Dana White’s Bull is 'The Main Event' as PBR World Finals Opens Tonight

Originally posted on Rodeo on SI | By Andrew Giangola | Last updated May 8, 2025 5:45 PM ET

A few weeks ago in Kansas City, it looked like Dana White’s newest bull had killed his rider, and neither of them had even made it out of the bucking chutes.

At the appropriately named “TKO Takeover,” Dana White’s Playmate rocked Dustin Herman inside the coffin-shaped steel structure that riders crawl into to tie their bull rope around their riding hand.

The North Carolina cowboy was carried out of the chute and came to his senses, but his knees were banged up and he couldn’t attempt to try the bull, already 11-1 in PBR.

White first asked if Herman was OK. Then he celebrated a powerful animal athlete who began making a name for himself in February when Sage Kimzey rode him for 91 points in Salt Lake City.

Some are predicting an even bigger score tonight at the 2025 PBR World Finals opener in Fort Worth when the top bull in White’s growing pen will attempt to summarily dispatch the sport’s biggest home run hitter.

Jose Vitor Leme, who recorded the highest-marked ride in PBR history – 98.75 points on Woopaa at World Finals four years ago in Fort Worth – will be matched against Playmate to start the Eliminations Rounds inside the intimate confines of Cowtown Coliseum.

If this were a UFC fight, White might call it The Main Event.

It’s the most important moment in his five-year-old bull’s career, and White has been proudly posting on social media about his “badass bull” and doing interview rounds.

Asked to compare Playmate to a UFC fighter, White says it would have to be Alex Pereira.

“He’s mean, looks scary, and can back it up,” White said.

The bull’s handler, Dennis Davis, who introduced White to PBR in 2016 (UFC’s boss attempted to ride a bull for his television show “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight” and nearly bought the farm), is predicting Leme vs. Playmate will produce a score in the high 90s.

Davis, one of the industry’s premier bucking bull trainers and a bull whisperer of sorts, takes as much pride in Playmate as White has shown since the bull was acquired from D&H Cattle Company earlier this year.

On some days, Davis can feed Playmate hay from his hands. Other times, he knows this would be a quick way to lose a few fingers.

“With Dana’s other bull Twisted Steel (who passed away after an illness), you left him and alone and he left you alone,” Davis said. “This bull, you gotta keep an eye on him at all times. He’s treacherous.”

When Twisted Steel got sick, White says he “threw in the kitchen sink” to try to save him. After Twisted Steel’s passing, he was in the market for another rank bucker for PBR’s elite tour, joining his other bulls F Bomb, White Thunder and Skunk Kitty.

“I like the mean ones, the nasty ones who are tough to ride,” White said. “The bull business is a fun little hobby for me. Bull riding is legit. These riders are tough, tough guys.”

Davis talked to stock contractor H.D. Page and told White about the recommended bull. He was impressed from the get-go, especially when learning Playmate is the son of Bruiser, a three-time world champion bull (2016-18).

Equally important to a bucking bull’s success is the cow; Playmate’s mother is the daughter of Playboy Skoal, a prominent bull in the early 1990’s.

Playmate has only one horn, making him appear even more menacing. But what happened in Kansas City wasn’t his fault, Davis contends, and Herman agreed, apologizing to Davis for taking so long in the bucking chute, which eventually led to Playmate throwing him before the gate opened.

In fact, PBR judges had put Herman on the :30-second clock, meaning they decided the bull gave him enough time to get settled and start the ride.

“He gives you the opportunity to nod your head, but you gotta get out on him quick,” Davis said.

Leme, a two-time World Champion, is known for his excellent chute procedure. Davis is not expecting another rider to have his legs crushed before the gate opens.

With White deeply invested in the bull-riding side of PBR—now under the TKO umbrella alongside UFC—Playmate made a crossover promotional appearance today, joining World No. 9 Andrew Alvidrez who trained at the gym where UFC fighter Kevin Holland trains.

“There’s always respect when the best of the best try to share and learn from one another, seeing each other’s world,” said Alvidrez, a former Texas high school state champion power lifter who broke state records, including a 600-pound squat, 320-pound bench press and 590-pound dead lift. “In both these sports, you have to put in the work. You can’t half ass it. The pressure is all on you. There’s total self-accountability. You have to be calm, composed and trust your training.”

Just hours before the opening night of the World Finals, Alvidrez was in the gym, trading blows in a tough sparring session. Raised in a family deeply rooted in MMA, the sport has been part of his life as long as he can remember.

Compared to UFC, White says “bull riding is a different kind of tough. With these bulls, there are so many things that can go wrong. You could die or get seriously injured. And like a fight, there are two sides, two stories, great storylines just like in fighting.”

Holland was training in preparation for the main card of UFC 316 in Newark, NJ, where he’ll fight No. 14 Vicente Luque in a welterweight bout.

“Bull riding’s pretty cool,” Holland said. “We put in six weeks of training to fight for 15 minutes. These bull riders, their fight is eight seconds. You might do that a couple times a weekend. Nobody ever thinks about the time you put in. Everybody thinks you get rich in 15 minutes or rich in eight seconds. Truth be told, there’s a long time of preparation, and then you have to go out there and do your job.”

Fans who want to see tonight’s epic Leme vs. Playmate matchup and all the rides and wrecks in the start of PBR’s 32nd World Finals can tune to PBR.COM/Watch.

This article first appeared on Rodeo on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: