For the first time in years, Jose Vitor Leme found himself watching rather than riding.
A season-ending groin injury had forced the three-time PBR World Champion to make the difficult decision to sit out the 2026 PBR World Finals, leaving one of bull riding's most relentless competitors on the sidelines while the sport continued moving forward.
And moving forward it did.
While Leme recovered, a new generation of talent continued carving its place in the history books. John Crimber, the young phenom who claimed back-to-back regular season PBR Teams MVP honors in 2024 and 2025, matching Leme's historic feat as the league's first back-to-back regular season MVP winner in 2022 and 2023, went on to capture the 2026 PBR World Championship, adding another gold buckle to his rapidly growing collection.
But even as Crimber began building a legacy of his own, he hadn't forgotten the man who set the standard.
"There's only one person [who's done] that, and that's Jose," Crimber said of winning back-to-back regular season MVP awards. "He's a guy that I looked up to my whole career, too, just growing up and always wanted to ride against him. And for me to be at the same level as a guy like him means a lot to me."
For Crimber, matching Leme's accomplishment was a milestone. For Leme, it was another reason to keep moving the bar higher.
For two consecutive Teams seasons, the regular season MVP title that Leme had made his own belonged to somebody else.
And for a while, nobody knew whether he would return to reclaim it.
But there's something about Leme that has never changed.
Every time he steps onto a bucking chute, he wants to be the best. Not just the best in the arena that night, or the best in the standings that season, but the best to ever do it. His relentless drive to accomplish what nobody else has isn't satisfied by the records he's already broken or the titles he's already won. And as the next generation continues chasing his accomplishments, Leme seems determined to keep raising the bar, moving the finish line a little farther away every time his competition gets close.
Following the 2025 PBR Teams Championship, Leme had not immediately re-signed with the Austin Gamblers. As the 2026 season approached, speculation grew surrounding whether the Brazilian superstar would return to the PBR Teams league at all.
After all, with three world titles, a PBR Teams Championship, two regular seasonTeams MVP awards and one of the most decorated résumés in professional bull riding, what more did he have left to prove?
Apparently, quite a bit.
Because there's one thing about competitors like Leme.
They have to compete.
There's an itch that rest, recovery and a trophy case full of accomplishments simply cannot scratch. For a rider who built his career on doing what others believed impossible, walking away while he still had something left in the tank was never going to be an easy proposition.
And just before the 2026 PBR Teams season began, The Machine was back.
But this wasn't just a one-season comeback.
Leme returned to the Austin Gamblers and signed a four-year contract extension, putting an end to the speculation surrounding his future and making one thing abundantly clear: He wasn't finished writing his story in green and black.
For a rider who had already delivered the franchise its first championship, the commitment represented more than a return to competition. It was an opportunity to keep building a legacy with the team that had made him the No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural 2022 PBR Teams Draft.
Leme had grown accustomed to seeing his name at the top of the standings. So, fittingly, head coach Michael Gaffney decided to put him at the top of something else: the Austin Gamblers' lineup.
For years, Leme had been Austin's closer. The fifth-frame guarantee. The man trusted to deliver when four riders had already come and gone, the scoreboard was tight and eight seconds stood between the Gamblers and victory.
It was a role he had perfected, most memorably during Austin's 2024 championship run, when his 89-point conversion aboard Tijuana Two-Step sealed the franchise's first PBR Teams title.
In 2026, however, Leme traded the fifth frame for the first.
Instead of waiting to finish the job, he would be the one starting it.
No final-frame dramatics. Just Leme, a bull and an opportunity to put the Gamblers on the board before the other team had a chance to respond.
And, as it turned out, The Machine didn't particularly care which frame he was riding in.
He just wanted to ride.
By Nashville Stampede Days, Leme had climbed to the top of the regular season PBR Teams MVP standings, reclaiming familiar territory in a race that would eventually become one of the most compelling individual battles of the 2026 season.
But Paulo Eduardo Rossetto wasn't about to hand him the crown.
The Missouri Thunder right-hand (or left-hand) man spent the summer and fall keeping Leme within striking distance, matching his consistency with high-scoring conversions of his own. At one point, the gap separating the two Brazilians narrowed to just a handful of points, leaving the MVP race wide open as the season approached its final stretch.
For Leme, the numbers were staggering.
Entering the regular-season finale at Outlaw Days presented by Bad Boy Mowers and Tractors in Kansas City, Mo., he had covered 27 of 31 bulls for an 87.10% riding percentage and accumulated 2,387.25 points in the MVP standings.
Rossetto, meanwhile, had ridden 25 of 32 bulls for 2,207.80 points, leaving 179.45 points between the two heading into the final three games.
Leme had been here before.
In 2022, he dominated the inaugural PBR Teams season with a 19-for-25 performance and a 76% riding percentage to win the league's first MVP award. A year later, he did it again, holding off Kansas City Outlaws sensation Cassio Dias to become the league's first back-to-back MVP.
Then came Crimber, who claimed the next two awards and matched Leme's record of two career MVP titles.
Now, four years after winning the league's inaugural honor, Leme had an opportunity to become the first rider to win three.
But waiting for him in Kansas City was something even bigger than an MVP trophy.
A 14-year-old record held by one of the greatest bull riders the sport has ever seen, and one few thought would ever be broken.
For more than a decade, two-time PBR World Champion Chris Shivers had stood alone atop one of bull riding's most prestigious statistical mountains: 94 career 90-point rides.
In a sport where simply staying aboard for eight seconds is an accomplishment, reaching the 90-point threshold requires something extraordinary. The rider must not only conquer an elite animal athlete but do so with the kind of control, rhythm and degree of difficulty that separate a qualified ride from a legendary one.
Shivers had done it 94 times.
No one had done it more.
But for Austin Gamblers head coach Gaffney, watching Leme approach a record of that magnitude came with an interesting realization.
When you're around greatness long enough, the extraordinary starts to feel ordinary.
Gaffney compared Leme to some of western sport's most accomplished cowboys, including Ty Murray, Trevor Brazile and Troy Dunn, explaining that when riders consistently accomplish the seemingly impossible, those around them almost begin to expect it.
"It's almost like it's the norm for them," Gaffney said. "For the rest of us, normal human beings, we just expect it, and shame on us for getting to that."
It's a strange consequence of greatness. The more Leme accomplishes, the less surprising his accomplishments seem to become.
But Gaffney knows better than to take any of it for granted.
In a sport where a cowboy can go from champion to chump in a matter of seconds, sustained dominance is anything but normal. Yet with Leme's current form, his health and his seemingly endless appetite for records, Gaffney couldn't imagine a more fitting rider to challenge Shivers' mark.
"If there was a guy in the future to do something like this, it would be him," Gaffney said. "He's always seeking to break records. That's one of his motivations."
And as Gaffney pointed out, the Gamblers have been fortunate enough to reap the rewards of that ambition.
Because when Leme goes chasing history, Austin often finds itself along for the ride.
Shivers had reached the 90-point mark 94 times.
No one had done it more.
Until Friday, Oct. 23.
Under the lights of T-Mobile Center, with Austin preparing to face the Carolina Cowboys in a matchup carrying significant postseason implications, Leme climbed aboard Super Trooper in the leadoff position.
Eight seconds later, history had company.
Leme matched the powerful bovine jump for jump, delivering a season-high 92.20-point performance that brought the Kansas City crowd to its feet and tied Shivers' all-time record.
Ninety-point ride No. 94.
The number that had seemed untouchable suddenly had two names beside it.
And Leme, who had entered the year with questions surrounding his future, had answered them with one of the highest-scoring rides of his season.
“I just want to thank my Lord and Jesus Christ for all of these because without Him, I wouldn’t be able to be here today. All of this is because of him and I’m so proud,” Leme said on the Paramount+ broadcast.
“This is such a great moment in my career. It’s an amazing number and I never expected I was going to reach that, but God put this in my life and I’m very happy.”
The historic conversion did more than put Leme alongside Shivers.
It gave Austin an early advantage against the defending PBR Teams Champion Cowboys in a matchup between two franchises fighting for valuable postseason positioning.
Dalton Kasel followed with 89.35 points aboard Lever Action, while Dener Barbosa added 84.60 points on Rank Sauce, allowing Austin to defeat Carolina 266.15-247.80 and strengthen its position in the race for a first-round bye.
