John Crimber is known for his flash and emotion, but it was mental fortitude over nine rounds at the PBR World Finals that helped him win his first World Title at 20-years-old.

He finished with 1,242.5 UTB Points, besting Brady Fielder by 178.83 points.

“This is what I’ve dreamed of ever since I was a little kid playing in the living room pretending I was a bull rider, this is what we do it for, to be a World Champion,” Crimber said. “This World Title is not just for myself, it’s for my dad, he’s the one brought me here to who I am and his career was cut short, so this one is for him.”

Crimber never relinquished the No. 1 spot over the final 10 weeks of the season, but winning the World Championship was anything but a cake walk. Entering Round 8, World No. 2 Brady Fielder was just 8.83 UTB Points behind Crimber with the Aggregate bonus points factored in.

We got to that point because Crimber struggled mightily, more than he had all season to begin his second World Finals. He bucked off of his first five bulls and with each passing night, he watched Fielder and a surging Hudson Bolton get closer and closer as his frustration came close to boiling over multiple times.

But the same fire that agitates is often what drives great athletes, and John Crimber is one of those athletes.

In Round 6, he broke his drought with his 89.40-point ride on July and then followed it up with an 84.95-point ride on Icky Thump that brought the Dickies Arena crowd to its feet on Saturday night.

Entering Championship Sunday, the situation was simple for Crimber, if he rode two bulls, he was going to tough to beat. He made himself even tougher to beat by riding What’s Poppin’ for 91.35 to finish () in Round 8.

He threw his helmet from the shark cage almost to the back of chutes and dropped to his knees. Once behind those chutes, he shared an emotional embrace with his father Paolo, both were aware of the magnitude of that ride. It shot him from 28th to 9th in the World Finals Aggregate and earned him 59 crucial UTB Points.

“Shoot, I love bull riding, this is what I live for, this is awesome, praise the lord,” he said afterward. “It ain’t over yet, let’s keep going.”

For good measure, Crimber brought the crowd to its feet in Dickies Arena by riding Tigger for 92.90 points to win the Championship Round. He rode four in a row down the stretch to leave no doubt.

“I didn’t ride the bulls I was supposed to (early in the week) and I had a lot of critics, people saying things that I am not,” he said. “I just had to stay true to myself and keep trusting God’s plans, because his plans are perfect.”