ARLINGTON, Texas – In front of a raucous Saturday night crowd inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) delivered a dominant performance, going a perfect 2-for-2 and sweeping both rounds of competition to not only surge to the lead in the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship, but also rise from No. 6 to No. 4 in the race for the 2025 World Championship.
Leme, who is now a perfect 6-for-6 across the two phases of World Finals, having begun the three-part event by winning Eliminations last week at Cowtown Coliseum in nearby Fort Worth, is attempting to make a dark-horse push at history. Should he complete his come-from-behind push and win the 2025 PBR World Championship, he would become just the third three-time PBR World Champion in history, joining Adriano Moraes (Paulista, Brazil) and Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil).
In Round 1, Leme, who rides for the Austin Gamblers in the separate PBR Teams league, took on Ugly This (McCoy Rodeo/Spencer Neil). Remaining in perfect time with the powerful animal athlete, Leme reached the requisite 8 with ease, winning Round 1 with an 88.75-point score.
Leme remained red-hot in Round 2 when he logged the first 90-point ride of the Championship, dominating Oyster Creek Brawler (Farris Cattle/Big Schott Rodeo) for 90.5 points.
In addition to a check for $150,166.67, Leme earned a crucial 177 Unleash The Beast points. He rose from No. 6 to No. 4 in the world, propelled within 446 points of No. 1 Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas).
On Championship Sunday, one rider has the chance to earn a maximum 578 points, with 400 points set to be awarded to the event winner and 80 points to each round winner, in addition to ride score points.
No. 1 Kasel and No. 2 Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia) were both shut out Saturday evening.
The Austin Gamblers’ Kasel suffered two heartbreaking buckoffs just past the 7-second mark. He was tossed by DirtyBru (Universal Pro Rodeo/Rachel & Dustin Powell/Delmas/Williams) in 7.3 seconds in Round 1 and by Hunting Trip (Universal Pro Rodeo/Rachel & Dustin Powell/Delmas/Williams) in 7.7 seconds in Round 2.
The Texas Rattlers’ Fielder also stumbled. He was bucked off by Magic Hunter (Martinez Bucking Bulls, LLC) in 1.8 seconds in Round 1 and by Nightmare (Universal Pro Rodeo/Delmas/Williams) in 3.3 seconds in Round 2.
No. 3 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) was the lone rider inside the Top 3 to cover Saturday evening. He is currently tied for fifth at the 2025 PBR World Finals – Championship following a 1-for-2 effort in the opening rounds.
The Florida Freedom’s Crimber was sensational in Round 1, tying for third via his 88.25-point ride atop July (Leffew Bucking Bulls). He was denied a flawless performance in Round 2 when he was launched by Miller Time (A&E Bucking Bulls/BS Cattle Co.) in a close 6.07 seconds.
Crimber left AT&T Stadium having earned 42 Unleash The Beast points. He now trails No. 1 Kasel by 434 points.
Returning to the top of the event leaderboard, Leme is one of three riders to have covered both of his animal athlete opponents.
Alan de Souza (Taubate, Brazil) is currently second, having made the 8 on Snap Chatter (Flying S Bucking Bulls/Dozier) for 85.25 points in Round 1 and atop Hoobastank (Blake Sharp/Hanks) for 87 points in Round 2.
The Nashville Stampede rider netted 64 Unleash The Beast points and rose from No. 17 to No. 15 in the standings.
Third is the Missouri Thunder’s Paulo Eduardo Rossetto (Colorado, Brazil).
Rossetto earned 44 Unleash The Beast points compliments of his 74.75-point effort atop Plowboy (Connelly & Sam Doan/Staci Addison/Julian Cattle) in Round 1 and 84.75-point trip aboard Pay Pal (Lari Crane/Gene Owen) in Round 2.
Rossetto rose from No. 8 to No. 7 in the race for the 2025 PBR World Championship and is now 648.75 points behind No. 1 Kasel.
The 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship concludes with Round 3 and Round 4 on Sunday, May 18, at 1:45 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at PBRWorldFinals.com and SeatGeek.com, or by calling (800) 732-1727.
The entirety of the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship in Arlington 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.
PBR Unleash The Beast
2025 PBR World Finals – Championship
AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Jose Vitor Leme, 88.75-90.5-0-0-179.25-177 Points.
2. Alan de Souza, 85.25-87-0-0-172.25-64 Points.
3. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 74.75-84.75-0-0-159.50-44 Points.
4. Andrew Alvidrez, 88.5-0-0-0-88.50-48 Points.
5. John Crimber, 88.25-0-0-0-88.25-42 Points.
(tie). Daniel Keeping, 88.25-0-0-0-88.25-42 Points.
