Three Aussies to ride for world title – and they are all Queenslanders!
This weekend, the best bull riders on the planet converge on Fort Worth in Texas for the 2026 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, where a world champion will be crowned, and Australia's own Brady Fielder is firmly in the hunt and ready to make history.
The Clermont, Queensland rider Brady Fielder heads into the World Finals a red-hot contender, currently sitting at number 2 in the world standings. What's more, there's two other Australians, both Queenslanders, in the lineup of 45 riders – Warwick's Callum Miller, and making his world finals debut, Calliope's Macaulie Leather.
Rides from the past two weeks in the USA by each:
Staged across two action-packed weekends, 7–10 May and 14–17 May, the sport's toughest athletes will go head-to-head with the fiercest and best bull athletes in the world in a high-stakes battle for the World Championship title, the coveted gold buckle and the $1 million World Championship bonus.
PBR Australia General Manager Glen Young said Australian riders continued to prove themselves among the world's elite. "Last year, Brady Fielder finished the 2025 PBR World Finals with the prestigious award for the highest-marked ride of the championship, and for a time led the field as the number one rider in the world," he said. "He, along with Callum and Macaulie, are making serious inroads into the American PBR circuit. The end goal is simple, to walk away with the gold buckle, but there's eight seconds and some of the best bovine athletes in the world standing between them and that title."
"By coming in the top five at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour last weekend, Macaulie Leather will now make his world final debut, riding this weekend. This is an incredible result for all our Australia's riding."
"Brady has had a spectacular year and is riding superbly," said Young.
"Raised in Clermont, Queensland, he was climbing onto calves as soon as he could stand. At 16, a serious wreck left him with partial vision loss in one eye, but instead of slowing him down, it sharpened his resolve, helping shape him into one of the most consistent and reliable riders on the US-based PBR circuit."
"Crowned PBR Australia Rookie of the Year in 2019, he went on to play a key role in the Texas Rattlers' 2023 Teams Championship, before delivering a standout 2024 season, posting the best riding percentage in the league and earning the coveted Great 8 Award."
"Then earlier this year, there was another major challenge for him - a broken leg early in the season and again, he responded the only way he knows how, by getting back on. He returned to finish runner-up in the Teams MVP race, closing out the year with a blistering 75 per cent riding percentage among the sport's elite."
"Then, he lost everything in a house fire, but he's put that behind him and stayed focus on the holy grail of the sport, the PBR World Title. For Brady he will keep it simple and just focus on one bull at a time, and making the 8 second whistle as many times as he can, as this is going to come down to one hell of a battle. At his core, he's just a cowboy from Clermont, one who refuses to come off."
MEANWHILE in Australia, the country's best bull riders are headed to NOWRA this Saturday May 9 in what will be the final buckfest before the 2026 PBR Origin Series teams are announced, so every ride will count and eight seconds has never been more important! Leading the charge into Nowra is Australia's current number one bull rider and 2025 Gold Buckle holder, Mareeba's Kurt Shephard (QLD)."
QUICK BACKGROUND ON THE PBR:
The 2026 PBR World Finals begin with Rounds 1-4 THIS WEEKEND (May 7-10), followed by Rounds 5-8 and the Championship Round NEXT WEEKEND (May 14-17) all in FORT WORTH, TEXAS.
Competitors who qualified through the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (last weekend) must record at least one qualified ride during these opening rounds to advance into the second weekend, while all other competitors automatically move on. The event then shifts to Dickies Arena (May 14-17) for Rounds 5-8, followed by the Championship Round that will feature the event's Top 15 riders. The rider with the highest overall total aggregate score across the nine World Finals Rounds will be crowned the 2026 PBR World Finals Event Champion and win a minimum of $500,000. The rider with the most UTB points throughout the season, including the PBR World Finals, will be crowned the 2026 PBR World Champion, cementing his legacy and etching his name on the coveted gold buckle, along with a $1 million bonus.
The Top 10 are separated by just 570.5 points, nearly 100 points closer than last year's race.
The complete schedule of World Finals: https://pbrworldfinals.com/schedule.
THE 45 WORLD FINALS QUALIFIERS:
John Crimber (Decatur, Texas)
Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia)
Sage Steele Kimzey (Strong City, Oklahoma)
#Leandro Zampollo (Pirassununga, Brazil)
Alex Cerqueira (Iguaremi, Brazil)
Paulo Eduardo Rossetto (Colorado, Brazil)
Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas)
Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York)
*Marco Rizzo (Quitman, Georgia)
Cort McFadden (Novice, Texas)
#Clay Guiton (Cherryville, North Carolina)
Julio Cesar Marques (Tatui, Brazil)
Bob Mitchell (Steeleville, Missouri)
Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah)
Claudio Montanha Jr. (Ribeirao dos Indios, Brazil)
Cassio Dias (Sao F. De Sales, Brazil)
*Maverick Smith (Cabool, Missouri)
Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil)
Hudson Bolton (Milan, Tennessee)
Kaiden Loud (Kaufman, Texas)
Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana)
Thiago Salgado (Navirai, Brazil)
Daniel Keeping (Montague, Texas)
Koltin Hevalow (McAlester, Oklahoma)
Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas)
Callum Miller (Warwick, Australia)
Bruno Carvalho (Alvares Florence, Brazil)
#Felipe Furlan (Sales Oliveria, Brazil)
Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil)
Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil)
Alan de Souza (Taubate, Brazil)
Lucas Divino (Nova Crixas, Brazil)
*Kase Hitt (Dickson, Oklahoma)
*Trace Redd (Malad, Idaho)
Manoelito de Souza Junior (Itamira, Brazil)
Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil)
Mauricio Gulla Moreira (Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil)
Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil)
Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas)
*Andy Guzman (Oakland, California)
Grayson Cole (New Ringgold, Pennsylvania)
*Gustavo Luiz da Silva (Inocencia, Brazil)
*Macaulie Leather (Calliope, Queensland, Australia)
*Romario Leite (Brotas, Brazil)
Wyatt Rogers (Hulbert, Oklahoma)
* a rider who has qualified for or is making his career-first appearance at the PBR World Finals.
About PBR (Professional Bull Riders):
PBR is the world's premier bull riding organization. More than 1,000 bull riders compete in more than 200 events annually across the televised PBR Unleash The Beast tour (UTB), which features the top bull riders in the world; the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT); the PBR Touring Pro Division (TPD); and the PBR's international circuits in Australia, Brazil, and Canada. In 2022, the organization launched PBR Teams—10 teams of the world's best bull riders competing for a new championship—as well as the PBR Challenger Series with more than 50 annual events nationwide. PBR events are broadcast on CBS Television Network, Paramount+, and the CW Network. PBR is a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), a premium sports and entertainment company.
