ANAHEIM, Calif. – Five years ago, Joao Ricardo Vieira would likely have bucked off Bad Brad the minute the bovine athlete turned to the right.

However, the 2019 version of Joao Ricardo Vieira is a very different bull rider than the original JRV that came to the United States.

This year’s World Champion contender believes he can ride bulls much better away from his hand than he could during his four-year title pursuit from 2013-2016 that wound up falling short every time.

Therefore, even though Vieira was still unable to unseat the red-hot Jose Vitor Leme Saturday night at the Honda Center, Vieira’s 86.75-point ride on Bad Brad – away from his hand – may have helped keep his 2019 world title aspirations alive.

“I’m so proud, because I work hard for this,” Vieira said. “And I came here and did my job. I’m so glad.”

The No. 4-ranked bull rider in the world standings finished the Anaheim Invitational in third place following his 3-for-3 showing this weekend, but he only lost 91.66 points in the title race.

Vieira is a perfect 10-for-10 at California events in 2019, including victories at Iron Cowboy in Los Angeles and at the three-day event in Sacramento this past January.

The 35-year-old entered Anaheim trailing previous world No. 1 Jess Lockwood by 1,372.50 points. He leaves Anaheim trailing Leme by 1,464.16 points.

Leme took over the world No. 1 ranking by going 3-for-3 in Anaheim. The 23-year-old won every round and the event title for a whopping 700 world points.

Alisson de Souza was also 3-for-3, and his 88.25-point ride on Catfish John in the championship round propelled him to a second-place finish.

Historically, any rider within 2,000 points of the world lead heading into the World Finals has a decent chance at winning the world title.

Only the Top 4 riders in the world – Leme, Lockwood, Chase Outlaw and Vieira – are within that magic number.

Two-time World Champion Justin McBride commended Vieira for refusing to give up on his pursuit of a gold buckle.

“Joao just will not go away,” McBride said on CBS national television right before Vieira nodded for the gate. “This is a guy that keeps trying to keep himself in the world title race.

“I love Joao. This is a direction he really struggles with – bulls that go to the right. Was that perfect? Not even close. But the determination and effort was there.”

Vieira knows it will be a tough test to chase down Leme, Lockwood and Outlaw during the final five Unleash The Beast regular-season events.

The UTB heads to Springfield, Missouri, next weekend for a 15/15 Bucking Battle and the final three-day event of the season -- the PFIWestern.com Invitational.

“Jose is so young,” Vieira said. “He has a lot of dreams. He just play and ride bulls. Him and Jess, Chase (are all young). I’m more old. I have spent a long time on the road. I love riding bulls, and this is motivation of mine. I try to pick the right bulls, and I’m grateful to have success in my career.”

Leme (700 world points) and Vieira (270) were the only Top 5 riders in the world standings to earn more than 50 world points. No. 2 Lockwood (1-for-2) earned zero, No. 3 Outlaw (1-for-3) picked up 32.5 world points and No. 5 Cooper Davis (1-for-3) notched 27.5 world points.

Outlaw (7.7 seconds on Acting Crazy) and Davis (2.68 seconds on Classic Man) both were bucked off in the championship round.

Vieira has not been the world No. 1 rider since September 2015, the same season in which he won two PBR Majors (Iron Cowboy and Last Cowboy Standing).

Vieira, though, actually enjoys being the underdog.

It allows him to only focus on one thing – winning that gold buckle.

“That’s good,” Vieira said. “This is my person. I’m a little quiet. I don’t like the lights and a lot of people (saying) ‘Hey! Hey!’ I don’t like this. I love riding bulls. That’s it.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko