All there is to know about the unknownOliveira impresses legends, challenges Marchi |
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The event was covered by the likes of USA Today, New York Times, New York Daily News, Newsday, New York Post, Associated Press and Reuters. Even Don Imus sent a crew.
By the end of the weekend, everyone still wondered: Who is this guy?
“Unfortunately, we don’t really know much about him,” television broadcaster Justin McKee said.
“It seems like you hear everybody talk about the Brazilians before you ever see them,” Jerome Davis said, “and he was one of those guys. Then when you finally see him ride you know he’s a Top 5 guy that’s going to be right there every year.”
“The first we saw of him was at the World Cup last year,” Ty Murray recalled. “That kind of introduced him to us and the PBR. We could tell after that World Cup that he was going to be tough.”
“He’s a threat,” added Davis.
Much like countryman Guilherme Marchi, Brazil’s Oliveira may not be known for 90-point rides, but for the try and determination as well as the concentration and focus to finish every one of his rides.
“Valdiron has very few weaknesses about the way he rides,” Cody Lambert observed. “He can ride a lot of different kind of bulls.”
“It doesn’t matter if they’re big, strong or little, fast, tricky, lots of kick or flat. He just seems to get them rode,” said Murray, who added, “He’s another one of those guys who doesn’t over-think stuff. He’s just a work-a-day guy who goes out there and gets bulls rode. At the end of the day the one quality that Valdiron has is that he knocks bulls down.”
This year, his 67 percent riding average is second only to Marchi’s, and in 30 of 32 BFTS events he qualified for the short go 20 times. In fact, it’s in that championship round that he’s proven himself to be most successful – winning twice and finishing 17 of 20 short rounds in the Top 10.
Although some of his American counterparts may not know too much about Oliveira beyond his good-natured smile – incidentally, like most twenty-somethings, he enjoys going for walks, riding horses, fishing and playing video games – every last one of them speaks highly of his overall strength and ability to manhandle just about any bovine he rides.
One adjustment he’s made has to do with his loose style of riding that has been commented on during television broadcasts by a trio of fellow riders – Justin McBride, Michael Gaffney and J.W. Hart – which has everything to do with that aforementioned strength.
“He’s a skinny guy,” Lambert said, “but he’s so strong that pound for pound he could be the strongest rider we have. His style is just a little more back then I’d like to see.
“I’d like to see him lean forward just a little more, because you have more control of your body if you’re riding forward.”
Oliveira may or may not be able to make up the 3,358.75 points by which he trails Marchi the world standings, but as three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes said, “It’s only a matter of time.”
“Oh, he is going to be a World Champion,” said Moraes, “there’s no doubt. He has the mind for it.
“He’s confident and he believes that he can win. He’s proving that to himself. He doesn’t have to prove it to nobody else that he should be at this level.”
—by Keith Ryan Cartwright
