By Kacie Albert
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In front of a raucous, sold-out Saturday night crowd in Jacksonville, Florida, 2018 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Champion Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) rode supreme, winning Round 1 of the Unleash The Beast’s Michelob ULTRA PBR Jacksonville with a monster 90-point ride.
Pacheco, who rides for the Austin Gamblers in the separate PBR Teams league, led the field of 25 qualified rides when he dominated Mike’s Motive (Blake Sharp/High Voltage/Wetzel/Knott) for a mammoth 90.5 points.
Pacheco garnered 29 Unleash The Beast points and rose from No. 20 to No. 13 in the race for the 2025 PBR World Championship. He now trails No. 1 Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia) by 319.5 points.
Fielder finished tenth in Round 1, remaining atop the standings. The Texas Rattler rode Jail Bird (McCoy Rodeo/Rockin’ Rafter P Ranches) for 87 points to net 10 Unleash The Beast points. He is now 98 points ahead of No. 2 Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas).
Austin Gambler Kasel lessened Fielder’s lead by finishing third in the opening round of the Michelob ULTRA PBR Jacksonville. His 89.5-point score atop Lights Out (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson/Hanks) netted him 17 Unleash The Beast points.
The opening night of the two-day event in the Sunshine State also featured the eighth 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.
The home state Florida Freedom obliterated the New York Mavericks by 254.25 points, winning The Battle for The Belt 424-169.75. Under the leadership of Paulo Crimber, the Freedom’s 5-for-6 effort included a ride from his son, 2024 PBR Teams MVP John Crimber (Decatur, Texas).
Crimber bested Feeds Red River (Blake Sharp/Huff Bulls) for 88 points to finish fifth in Round 1. Collecting 15 Unleash The Beast points, Crimber rose from No. 4 to No. 3 as the 19-year-old phenom chases his first World Championship this May. He is now within 107.5 points of reclaiming the world No. 1 rank.
Florida was led by Elizmar Jeremias (Anapu, Brazil) who delivered the second monster ride of the night, outlasting Hoobastank (Blake Sharp/Hanks) for a commanding 90.25 points. Jeremias earned 19 Unleash The Beast points, remaining No. 23 in the standings.
Thiago Salgado (Navirai, Brazil), Alex Cerqueira (Iguatemi, Brazil) and Yan Victor Cunha (Assis Brasil, Brazi) also added scores to Florida’s win. They are positioned twelfth, tied for seventeenth and twenty-fifth, respectively, on the Round 1 leaderboard.
Mauricio Gulla Moreira (Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil) and Leandro Zampollo (Pirassununga, Brazil) were the lone two contenders to last the requisite 8 for New York. Moreira led the charge, tying for seventh in Round 1, as he rode Prince Charming (Viducic/Julian Cattle) for 87.5 points.
Returning to the top of the event leaderboard, the Texas Rattlers’ Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil) rounded out the Top 5 in Round 1, finishing fourth.
Vieira rode Rafter P Construction’s Smooth Over It (McCoy Rodeo/Rockin’ Rafter P Ranches) for 88.25 points. Earning 16 Unleash The Beast points, Vieira rose from No. 29 to No. 26 in the standings.
In all, eight of the Top 10-ranked riders registered a qualified ride Saturday night in Jacksonville.
Action for the 2025 Michelob ULTRA PBR Jacksonville will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Sunday, Feb. 23. Action gets underway at 2:45 p.m. ET. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com and PBR.com, and at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena Box Office.
Both nights of competition in Jacksonville 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 Michelob ULTRA PBR Jacksonville continues Sunday, Feb. 23.
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
Michelob ULTRA PBR Jacksonville
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena – Jacksonville, Florida
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
- Kaique Pacheco, 90.5-0-0-90.50-29 Points.
- Elizmar Jeremias, 90.25-0-0-90.25-19 Points.
- Dalton Kasel, 89.5-0-0-89.50-17 Points.
- João Ricardo Vieira, 88.25-0-0-88.25-16 Points.
- John Crimber, 88-0-0-88.00-15 Points.
- Dawson Branton, 87.75-0-0-87.75-14 Points.
- Ethan Winckler, 87.5-0-0-87.50-12.5 Points.
(tie). Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 87.5-0-0-87.50-12.5 Points.
- Sandro Batista, 87.25-0-0-87.25-11 Points.
- Brady Fielder, 87-0-0-87.00-10 Points.
- Austin Richardson, 86.25-0-0-86.25-9 Points.
- Thiago Salgado, 86-0-0-86.00-8 Points.
- Luciano De Castro, 85.75-0-0-85.75-8 Points.
(tie). Cort McFadden, 85.75-0-0-85.75-8 Points.
- Lucas Divino, 84.75-0-0-84.75-8 Points.
- Sage Steele Kimzey, 84.25-0-0-84.25-8 Points.
- Dener Barbosa, 84-0-0-84.00-8 Points.
(tie). Claudio Montanha Jr., 84-0-0-84.00-8 Points.
(tie). Alex Cerqueira, 84-0-0-84.00-8 Points.
- Alan de Souza, 83.75-0-0-83.75-8 Points.
- Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 83.25-0-0-83.25-8 Points.
- Grayson Cole, 83-0-0-83.00
- Anderson de Oliveira, 82.5-0-0-82.50-8 Points.
- Leandro Zampollo, 82.25-0-0-82.25-8 Points.
- Yan Victor Cunha, 75.75-0-0-75.75-7 Points.
Julio Cesar Marques, 0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0.00
Koltin Hevalow, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Leonardo Castro, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaiden Loud, 0-0-0-0.00
Clay Guiton, 0-0-0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Felipe Furlan, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0.00
Marco Rizzo, 0-0-0-0.00
Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0-0.00
Trace Redd, 0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
João Lucas Campos, 0-0-0-0.00