Leme's 92.20-point ride also extended his MVP lead over Rossetto to 181.65 points.
One more qualified ride would officially secure the award.
One more 90-point score would make him the undisputed owner of a record that had stood for nearly a decade and a half.
And with two nights remaining, there was little reason to believe he was finished.
“That’s what I’m here for – To try to write my history and that’s what I’m doing, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Leme said Friday.
“Make these fans happy, try my best every time hanging onto that rope until the 8 every time and that’s what I’m going to keep trying to do. Making history and being a legend.”
He didn't have to wait long.
Twenty-four hours later, Leme returned to the chutes for Austin's Saturday night matchup against the Oklahoma Wildcatters, needing one qualified ride to put the MVP race out of reach.
His opponent?
Moonlight Graham.
The stakes were almost absurd.
One bull. Eight seconds. Three pieces of history hanging in the balance.
Leme could claim his third PBR Teams MVP, surpass Shivers' record for the most 90-point rides in PBR history, and help secure Austin a Top 3 seed and first-round bye at the PBR Teams Championship.
And when the gate cracked open, he went to work.
Moonlight Graham exploded from the chute, but Leme stayed centered, matching the bull's movements with the balance and precision that had earned him the nickname The Machine.
When the whistle sounded, the scoreboard told the story.
90.55 points.
Career 90-point ride No. 95.
A new all-time PBR record.
And just like that, the night belonged to Leme.
The historic ride put Austin on the board in what became a razor-thin 90.55-89.10 victory over Oklahoma, securing the Gamblers a Top 3 seed and valuable first-round bye heading into Las Vegas.
But the significance stretched far beyond the scoreboard.
With one ride, Leme had officially clinched his third PBR Teams MVP award, becoming the first-ever three-time MVP in PBR Teams history.
He had already made history as the league's inaugural MVP in 2022 and its first back-to-back winner in 2023. When Crimber claimed consecutive titles in 2024 and 2025, he matched Leme's mark of two career MVP awards.
But Leme wasn't interested in sharing the top spot for long.
With his 2026 victory, he became the first rider to reach three MVP titles, setting a new standard in the league's five-year history and once again moving the finish line farther away for those chasing him.
And he had done it on the very same ride that surpassed Shivers' legendary record of 94 career 90-point rides.
Hollywood couldn't have written it better.
“This means a lot. This is a great place for this to happen with this crowd cheering for us and supporting us,” Leme said on the Paramount+ broadcast.
“Congratulations to Chris (Shivers), too, because he held that record for so long, and I never expected to beat that, but everything happens for a reason and I just thank God for everything he does in my life.”
In a sport built on generations of cowboys chasing the accomplishments of those who came before them, the moment represented something larger than a statistical milestone.
Shivers had helped define an era of professional bull riding. His power, athleticism and ability to produce extraordinary scores against the world's rankest bulls established a standard that remained untouched long after his retirement.
Leme had spent his own career raising that standard.
The Brazilian arrived in the United States in 2017 and immediately announced himself to the sport, going a perfect 6-for-6 to win the PBR World Finals during his first week competing on American soil.
In 2020, he captured his first PBR World Championship. In 2021, he followed with another, delivering one of the greatest individual seasons in the sport's history.
That campaign included his unforgettable 98.75-point performance aboard Woopaa, the highest-scored ride ever recorded in PBR history. A moment when bull riders and fans alike remember where they were when they saw those eight seconds.
Four years later, he added a third world title in 2025.
And now, in 2026, he had accomplished something even the man himself once considered unlikely.
Ninety-five career 90-point rides.
The record was his.
The 30-year-old finished the 2026 regular season with a PBR Teams record-setting 29 qualified rides in 33 outs, an extraordinary 87.88% riding percentage.
Put another way, Leme reached the whistle on nearly nine of every 10 bulls he attempted.
That remarkable consistency also earned him the league's Great 8 Award, presented to the rider with the highest qualified ride percentage during the regular season.
His 29 qualified rides topped the league, while his 87.88% riding percentage stood well ahead of Rossetto, who finished the season with 28 qualified rides and an 80% success rate.
Leme also averaged 88.62 points on his qualified rides, demonstrating that his dominance was never simply about surviving eight seconds.
