BFO to crown its champ in Cowtown

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World champion Aaron Mercer of Calgary, Alberta, lets his bull slide by during his BFO Roughy Cup-winning bullfight on Thursday. (PHOTO BY TODD BREWER)

Historic coliseum will host Bullfighters Only title bouts

FORT WORTH, Texas – The question on the minds of all freestyle bullfighting fans this year has been, “Now that the NFR has moved from Las Vegas to Texas, will BFO have a 2020 world champion?”

The answer is a resounding yes.

Twelve of the premier freestyle bullfighters in the world will first compete in their preliminary Rounds at 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 10-12, under the lights of Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth.

Then at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, these 12 gladiators compete in a winner-takes-all battle. With a purse of over $60,000 and a coveted BFO world championship up for grabs, this will be the most prolific day in freestyle bullfighting history.

“In a year where we resisted the urge to put on any bullfights that weren’t up to our standards, we knew it would be a stretch to find a home that would meet our fans’ and our bullfighters’ expectations,” said Joey Austin, the CEO of Bullfighters Only, noting the opportunity to crown the champ in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards was the perfect fit for the organization. “The Trop (Las Vegas Tropicana) has just been so good to us. Then, when Cowtown Coliseum called, we knew it would be a perfect fit for this unique year. I mean, I love the tent concept, but the opportunity to crown our world champion inside one of the most historic Western buildings in the United States … we just couldn’t pass that up.

“We also had to make sure the money was right. BFO has set a standard and, while it would’ve been easy to have a few bullfights this year and blame the low payout on the pandemic, we didn’t want to go that route. Our sponsors really stepped up, and we’re proud that these bullfighters will get to run at a purse of 60-grand. As always, our athletes don’t pay an entry fee.”

Just a few of the superstars scheduled to compete are three-time world champion Weston Rutkowski, reigning world champion Aaron Mercer, “Silent Assassin” Beau Schueth, the “Demo Man” Toby Inman, Andres “Sasquatch” Gonzalez, Dekevis “Air” Jordan and the phenom Austin Ashley.

“The format will be simple,” said Nate Jestes, the BFO’s general manager. “While 2020 regular season earnings will be used for a potential tiebreaker, the World Championship will be earned right there in the dirt of Cowtown Coliseum over four days. Even the PRCA had a year (1977) where the winner of the NFR was the world champion. This will be fun for the fans and fair for those guys who couldn’t compete as much due to the pandemic.”

The fiercest Mexican fighting bulls in the world will be matched up against the 12 combatants. Troy Bradshaw from Penthouse Fighting Bulls and Manuel Costa will bring the heat each heart-pounding round.

The stellar team of Anthony Lucia and Matt West will call the action, with bullfighting legend Andy Burelle on the mic providing the color commentary. The always-entertaining Justin Rumford, an eight-time PRCA Rodeo Clown of the Year, will be adding his hilarious talent to the mix.

The Cowboy Channel, fresh off of broadcasting ten rounds of the National Finals Rodeo, will carry the BFO World Championship live at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13.

For tickets to the BFO World Championship, visit https://cowtowncoliseum.com/events/bfo-world-championship.

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