Professional Bull Riding competitions at UBS Arena at Belmont Park, NY | Photo by Troi Santos
BELMONT PARK, N.Y. — The Florida Freedom walked into UBS Arena as the team nobody could touch. 20 victories, the single-season record in the Professional Bull Riders Teams league, and a nine-game streak that silenced challengers. They had already swept the defending champion Austin Gamblers and were led by Thiago Salgado, the frontrunner for MVP. Across the chutes stood the New York Mavericks, a second-year franchise with five wins and the worst record in the league. By night’s end, the scoreboard read 346,177. The Mavericks delivered four qualified rides, their first-ever four-ride game, and recorded the biggest regular-season upset in PBR Teams history.
The UBS Arena itself is still relatively young, having opened in November 2021 as the new home of the NHL’s New York Islanders. It sits within historic Belmont Park, a site that has hosted world-class racing and major events for over a century. The building was designed with nods to New York icons, such as Ebbets Field and Grand Central Terminal, and locals call it “The Stable,” a nickname derived from its racetrack setting. Its early milestones include the Islanders’ first playoff win there in 2023 and a rare goalie goal by Ilya Sorokin in March 2025. With a concert capacity of nearly 19,000 and a Long Island Rail Road station built alongside, the arena has quickly become one of New York’s busiest sports and entertainment stages. Saturday night’s PBR showdown added to that history, planting bull riding into the same soil that has long carried horse racing and hockey.
The PBR began in 1992 when 20 riders broke away from rodeo to form a league dedicated entirely to bull riding. Built around the most intense eight seconds in sports, PBR has grown from small arenas into a global circuit with events in the United States, Brazil, Australia, and Mexico. In 2022, the league introduced its Teams format, creating franchises that compete against each other head-to-head throughout the season. Five riders from each team match up against five bulls, and the highest combined score decides the winner. The season closes with a championship in Fort Worth, Texas. The Mavericks joined the league in 2024 as one of the new franchises, bringing bull riding to New York’s crowded sports market.
How scoring works adds to the drama. Each ride is judged on a 0-100 point scale, split evenly between the rider and the bull. Judges award up to 50 points to the rider for control, positioning, use of the free arm, and ability to stay in rhythm with the bull’s movements. They award up to 50 points to the bull for power, speed, agility, spin, and difficulty. A ride must last eight full seconds to be eligible for a score. If the rider touches the bull or themselves with the free hand, loses control, or is bucked off before the buzzer, the ride is marked as a no-score. In the Teams format, each squad sends five riders, and the sum of their qualified rides determines the game’s final tally.
The contest began the way many expected. Salgado opened for Florida, covering Wicked Solo for 88 points. It was his nineteenth qualified ride of the season, another steady step in his MVP campaign. But the Mavericks did not fold. Bob Mitchell climbed aboard Say When and answered with 87.5, pulling the crowd into the fight. Leonardo Castro added 84.75 on Boot Barn’s Trone, keeping New York in striking distance.
The Freedom fired back when Alex Cerqueira marked the high score of the night, 89 points on Socks In A Box. But momentum swung again when Mauricio Gulla Moreira powered through Bam Bam for 87.25. Rookie Joao Henrique Lucas closed the door, scoring 86.5 on Mike’s Motive. With four riders posting scores, the Mavericks did what they had never done before: four for five on a single night.
The Freedom, meanwhile, managed only two scores. Salgado and Cerqueira delivered, but John Crimber, Joao Ricardo Vieira, and Elizmar Jeremias were bucked off. For a team that had built its season on depth and consistency, the misses proved decisive.
The Mavericks’ profile made the win even more striking. The roster, a blend of Brazilians and American hopefuls, had struggled through two losing campaigns. Five wins in 2025 kept them anchored to 10th place. Saturday’s game produced something the standings did not reflect: belief, noise, and a piece of history.
New York sports fans recognized the pattern. The city has celebrated underdogs before, the 1969 Mets, the Jets and Joe Namath in Super Bowl III, and the Rangers ending their drought in 1994. Each moment carried the same rhythm: a team dismissed as overmatched rising to seize its chance. The Mavericks, in a sport unfamiliar to many New Yorkers, tapped into that same tradition. On a night when the scoreboard tilted their way, they joined the catalog of New York’s great surprises.
The Freedom’s stumble followed a performance that looked untouchable. One night earlier, they dominated the Gamblers 344.5,83.5 and set the record for most wins in a season. The Mavericks, in contrast, had been routed by the Carolina Cowboys 343.75,87 at the start of Maverick Days. The context made the turnaround stark.
Standings after the weekend kept Florida in the lead at 20.6, followed by Austin at 18.8, Arizona and Texas at 17.9, Carolina at 13.13, Missouri at 11.15, Oklahoma at 10.16, Kansas City at 9.17, Nashville at 8.18, and the Mavericks at 6.20. Salgado left Belmont Park with his nineteenth and twentieth qualified rides of the season, keeping him in the MVP race. Florida stayed on top of the table. The Mavericks stayed last, but they walked away with a night the league will not forget.
Elsewhere, the weekend carried its own shifts. Austin blanked Nashville 261.5,0, with Sage Steele Kimzey (88.5), Kaique Pacheco (87.25), and Dalton Kasel (85.75) all covering. The Missouri Thunder edged the Kansas City Outlaws 171,87.75, with scores from Paulo Rossetto (87.5) and Maverick Smith (83.5). The Oklahoma Wildcatters downed the Arizona Ridge Riders 254.5,169.75, led by Luciano de Castro and Dener Barbosa. The Texas Rattlers swept their weekend at 3,0, capped by Brady Fielder’s 89.5 on Lights Out, his eighteenth qualified ride of the season.
For the Freedom, the loss was a rare stumble in a season of dominance. Salgado’s pair of qualified rides gave him twenty on the year, keeping him at the head of the MVP chase. For the Mavericks, it was the game that would define their season.
When Lucas stepped off Mike’s Motive with 86.5 on the board, the Mavericks’ bench erupted. Hats flew, arms pumped, and the scoreboard froze at 346,177. Florida left with the standings lead intact. New York is left with history. Eight seconds had redrawn the order, and eight seconds carried the Mavericks into the record book.