It was about making those eight seconds count.
For comparison, Leme's inaugural MVP campaign in 2022 featured a 76% riding percentage. His latest season exceeded that mark by nearly 12 percentage points.
And the 2026 version of Leme did it after returning from a significant injury, adjusting to a new position in Austin's lineup and competing against one of the deepest fields of talent PBR Teams has assembled.
But perhaps just as telling as the numbers was the respect he has earned from the very riders trying to beat him.
Leme and Rossetto had pushed each other all season long, trading high-scoring rides and keeping the pressure on one another as the MVP race tightened. Every time one delivered, the other seemed to have an answer, forcing both Brazilians to raise their game as the finish line approached.
And while only one could walk away with the title, there was no shortage of mutual respect.
After Leme officially clinched the MVP Saturday night, Rossetto made his way to the Austin Gamblers' locker room to congratulate the man he had spent the season chasing. There, away from the arena lights and the competition that had separated them by mere points at times, the two Brazilians exchanged a few words in their native Portuguese.
It was a small moment that spoke volumes about the respect Leme commands, even from his toughest competition.
For anyone wondering whether The Machine still had another gear, the answer arrived in Kansas City.
But Leme's celebration came with a warning.
“Another great title in my life, another great accomplishment for my career. Three-time MVP and I’m just starting,” he said Saturday. “I’m still there, and I’m going to hang in there and try again.”
And that brings the story back to Las Vegas.
Because for all the individual milestones Leme has collected, there is still one piece of history waiting for him and the Austin Gamblers.
Since the PBR Teams league launched in 2022, four different franchises have lifted the championship trophy.
The Nashville Stampede claimed the inaugural title in 2022. The Texas Rattlers followed in 2023. Austin earned its first championship in 2024, and Carolina took the crown in 2025.
No franchise has won twice.
The Gamblers now have an opportunity to become the first.
It would be a fitting next chapter for a team that has spent much of the league's five-year history among its most formidable contenders.
Austin won back-to-back regular-season titles in 2022 and 2023 before finally breaking through in the postseason in 2024, a championship run that remains one of the most impressive in PBR Teams history.
Entering the final day of that tournament as the No. 5 seed, the Gamblers defeated the top-seeded Kansas City Outlaws with a perfect 5-for-5 performance in the semifinals, then went 4-for-5 against Carolina in the championship game.
Nine qualified rides in 10 attempts on Championship Sunday.
And Leme, appropriately positioned in the fifth frame, supplied the championship-clinching 89-point ride on Tijuana Two-Step to cement Austin's place in history.
Two years later, the Gamblers are returning to the same city with many of the same ambitions, but a different version of their superstar.
The man who once waited until the final frame to deliver the knockout punch is now responsible for throwing the first one.
Austin finished the 2026 regular season at 22-13, second in the standings behind the Missouri Thunder, who claimed the regular-season championship with a 24-11 record.
The Gamblers enter the Nov. 6-8 PBR Teams Championship at T-Mobile Arena with a first-round bye and a chance to accomplish something no other franchise has done.
And while Missouri has been the league's regular-season powerhouse, Nashville has found its way back into the championship conversation, and defending champion Carolina remains dangerous, Austin has something every team would love to have when the pressure reaches its peak.
A healthy, hungry Leme.
There is no guarantee the Gamblers will leave Las Vegas with another trophy. The postseason has proven time and again that regular-season success means little once the championship bracket begins, and one buckoff can change everything.
Leme knows that better than most.
He has experienced the agony of falling short, the frustration of watching from the sidelines and the satisfaction of finally standing on top of the podium.
Now he has an opportunity to do it again.
For Leme, there has always been another record to chase, another bull to conquer and another eight seconds waiting somewhere down the road.
Kansas City gave him a place in the history books that is entirely his own.
Las Vegas offers an opportunity to share another piece of history with the teammates who helped bring him back.
The Machine has reclaimed his MVP crown, surpassed a legend and reminded the bull riding world exactly why his name belongs in the conversation about the greatest to ever do it.
With three individual world championships under his belt, Leme now has his sights set on leading Austin to a second PBR Teams title and becoming the first franchise in league history to win two championships.
And judging by the way he's been riding, don't gamble against him.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media