Perfect Dakota Buttar Wins Record-Setting, Sold-Out PBR Canada Cup Series Event in Red Deer, Alberta, Overtaking the No. 1 Rank in the National Championship Race

RED DEER, Alta. – As the 2025 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada Cup Series got underway Saturday night in front of a record-setting, sold-out crowd in Red Deer, Alberta, Dakota Buttar (Eatonia, Saskatchewan) showed up and showed out, going a perfect 2-for-2 to win the Red Deer Classic and overtake the No. 1 rank in the race for the 2025 PBR Canada Championship and accompanying $100,000 bonus.

Buttar got off to a quick start inside Peavey Mart Centrium. He delivered the second-best score of Round 1 when he topped Pay Day (Skori Bucking Bulls) for 86 points.

With the second selection in the championship round bull draft, Buttar architected a showdown with More or Less (Thompson Rodeo Livestock), a decision which proved dividends. Remaining in perfect time with the powerful animal athlete, Buttar reached the whistle for an event-best 87 points, proving enough to clinch the win.

The golden finish garnered Buttar a crucial 126 national points. He rose from unranked to No. 1 in the Canadian standings, now 43 points ahead of No. 2 Jordan Hansen (Amisk, Alberta).

Two-time PBR Canada Champion Buttar is seeking history this season. Should he win the 2025 PBR Canada Championship, he would tie Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan) for most national titles won by one rider with three.

Hansen, the only other rider to be a flawless 2-for-2 in Red Deer, was second, collecting 83 national points.

After riding Wicked Water (Vold Rodeo) for 84.5 points in Round 1, Hansen conquered Slash Tide (Vold Rodeo) for 85.5 points in the championship round.

Seeking his first PBR Canada Championship this November, Hansen catapulted from unranked to No. 2 in the national standings.

Riding outside of his home nation of Brazil for the first time, Jerson Arantes dos Santos (Paranaiba, Brazil) excelled on Canadian soil, logging a third-place finish at the PBR Red Deer Classic.

Santos dominated Round 1, delivering the top score when he rode World Wide (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) for 86.5 points. The Brazilian newcomer, however, fell short of the win when he was tossed by Moonwalk (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) in a hard-fought 7.62 seconds in the final round.

Leaving Red Deer with 64 national points, Santos climbed from unranked to No. 4 in Canada. He now trails No. 1 Buttar by 62 points.

Garrett Green (Meeting Creek, Alberta) was fourth.

Green parlayed an 85.5-point ride on Broken Pearl (Kinky Buckers) from Round 1 into 38 national points.

Having travelled to Red Deer unranked, Green surged to No. 9 in the Canadian standings, propelled within 88 points of No. 1 Buttar.

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Ashton Sahli (Red Deer, Alberta).

The hometown favorite earned 33 national points for his 85-point ride aboard Relatively Famous (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) from Round 1.

Marking his 2025 season debut in Canada, Sahli is now ranked No. 11 in the national standings, 93 points behind top-ranked Buttar.

In the bull pen, 2024 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Grand Funk (Kinky Buckers) and Moonwalk bucked a cut above the rest, crowned the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bulls of the Event for their unrivaled 43.5-point bull scores in the championship round.

Grand Funk earned the marks for his 6.18 seconds of work against two-time and reigning PBR Canada Champion Nick Tetz (Calgary, Alberta), while Moonwalk lit up the scoreboard when he upended Round 1 winner Santos.

The 2024 PBR Canada Sup Series will next travel to Lethbridge, Alberta, and VisitLethridge.com Arena for the PBR South Country Co-op Showdown on Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1. Action will get underway nightly at 7 p.m. MST.   Tickets are still available, and they can be purchased online at VisitLethbridgeArena.ca, or charge by phone at (403) 329-7328.

Stay tuned in to PBRCanada.com and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Canada), X (@PBRCanada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the latest results, news, stats and more.

PBR Canada Cup Series
PBR Red Deer Classic
Peavey Mart Centrium – Red Deer, Alberta
(Round 1-Round 2-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Dakota Buttar, 86-87-173.00-126 Points.
2. Jordan Hansen, 84.5-85.5-170.00-83 Points.
3. Jerson Arantes dos Santos, 86.5-0-86.50-64 Points.
4. Garrett Green, 85.5-0-85.50-38 Points.
5. Ashton Sahli, 85-0-85.00-33 Points.
6. Weston Davidson, 84-0-84.00-26 Points.
7. Nick Tetz, 83.5-0-83.50-19 Points.
8. Tanner Eno, 82.5-0-82.50-17 Points.
9. Chanse Switzer, 82-0-82.00-15 Points.
10. Cody Fraser, 81.5-0-81.50-12 Points.
11. Cody Coverchuk, 80.5-0-80.50-9 Points.
(tie). Coy Robbins, 80.5-0-80.50-9 Points.
Tyler Craig, 0-0-0.00
Jake Gardner, 0-0-0.00
Eric O'Flynn, 0-0-0.00
Griffin Koester, 0-0-0.00
Carter Sahli, 0-0-0.00
Auzyn Corr, 0-0-0.00
Jared Parsonage, 0-0-0.00
Aaron Roy, 0-0-0.00
Brock Radford, 0-0-0.00
William Barrows, 0-0-0.00
Lonnie West, 0-0-0.00
Marshall Senger, 0-0-0.00
Cole Young, 0-0-0.00
Rafael Parra, 0-0-0.00
Gavin Knutson, 0-0-0.00
Francisco Costa, 0-0-0.00

2025 PBR Canada National Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Dakota Buttar, 1, 1, 1, 126.00, $9,312.50
2. Jordan Hansen, 1, 0, 1, 83.00, $6,062.50
3. Weston Davidson, 3, 1, 1, 64.50, $5,169.94
4. Jerson Arantes dos Santos, 1, 0, 1, 64.00, $4,125.00
5. Tyler Craig, 3, 1, 1, 62.00, $5,429.38
6. Jake Gardner, 4, 0, 1, 56.00, $4,202.19
7. Cody Coverchuk, 4, 0, 2, 46.50, $3,749.92
7. Eric O'Flynn, 4, 0, 2, 46.50, $1,891.25
9. Garrett Green, 1, 0, 1, 38.00, $2,500.00
10. Tanner Eno, 2, 0, 1, 34.50, $1,532.56
11. Ashton Sahli, 1, 0, 1, 33.00, $1,425.00
12. Griffin Koester, 2, 0, 1, 32.50, $2,119.69
13. Carter Sahli, 3, 0, 0, 23.50, $684.25
14. Nick Tetz, 1, 0, 0, 19.00, $525.00
15. Chanse Switzer, 2, 0, 0, 15.00, $0.00
16. Auzyn Corr, 3, 0, 1, 13.00, $1,770.83
17. Cody Fraser, 2, 0, 0, 12.00, $0.00
18. Trace Redd, 1, 0, 0, 10.00, $0.00
19. Coy Robbins, 1, 0, 0, 9.00, $0.00
20. Jett Lambert, 1, 0, 0, 8.00, $0.00
21. Jared Parsonage, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Aaron Roy, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Cauy Schmidt, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Brock Radford, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. William Barrows, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Lonnie West, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Marshall Senger, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Wyatt Fenning, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Cole Young, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Clay Gordon, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Zachery King, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Austin Paley, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Storm Noskye, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Liam Bishop, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Scott Smith, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Kaden Piper, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Braxton Rowe, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Desmond Lambert, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Lane Jensen, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Decker Passkey, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Kurt Kipling, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Daniel Doble, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Jake Heslop, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Rafael Parra, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Gavin Knutson, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Francisco Costa, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00