PUEBLO, Colo. – Ramon de Lima stuck out his massive right, bear paw – some of us have hands – and began to shake the hands of a bunch of his closest friends on The 25^th PBR: Unleash The Beast.

Lima had just won his first career premier series event this past weekend at the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic in Sacramento, California, and after each person came up to offer him their congratulatory remarks, he immediately stuck out his hand.

Lima has one of the largest riding forearms in the locker room and with it comes a very, hearty handshake.

The 27-year-old was not boastful in Sacramento following his dominating 4-for-4 victory. Instead, he was humbled.

“I am happy to be around the best,” Lima said with the help of a translator. I am feeling good and feeling like the champ.”

Lima grew up on a large ranch in Rio Branco, Brazil, where he developed a passion for the sport of bull riding after getting on calves as a 7-year-old little boy with his siblings.

The first generation bull rider explained earlier in the weekend, though, how his mother, Maria, taught him the importance of having humility and thankfulness amidst his success in the arena.

Ramon is the third oldest child of a family of seven. He has four brothers and two sisters.

“I am humbled in life like her,” Lima said. “She taught me how to handle things the right way. I grew up with my mom. My parents were separated, and I didn’t really have a close relationship with my father. I am closer to my mother.”

The second-year pro attempted his first bull when he was 15 years old, and he eventually began to compete in various amateur rodeos throughout the state of Acre.

It was in 2010 when Lima met his childhood idol Robson Palermo, who also grew up in Rio Branco, and 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi at a rodeo in their state.

Palermo advised Lima to head to Sao Paulo to continue his pursuit of a bull riding career like he did in 2001 prior to coming to the United States.

Five years later and Lima was the 2015 Liga de Nacional de Rodeo Brazilian national champion.

A year after Lima was making his Unleash The Beast debut in Billings, Montana.

Fellow 2017 Brazilian rookies Luciano de Castro (21), Dener Barbosa (23) and Jose Vitor Leme (21) all made a trek to the United States early in their careers whereas Lima and 2016 Liga de Nacional de Rodeo Brazilian national champion Claudio Montanha Jr. opted to stay in Brazil longer before coming to North America.

Lima said it had less to do with being closer to his family, but rather that he knew he still hadn’t perfected his bull riding craft well enough to have success in the PBR.

“I felt like I wasn’t ready to come over yet so I had to prepare to make sure I was ready to be able to do my best when I came,” Lima said.

Lima finally broke through his best performance so far in the U.S. after finishing 30^th in the world standings last year.

Lima was flawless in Sacramento, using his strength-based style to ride Big Slick (86.75 points), Livin Large (87.5 points), Juice (83.25 points) and More Big Bucks (89.25 points).

Two-time World Champion and CBS Sports analyst Justin McBride knew after Round 2 that Lima was in the zone and things were clicking for him on all cylinders.

“He has a lot of strength, but he tucks his chin so well that it controls that huge upper body that he’s got,” McBride said. “If you look back at any of his rides this week, he never lost sight of it. If you can control your chin, it is going to control your upper body. It sets the whole thing up. He did a great job of that.”

Lima had not been on many people’s radar heading into 2018. He was in ways the forgotten Brazilian young gun among Leme, Barbosa, Castro and Montanha.

“He is not a flashy guy and he is really big,” McBride said. “I don’t care what you say, little guys look better. But when you can make those big rides consistently, you have to start noticing. He just stacked up four really good rides. It was impressive.”

Now the No. 3 ranked bull rider is front and center after earning 715 points toward the world standings.

Lima is 8-for-12 and trails Barbosa by 120 points for the No. 1 ranking heading into this weekend’s Anaheim Invitational.

He jumped all the way from 61^st to third in the world standings in 72 hours.

Fans can watch the conclusion of the event exclusively on CBS national television Sunday at noon ET.

“I will keep doing and keep doing the hard work,” Lima concluded. “Keep winning and, with God’s blessing, I will be a world champ this year.”