The 2026 PBR World Finals: Unleash the Beast was the 33rd edition of the PBR World Finals, the championship event of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), and the conclusion of the 2026 UTB season. The event was held in Fort Worth, Texas, with opening four rounds being held from May 7 to 10 at Cowtown Coliseum, and the final five rounds being held from May 14 to 17 at Dickies Arena.

The World Finals featured the top bull riders from the 2026 UTB season competing for the PBR World Championship, a gold buckle, and a $1 million World Champion bonus. The event had a record-setting total purse of approximately $3.26 million, with the top rider of the event earning a $500,000 bonus.

John Crimber won the 2026 PBR World Championship, earning his first world title, while Hudson Bolton won the World Finals event title.

Background Qualification The 45-rider field for the 2026 PBR World Finals consisted of the top 40 riders in the UTB world standings following the conclusion of the regular season, along with five riders who qualified through the Velocity Tour. The Velocity Tour invitees were required to record at least one qualified ride during the opening four rounds to advance to the second weekend of competition.

Format During the opening weekend, the top 40 riders in the UTB world standings, along with five Velocity Tour invitees, competed in four rounds. Riders received scores based on their individual rides, with a qualified ride requiring the rider to remain aboard the bull for eight seconds. Riders who failed to record a qualified ride received no score for that round.

Following the first four rounds, all 40 UTB riders advanced, along with any Velocity Tour invitees who recorded a qualified ride during the first four rounds. These riders competed in the final four qualifying rounds to determine the 15 riders who would qualify for the Championship Round.

Following the final four qualifying rounds, the top 15 riders in the event standings advanced to the Championship Round. The rider with the highest aggregate score at the conclusion of the round was declared the World Finals event champion.

The World Finals also determined the PBR World Champion. Riders earned PBR points throughout the event, with the rider who accumulated the most points during the season and World Finals being crowned the PBR World Champion.

Venues The 2026 World Finals marked the fourth consecutive year that the event was held, at least in part, in Fort Worth, Texas. The opening four rounds were held at Cowtown Coliseum, while Dickies Arena hosted the final five rounds. This also marked the third consecutive year that the opening rounds would be held at Cowtown Coliseum and the first time since 2023 that Dickies Arena hosted World Finals.

This was the final year that the World Finals were held at Dickies Arena, with the championship rounds being moved to Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, in 2027.

World standings

Competition Results Note: The table lists only riders who recorded at least one qualified ride.

Seed Rider Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Aggregate Points 1 Hudson Bolton 89.65 86.40 89.35 88.25 91.30 87.25 86.65 — — 618.85 653.50 2 Luciano De Castro 88.45 89.25 87.55 90.15 — — 87.40 89.05 — 531.85 470.00 3 Paulo Eduardo Rossetto 84.55 — 89.20 88.35 — 85.80 — — 91.50 439.40 322.00 4 Brady Fielder — — 89.55 — 86.65 86.60 86.60 — 88.60 438.00 248.67 5 Claudio Montanha Jr. — 90.90 89.30 88.70 — — — 90.05 — 358.95 226.50 6 John Crimber — — — — — 89.40 84.95 91.35 92.90 358.60 258.00 7 Manoelito de Souza Junior — — 89.30 — 89.00 — 88.60 89.00 — 355.90 191.50 8 Daylon Swearingen 89.85 — — 90.80 — 88.20 86.60 — — 355.45 161.67 9 Dener Barbosa 87.70 87.70 — 85.90 — — — — 89.85 351.15 106.00 10 Lucas Divino — 89.90 87.15 89.00 — 84.35 — — — 350.40 76.00 11 Macaulie Leather — — — 87.40 — 88.55 — 88.60 — 264.55 60.00 12 Keyshawn Whitehorse 86.95 90.20 — — — — 86.30 — — 263.45 69.00 13 Callum Miller 90.25 — 83.90 88.30 — — — — — 262.45 62.00 14 Bob Mitchell — — — — 85.65 87.75 86.60 — — 260.00 50.67 15 Alex Cerqueira — — — — 94.35 89.05 75.65 — — 259.05 62.00 16 Maverick Smith — — 87.60 — 83.40 88.05 — — — 259.05 44.00 17 Eduardo Aparecido — — — — 96.10 89.55 — — — 185.65 88.50 18 Sage Kimzey 90.50 92.60 — — — — — — — 183.10 118.00 19 Thiago Salgado — 90.60 — — — 90.05 — — — 180.65 88.00 20 Kaiden Loud — — 90.00 90.10 — — — — — 180.10 86.00 21 Kaique Pacheco — — — 91.55 — 87.90 — — — 179.45 72.00 22 Julio Cesar Marques — 91.10 — — — — 87.80 — — 178.90 65.00 23 Daniel Keeping — — 87.05 90.90 — — — — — 177.95 44.00 24 Cassio Dias — — — — 88.25 89.65 — — — 177.90 59.00 25 Michael Lane — — — — — 88.05 89.50 — — 177.55 73.00 26 Dalton Kasel — — — — 87.65 89.55 — — — 177.20 52.50 27 Mauricio Gulla Moreira — — 89.50 — — 87.25 — — — 176.75 41.50 28 Marco Rizzo — — — 89.75 — 86.25 — — — 176.00 31.00 29 Alan de Souza — — — — — — 84.35 90.30 — 174.65 47.00 30 Bruno Carvalho — — — 86.00 87.55 — — — — 173.55 31.00 31 Mason Taylor — — 88.50 — — — — — — 88.50 18.00 32 Alex Junior da Silva — — 88.45 — — — — — — 88.45 16.00 33 Leandro Zampollo — — — 87.95 — — — — — 87.95 12.00 34 Andy Guzman — — 87.20 — — — — — — 87.20 12.00 35 Trace Redd — — — — — 86.40 — — — 86.40 8.00 Riders without a qualified ride Clay Guiton Cort McFadden Jess Lockwood Koltin Hevalow Andrew Alvidrez José Vitor Leme Felipe Furlan Kase Hitt João Ricardo Vieira Austin Richardson Kade Madsen Alison dos Santos Wyatt Rogers Romario Leite Lucas Martins Costa Grayson Cole Gustavo Luiz da Silva

Bull scores Seed Rider Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Aggregate Points

Injuries Round Rider Injury Outcome Ref. 3 Alison dos Santos Neck injury involving the C4–C5 vertebrae Missed Rounds 4–9 7 Daylon Swearingen Fractured T9 vertebra Missed Round 8 and the Championship Round

Awards Award Recipient Ref. PBR World Champion John Crimber PBR World Finals Event Champion Hudson Bolton PBR Rookie of the Year Marco Rizzo Mason Lowe Award Daylon Swearingen Lane Frost/Brent Thurman Award Eduardo Aparecido PBR Stock Contractor of the Year Blake Sharp YETI PBR World Champion Bull Ransom YETI "Built for the Wild" Bull of the Finals

Records and milestones

Broadcasting

Notes

References