The second verse was the same as the first at the 2026 PBR World Finals, Sage Kimzey rode Lights Out for 92.60, his fourth 90+ point ride on that bull this season, to win the round for a second straight night. With it, Kimzey has made the World Title very, very interesting very, very quickly.

He not only leads the Aggregate at 183.10, but he is also two bulls up on both men he’s chasing, John Crimber and Brady Fielder. Kimzey is now just 10 UTB Points behind Fielder and 179.5 behind Crimber with those 500 Points to the winner of the Aggregate starting to loom.

Kimzey looked calm, cool, and collected for all eight seconds on the back of Lights Out and although his three previous meetings with that bull ended with an event win, this ride was Kimzey’s best of the season. It’s his seventh round win and also his seventh 90+ point ride on the year. He leads the Tour in both categories.

Other Top Performers

It was a rank pen of bulls out Friday night with 19 of the Top 30 bovines being bucked in Cowtown Coliseum. Several riders seized the opportunity to challenge the best of the best as there were four 90+ point rides in addition to Kimzey’s.

Thiago Salgado was the first to record a qualified ride Friday night, and he set the tone, covering Purple Rain for 90.6 points. It’s his second 90+ of the season, and the second 90+ in his last three rides.

Keyshawn Whitehorse made his fourth 90+ point ride of the season, riding Richard Slam for 90.2 points. Whitehorse was 86.95 in the First Round, getting him back into the ride column after four straight buckoffs. His event aggregate total sits at 177.15 points, good for third in the event.

Julio Cesar Marques had the biggest bounce-back of any rider between Rounds 1 and 2. He went from being bucked off Tigger in just 3.25 seconds to covering Nobody for 91.1, matching his career-high he set earlier this season in New York City. Cesar Marques jumped three spots in the World Rankings, now 10th overall.

Claudio Montanha Jr. was the biggest riser in the World Standings after the conclusion of the Second Round. He jumped four spots, from 15th to 11th, thanks to his third 90+ ride of the season. Montanha covered American Made for 90.9 points, finishing the round ranked seventh in the Aggregate, the second best on one bull behind Cesar Marques.

In addition to Kimzey and Whitehorse, Luciano De Castro, Dener Barbosa, and Hudson Bolton are all 2-for-2.

Missed Opportunities

Jess Lockwood had one of the most impressive rides of the night, but only for 7.46 seconds, unfortunately. Riding BRUNT Haymaker, Lockwood was hyper-aggressive and in control for the first six seconds, but lost his rope at the tail end of the ride, ending his night with a no score.

Although Callum Miller entered Round 2 of the World Finals having covered two of his last 16, Miller finished Round 1 in second place with a season-best 90.25. That gave him the second pick in the Round 2 bull draft, where he selected Sucker Punch, who was ridden for 90+ in its last two rides. Those two rides, however, were its only two rides allowed in its 22 career outs. Miller was unable to take advantage of his draft choice, getting bucked off in just 1.75 seconds, the fifth quickest buck-off of the World Finals thus far.

Daylon Swearingen had the second pick in the Round 2 bull draft, where he chose the No. 1-ranked bull, Pegasus. Swearingen had just covered the bull for a tour-best 94.9 points at PBR Tacoma, winning him the event. Swearingen relied on his familiarity with Pegasus, but no strategy can contain the best bull in the world. Pegasus bucked Swearingen off in 3.67 seconds, thwarting any chance of the same season-ending fireworks.

Marco Rizzo gave everything he had atop Magic Touch, recovering from a near buckoff out of the chute, but wasn’t able to convert in the end, slapping the bull at 7.56 seconds. Rizzo had yet another golden opportunity to pull away from Maverick Smith in the UTB Rookie Of The Year race, especially after Smith was bucked off his second bull in the World Finals. Rizzo will head into Round 3 still 43 points ahead of Smith.

Standings Movement

Up The Standings

No. 11 Claudio Montanha Jr.: +4

No. 10 Julio Cesar Marques: +3

No. 16 Luciano De Castro: +1

No. 18 Hudson Bolton: +1

No. 21 Thiago Salgado: +1

No. 32 Lucas Divino: +1

No. 34 Dener Barbosa: +1

Down The Standings

No. 12 Marco Rizzo: -2

No. 13 Cort McFadden: -2

No. 15 Bob Mitchell: -1

No. 17 Cassio Dias: -1

No. 19 Maverick Smith: -1

No. 22 Jess Lockwood: -1

No. 33 Alan de Souza: -1

No. 35 Kase Hitt: -1

Stats to Know

44+ Bull Scores: 22

45+ Bull Scores: 7

46+ BullScores: 4

Best BullScore of the Night: Ransom v Cassio Dias: 47.15

The average buck-off time in Round 2 was 3.87 seconds. Up .32 from Round One’s 3.55-second average buckoff time.

Only two of the Top 10 riders recorded a qualified ride on Friday, Sage Kimzey and Keyshawn Whitehorse.

Five of the eight riders to record a ride in the First Round picked up a qualified ride again in the Second. Sage Kimzey is the only one to be 90+ each time.

Of the 19 bulls ranked in the world’s Top 30 on Friday night, only one of them allowed a qualified ride, Eyes On Me, who was ridden for 86.4 by Hudson Bolton.