FORT WORTH, Texas – In the first two rounds of the 2025 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations, the world title race, blazing hot in the regular season, had gone a bit cold.

In Round 3 on Saturday night inside Cowtown Coliseum, it was jolted back to life.

The first spark came from No. 2 Brady Fielder, who may be a calm, mellow personality, but knows how to turn in an electric bull ride.

His 86-point ride on Bueno wasn’t the highest-scoring of his career, but it’s definitely one of the biggest. Having gone 0-for-2 through the first two rounds of Eliminations, the score got him on the board and moving in the right direction.

“Oh, it feels amazing, really,” an upbeat Fielder said. “It’s not even really a relief. I’m just thankful to get my job done tonight.”

Right after Fielder’s out, No. 1 Dalton Kasel also got off the schneid, covering The Kraken for 88.75 points. The higher score meant Kasel finished higher in the round and therefore earned more points, extending his lead over Fielder in the standings to 157 points.

But the score allows Fielder to at least keep pace in the aggregate and limit the damage.

It had been a frustrating start to Eliminations for Fielder. In Round 1, he bucked off Lap Dancer in an absolutely agonizing 7.93 seconds when his long legs hit the dirt early. And in Round 2, he bucked off Nobody in an equally heartbreaking 7.13 seconds.

Fielder is less than a second from being 3-for-3.

He grimaces when reminded.

“I just think I just didn’t get it done,” he said. “I’ve got to finish strong and ride through the whistle. I took them ones as good practice, and I’m thankful to get my bull rode tonight. I’ve been getting it down pat, and I’m thankful I finally did.”

Fielder is having by far the best UTB season of his career in 2025, and he admits that coming into the biggest event of the year in position to challenge for a world title may have gotten to him a little bit.

“It’s kind of a big deal,” he said. “I just try not to lose track of myself, and do what I know, and take what I know and make it work.

“This is me, and that’s all I can be. So it’s where I feel comfortable grounding myself, I guess you could say. But I want to do so good. I want to do so good, and sometimes it’s a little hard to just take care of where you’re at in the moment. But I’m thankful I got it done tonight.”

Fielder got it done in front of 15-20 Australians who made the long journey to watch one of their own compete for a world title. Among them are Fielder’s mom and her partner, family friends and cousins, as well as some other Aussies he laughingly says he doesn’t even know.

“It’s so awesome to have the support and knowing I have everybody behind me. It seems like the whole of Australia, you know?” he said with a laugh. “It’s really awesome, and I just hope to make them all proud. I know I will.”

Some of his supporters are in the U.S. to see him ride for the first time. While he returns to Oz in June and November for biannual visits, he doesn’t get to see much of his family otherwise, so it’s been special to play host to his loved ones for a change.

“I embrace it. I love it,” Fielder said. “It’s all part of the journey. It’s just a good time – that’s the way I see it. You think it may get challenging and whatnot at different times, but I’m happy to take care of them. As long as I can still take care of myself, it doesn’t really matter.”

Fielder will look to keep the ball rolling in Round 4 on Sunday, when he takes on Ricky Vaughn (2:45 p.m. ET on RidePass, the PBR App, YouTube and X; 3 p.m. ET on the Cowboy Channel).

Fielder rode Ricky Vaughn two weeks ago at the regular-season finale in Tacoma, Washington, for 88.5 points in the championship round en route to a third-place finish.

“He’s an awesome bull. There’s nothing bad about him,” Fielder said with a grin. “He just bucks. That’s it.”

Hovering over Fielder’s performance in Texas this week is the fact that he could be the first Australian since Troy Dunn in 1998 to win a World Championship. Dunn coached Fielder on Team Australia at the Global Cup in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

While Fielder recognizes the magnitude of what he’s trying to accomplish, it’s not something he’s getting lost in.

“I know where I’m headed, and I know what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m not doing this for just something to do. There’s a purpose to it all, and that’s what makes it easy for me. If I can achieve it, it’d be truly amazing.”

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media