AUSTIN, Texas – At the 2025 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Teams New Rider Draft on Tuesday evening in Austin, Texas, the Arizona Ridge Riders selected Jhon Carlos Moreira with the No. 1 overall pick.
“I am very grateful and happy to be here and ride for [the Arizona Ridge Riders],” Moreira said via a translator. “They can be sure I am going to give 100% for the team so that they can win.”
Moreira was a consensus top target after the PBR Teams Combine held in Brazil Feb. 18 – 20. Hailing from Confresa, Mato Grosso, Brazil, the 19-year-old bull rider is No. 6 in the 2025 PBR Brazil standings. After watching his father ride bulls as a kid, he began riding calves when he was just 9 years old before moving to Sao Paulo to take on Brazil’s best bovine competitors after turning 17.
An avid PBR fan growing up, Moreira lists three-time PBR World Champions Adriano Moraes, Silvano Alves and Jose Vitor Leme as his inspiration, in addition to both Paulo Crimber and John Crimber. Being selected with the first overall pick makes his dream of following in their footsteps to compete in America a reality.
With the second overall pick, the New York Mavericks selected Trey Holston from Fort Scott, Kansas. The 25-year-old has already found success riding in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), where he has qualified for two National Finals Rodeos, in 2022 and 2023.
“I am stoked to be here, and I can’t wait to get this show on the road,” Holston said after being drafted.
The Kansas cowboy and 2017 High School National Champion credits UFC fighter Michael Chandler with inspiring his career. Holston now joins the TKO family to compete under the same banner as his hero.
During the first of several trades Tuesday evening, the Kansas City Outlaws sent the third overall pick to the Texas Rattlers for the sixth pick and future considerations. With that selection, Texas took Australia’s Macaulie Leather.
Hailing from Calliope, Queensland, Australia, Leather is one of 13 siblings and joins fellow Aussie Brady Fielder, who just finished third in the 2025 gold buckle race, on the Rattlers. Leather was the 2021 PBR Australia Rookie of the Year and the 2023 PBR Australia Champion.
Macaulie’s brother, Boston Leather, was also selected in the first round, going to the Missouri Thunder with the fifth overall pick. Leather was the 2024 PBR Australia Champion and Rookie of the Year.
In between the Leather brothers, the Kansas City Outlaws took Daniel Feitosa with the fourth overall pick.
Feitosa had previously been drafted by the Carolina Cowboys in the second round of the 2023 PBR Teams New Rider Draft before injuries forced him to return to Brazil. Since then, Feitosa has once again found his form, and he is ready to return to America and join 2024 PBR World Champion Cassio Dias on the Outlaws.
The Outlaws also had the sixth overall selection, where they chose Eric Novoa from Vacaville, California, before the Florida Freedom took Cannon Cravens of Porum, Oklahoma, with the seventh pick.
The hometown Austin Gamblers selected 2024 PBR Brazil champion Rogerio Venancio from Paranaita, Brazil, with the eighth overall pick.
To close out the first round of selections, the Kansas City Outlaws selected William Peao Rondonia with the ninth pick before the Oklahoma Wildcatters drafted Australian Thomas Triplett.