7. Felipe Furlan, 88-0-0-0-88.00-36 Points.
8. Kaiden Loud, 87-0-0-0-87.00-32 Points.
9. Cort McFadden, 86.75-0-0-0-86.75-28 Points.
10. Kaique Pacheco, 86-0-0-0-86.00-24 Points.
11. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 85.5-0-0-0-85.50-20 Points.
(tie). Elizmar Jeremias, 0-85.5-0-0-85.50-44 Points.
13. Claudio Montanha Jr., 84.5-0-0-0-84.50-13 Points.
14. Dener Barbosa, 0-83.5-0-0-83.50-36 Points.
15. Hudson Bolton, 0-77.75-0-0-77.75-24 Points.
Dalton Kasel, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Clay Guiton, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Sage Steele Kimzey, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Austin Richardson, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Leonardo Castro, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Koltin Hevalow, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Sandro Batista, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Yan Victor Cunha, 0-0-0-0-0.00
2025 PBR Unleash The Beast Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Dalton Kasel, 23, 5, 10, 1,383.00, $400,078.33
2. Brady Fielder, 23, 2, 10, 1,145.00, $237,020.83
3. John Crimber, 22, 2, 6, 949.00, $227,320.00
4. Jose Vitor Leme, 14, 2, 4, 937.00, $296,446.67
5. Clay Guiton, 24, 1, 6, 882.00, $209,138.33
6. Sage Steele Kimzey, 22, 1, 4, 768.25, $143,895.83
7. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 23, 1, 4, 734.25, $123,441.67
8. Luciano De Castro, 24, 2, 4, 709.83, $149,935.83
9. Cort McFadden, 25, 0, 6, 706.08, $100,279.17
10. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 24, 1, 3, 692.00, $137,205.00
11. Andrew Alvidrez, 22, 1, 4, 648.75, $136,375.00
12. Kaiden Loud, 23, 0, 3, 645.50, $135,092.50
13. Kaique Pacheco, 23, 0, 4, 621.00, $85,323.33
14. Austin Richardson, 21, 1, 4, 615.50, $149,090.00
15. Alan de Souza, 21, 0, 1, 549.00, $58,065.00
16. Hudson Bolton, 12, 0, 4, 529.50, $114,800.83
17. Leonardo Castro, 25, 0, 4, 502.75, $62,850.00
18. Lucas Divino, 24, 2, 3, 482.00, $114,498.33
19. Claudio Montanha Jr., 26, 0, 3, 480.00, $54,515.00
20. Dener Barbosa, 25, 0, 2, 470.00, $46,912.50
21. Koltin Hevalow, 25, 0, 3, 441.00, $61,504.17
22. Eduardo Aparecido, 22, 1, 3, 440.50, $89,829.17
23. Anderson de Oliveira, 21, 0, 3, 439.83, $55,290.00
24. Sandro Batista, 17, 0, 2, 421.33, $63,445.83
25. Julio Cesar Marques, 25, 1, 2, 403.33, $84,856.67
26. Elizmar Jeremias, 24, 1, 4, 401.50, $55,612.50
27. Derek Kolbaba, 19, 1, 2, 356.00, $70,094.17
28. Adriano Salgado, 24, 0, 2, 330.83, $43,296.67
29. Felipe Furlan, 19, 0, 3, 321.00, $53,941.67
30. Daylon Swearingen, 18, 0, 0, 320.50, $31,916.67
31. João Ricardo Vieira, 24, 0, 1, 283.00, $24,925.00
32. Daniel Keeping, 18, 0, 2, 273.50, $23,050.00
33. Leandro Zampollo, 18, 0, 0, 223.00, $7,883.33
34. Thiago Salgado, 16, 0, 2, 203.00, $34,350.00
35. Boudreaux Campbell, 21, 0, 1, 200.33, $17,852.50
36. Mason Taylor, 22, 0, 1, 199.33, $19,066.67
37. Vinicius Pinheiro Correa, 16, 0, 2, 188.00, $20,916.67
38. Ethan Winckler, 9, 0, 0, 175.50, $28,850.00
39. Dawson Branton, 17, 0, 0, 156.50, $14,600.00
40. Bruno Carvalho, 13, 0, 2, 143.50, $19,675.83
41. Miguel de Jesus, 2, 0, 0, 115.50, $2,600.00
42. Ezekiel Mitchell, 7, 0, 1, 114.00, $8,580.00
43. Alex Cerqueira, 16, 0, 0, 107.50, $3,477.50
44. Rogério Venâncio, 13, 0, 0, 94.58, $2,200.00
45. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 12, 0, 0, 90.50, $5,908.33
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media