the 2017 PBR World Finals, which he won, and didn’t win his third event until March of 2019.
It took two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood 20 events to win three.
It took 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis 40 events.
It took 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco 21 events.
It even took two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney 31 events.
All these riders won their respective Rookie of the Year races (except Davis, who finished second to Pacheco), so they came out of the gate hot.
So what Dias is doing is not only incredible but also historic. In fact, Dias reached three career event wins faster than any other rider in PBR history dating back to 2000, as far as our records go.
Johnstown, PA. – The third PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event of the 2024 season came to a climactic end in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Sunday afternoon, as Cassio Dias(Sao F. de Sales) went a perfect 2-for-2 on Championship Sunday to win his second event of the 2024 season.
Dias, a 22-year-old rising superstar for the Kansas City Outlaws in the separate PBR Teams league, got off to a strong start on Friday, topping The Judge(Blake Sharp) for 89.25 points on the first night of the three-day event.
Proving his resilience, the Brazilian cowboy battled back after bucking off Train Station(Cornwell Bucking Bulls) in 4.07 seconds Saturday night, riding Strong Arm(Gene Owen Bucking Bulls/Halpain) for 86.25 points on Sunday afternoon to punch his ticket to the championship round.
Choosing Cy Young (Blake Sharp/Robbie Ray/Doug Wilson), Dias wrapped his hand in the bull rope one more time, needing a solid score to rise to the top of the leaderboard.
Looking for his second-straight victory after winning in St. Louis, Missouri, last weekend, Dias stormed out of the chutes, moving in perfect time with his animal athlete opponent in front of a roaring, sold-out 1ST SUMMIT ARENA crowd, scoring an event-high 91.75 points to seize the event lead.
Through the victory, Dias earned 158.5 Unleash The Beast points and pushed his lead in the World Standings to 161.5 points in his quest for his first gold buckle.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – In front of an electric Sunday afternoon crowd inside the Enterprise Center, Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil) reached a crucial career milestone, delivering a flawless 3-for-3 effort to win his career-first Unleash The Beast event, victorious at PBR (Professional Bull Riders) St. Louis and vaulting to the world No. 1 rank.
In another career-first, Dias logged his first 90-point ride in Unleash The Beast competition inside the home of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, capping his efforts with a monstrous 90.5-point ride to also win the championship round.
The 22-year-old rising superstar is now 6-for-6 through the first two events of the 23-event Unleash The Beast regular season.
“It’s hard to believe and a dream come true for me that shows how much my hard work and everything I put in day by day has paid off here with the best in the world,” Dias said from the dirt following his win via translator Paulo Crimber.
Fans can stay tuned to PBR.com and @PBR social media channels throughout the week as we continue to celebrate the official kickoff of the 2025 Unleash The Beast season!
