SALT LAKE CITY – In front of a sold-out Friday night crowd at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center, world leader Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia) was flawless, winning Round 1 of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast (UTB) event. 

Rocketing from the chutes aboard Dirty Dave, Fielder earned an 88.5-point win that netted 28 UTB points. Fielder, who rides for the Texas Rattlers in the separate PBR Teams league, increased his lead over No. 2-ranked John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) to 99.5 points.

Crimber, who had been sidelined due to injury since he was bucked off in Houston, Texas, last month, returned to competition on Friday night. Despite his best efforts and the roar of the crowd, Crimber hit the ground after 5.03 seconds aboard Whip. 

The young phenom was ranked No. 1 in the standings for the first nine weeks of the season, and even with his absence, he was only 71.5 points behind Fielder for the lead in the 2025 gold buckle race before the night began and Fielder hit the gas.

The opening night of the two-day event in Utah’s capital featured the sixth installment of the Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, an extension of the PBR Teams league that brings head-to-head, team-vs.-team bull riding games to the sport’s elite individual tour.

As action got underway between the Arizona Ridge Riders and Oklahoma Wildcatters, veteran rider Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil), tasked with Off the Tracks, was the first rider to convert for Arizona. In what proved to be a perfect pairing, the 34-year-old was awarded 87 points.

Aparecido, who started the night at No. 37 in the standings, earned 13.5 UTB points to jump to No. 35. He heads into Saturday at No. 6 on the event leaderboard.

Arizona’s second score was logged by Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil), while Oklahoma’s lone score came courtesy of Cort McFadden (Novice, Texas). With matching 85.25-point scores that also count towards the opening round of the main event, Castro conquered Karizma while McFadden bested Taylor’s Cowtown Throwdown.

Castro, who claimed his first premier series win in seven years just one week ago in Sacramento, advances to Saturday eleventh, having earned 8.3 UTB points, holding strong at No. 3 in the world. He is now 113.67 points behind Fielder.

McFadden also earned 8.3 points, heading into Round 2 tied with Castro. He moved up one spot from No. 8 to No. 7.

One week after breaking Cool Whip’s notorious buckoff streak, Sandro Batista (Pedra Preta, Brazil) was still red hot. The Kansas City Outlaws athlete logged an 88.25-point score for his showdown with Oyster Creek Brawler. Netting 18 UTB points, he rolls into Saturday night in second place, moving from No. 12 in the standings to No. 10.

Felipe Furlan (Sales Oliveira, Brazil), who rides for the Missouri Thunder in the PBR Teams league, shared third place on the opening round’s leaderboard with Alan de Souza (Taubate, Brazil) of the Nashville Stampede.

Producing matching 88-point scores and earning an identical 16.5 UTB points, Furlan defeated T-Wrecks while Souza bested Sneaky Situation.

Sitting at No. 34 as the night began, Furlan moved up two spots to No. 32, while Souza moved from No. 18 to No. 15.

Rounding out the Top 5 was Kansas City Outlaws standout and 2024 Salt Lake City champion Koltin Hevalow (McAlester, Oklahoma). Hevalow outlasted Body Roc for 87.75 points and, collecting 15 UTB points, moved from No. 27 to No. 25.

Action for the PBR Salt Lake City will continue with Round 2 immediately followed by the championship round on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 6:45 p.m. MT.

Both nights of competition in Utah will be available LIVE and FREE on PBR’s X channel (https://x.com/PBR), RidePass on Pluto TV, PBR’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@pbr), PBR’s mobile app (https://qrco.de/bdtdKp), and PBR’s app on connected TVs, including Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku and Google TV. The stream for PBR Salt Lake City continues on Saturday, Feb. 8.

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

PBR Unleash The Beast - PBR Salt Lake City
Delta Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Brady Fielder, 88.5-0-0-88.50-28 Points.
2. Sandro Batista, 88.25-0-0-88.25-18 Points.
3. Felipe Furlan, 88-0-0-88.00-16.5 Points.
(tie). Alan de Souza, 88-0-0-88.00-16.5 Points.
5. Koltin Hevalow, 87.75-0-0-87.75-15 Points.
6. Eduardo Aparecido, 87-0-0-87.00-13.5 Points.
(tie). Boudreaux Campbell, 87-0-0-87.00-13.5 Points.
8. João Ricardo Vieira, 86.75-0-0-86.75-12 Points.
9. Dalton Kasel, 86-0-0-86.00-11 Points.
10. Leandro Zampollo, 85.75-0-0-85.75-10 Points.
11. Luciano De Castro, 85.25-0-0-85.25-8.3333 Points.
(tie). Cort McFadden, 85.25-0-0-85.25-8.3333 Points.
(tie). Anderson de Oliveira, 85.25-0-0-85.25-8.3333 Points.
14. Claudio Montanha Jr., 85-0-0-85.00-8 Points.
15. Sage Steele Kimzey, 83.25-0-0-83.25-8 Points.
John Crimber, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0.00
Julio Cesar Marques, 0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0.00
Austin Richardson, 0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaiden Loud, 0-0-0-0.00
Leonardo Castro, 0-0-0-0.00
Clay Guiton, 0-0-0-0.00
Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Elizmar Jeremias, 0-0-0-0.00
Dawson Branton, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0.00
Vinicius Pinheiro Correa, 0-0-0-0.00
Rogério Venâncio, 0-0-0-0.00
Miguel de Jesus, 0-0-0-0.00
Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0.00
Everton Natan da Silva, 0-0-0-0.00
JaCauy Hale, 0-0-0-0.00
Guilherme Valleiras, 0-0-0-0.00
Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Martins Costa, 0-0-0-0.00
Trace Redd, 0-0-0-0.00
Dustin Herman, 0-0-0-0.00
Bruno Carvalho, 0-0-0-0.00
Kase Hitt, 0-0-0-0.00
Hagen Braswell, 0-0-0-0.00

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media