2024 PFL Championship: Denis Goltsov sleeps Oleg Popov from bottom, calls for Francis Ngannou

Denis Goltsov is $1 million richer thanks to a slick triangle choke submission.

The 2024 PFL Championship main card opener Friday, Goltsov (36-8) was taken down in the opening seconds, but within a few minutes had opponent Oleg Popov (19-2) snoozing on top of him. The technical submission stoppage came at 2:55 of Round 1 at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

DENIS GOLTSOV DOES IT! HE SNAPS POPOV’S 17-FIGHT WINNING STREAK TO CLAIM THE 2024 PFL HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD TITLE!!#PFLWorldChampionship
LIVE NOW ON ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/fm0AQIZiiG

— PFL (@PFLMMA) November 29, 2024

With the win, Goltsov is the 2024 PFL heavyweight champion and walks away seven figures richer. The victory topped off a perfect 4-0 run in PFL in 2024. He defeated Linton Vassell, Thiago Santos, and Tim Johnson prior to Friday’s fight.

After the fight, Goltsov called for a crack at Francis Ngannou, who has one bout remaining on his PFL deal.

With the loss, Popov has a 17-fight winning streak snapped. The 2024 season marked Popov’s first in PFL after being imported from Bellator. Popov defeated Steve Mowry, Davion Franklin, and Vassell to earn Friday’s opportunity.

Up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL Championship results include:

• Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev – for featherweight title
• Dakota Ditcheva vs. Taila Santos – for women’s flyweight title
• Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov – for light heavyweight title
• Magomed Umalatov vs. Shamil Musaev – for welterweight title
• Brent Primus vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov – for lightweight title
• Denis Goltsov def. Oleg Popov via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:55 – to win heavyweight title
• Abdullah Al-Qahtani def. Maraoune Bellagouit via TKO (punches) – Round 1 – for MENA featherweight title
• Omar El Dafrawy def. Mohammad Alaqraa via TKO (punches) – Round 2; 0:57 – to win MENA welterweight title
• Ali Taleb def. Rachid El Hazoume via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:25 – to win MENA bantamweight title
• Mohsen Mohammadseifi def. Georges Eid via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) – for MENA lightweight title
• Mansour Barnaoui def. Alfie Davis via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:41
• Slim Trabelsi def. Abraham Bably via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Gabriel Braga def. Jeremy Kennedy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Asael Adjoudj def. Jose Perez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:10
• Costello van Steenis def. Joao Dantas via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 0:48

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.