What to Watch For: No. 14 Anderson de Oliveira quietly climbing premier series standings
Pacing the 2025 PBR Rookie of the Year race, can the Brazilian stay hot down the stretch?
By James Youness
FORT WORTH, Texas – By now, we’re well aware that 2025 has belonged to the veterans so far, seeing 11 different riders mix it up throughout the tour’s first 14 events.
Since deeming 2024 as the “Year of the Rookie,” it’s been quite the dramatic shift between first-year classes, as this year’s new kids on the block have combined for zero of said victories so far.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t here grinding – waiting for their moment to shine.
But with so many less youngsters in the mix this time around, the 2025 PBR Rookie of the Year race has taken a bit of a backseat to the tour’s ever-competitive quest for the gold buckle.
Quietly grinding his way back into the Top 15 last weekend courtesy of his second 3-for-3 slate within Unleash The Beast competition, the 38-year-old Brazilian in Anderson de Oliveira might not look or ride like a rookie, per se. But with this winter being his first campaign competing within the premier series pack, he’s very much in contention for the year one honors this May.
In fact, he continues to lead the circuit’s newly welcomed talents, now 68.83 points ahead of Elizmar Jeremias, who won Round 1 in Jacksonville, Florida, as he injected some momentum into his own first-year run.
With Leandro Zampollo, Hudson Bolton (who’s still out of competition, healing up from an injury sustained earlier this season) and Vinicius Pinheiro Correa remaining within striking distance alongside Jeremias, Oliveira hasn’t sealed the deal on the honors quite yet.
But it’s become clear that despite his age and late-blooming skillset, this cowboy is here to ride.
His flawless performance last weekend inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena typically would’ve garnered him a podium position, if not a Top 5.
But in a showcase which featured eight different men to stay perfect, he was forced to settle for a seventh-place finish as brought home 40.5 UTB points for what became his fifth Top 8 finish on the year.
Logging 82.5, 87.25 and 87.5-point conversions in Week 14, none of the marks or matchups were perfect.
Then again, that’s part of working your way up the ranks – hanging on for dear life and racking up some scores.
There will always been time to make it look a little prettier as the season progresses – Exactly what we’ve seen from the trending talent as he continues to make waves, now 5-for-6 over his last two appearances.
Proudly sporting his shiny blue Nashville Stampede helmet throughout the season after spending his summer working with Head Coach Justin McBride and company, he’s also 1-for-1 in Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, competition after helping his Stampede post a 251-0 victory over the Carolina Cowboys last month in Chicago, Illinois.
Eventually parlaying his first-round conversion into a career-best No. 2 finish inside Allstate Arena as he posted the first 3-for-3 effort of his career, it’s clear he performs well with the additional support of his summertime coaches and teammates.
Originally signed as a free agent on May 10, 2024, he has to be viewed as one of the more favorable signings lately, as he’s taking everything the guys in his corner have to share and running with it.
Well, riding with it …
Which shouldn’t be much of a surprise at this point after seeing the cowboy storm into his first year of UTB action with four-consecutive Top 20 finishes.
His No. 19 result during the season-opener in Tucson, Arizona, wasn’t necessarily ideal. But any time you can step under the brightest lights in the business and knock down one of the world’s rankest bovine athletes, it’s surely something to build on.
Eventually following up his encouraging start with eighth and fourth-place finishes in Ontario, California, and Wichita, Kansas, respectively, he was suddenly on the radar in a BIG way.
Stumbling a bit as the calendar year updated itself to 2025, he was on the wrong side of a three-event rideless streak as some of his “beginner’s luck” started to wear off.
Proving his hot start was indeed a sign of things to come, he’s returned to the Top 20 in each of his last three events, including seventh and eighth-place finishes in his last two.
He’s not the sexiest Rookie of the Year contender we’ve seen by any means.
But the idea he’s competing alongside, if not OUT-COMPETING, several of the world’s most-skilled bull riders at the age of 38 … again, during his first trip around the premier series circuit, keeps him in favorable standing, if you ask us!
Up to the No. 14 spot, officially 15-for-31 (48.39%) on the season, he prepares to dance with Air Marshall during Round 1’s very-first out.
So, be sure to check out all of this weekend’s action LIVE and FREE beginning Saturday night!
This weekend’s PBR Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is set to begin Saturday, March 1 at 7:45 p.m. CT as the best bull riders in the world prepare to put on a show inside Fiserv Forum.
Competition will conclude Sunday, March 2 at 1:45 p.m. CT with Round 2, followed by the short go, as riders look to improve their respective ranks during the dramatic Week 15 showdown.
