Christopher Bell earned his third pole of the 2024 season on Saturday with a 185.344mph (29.135s) lap. Driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, he bested 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick by just 0.013s in the final round of qualifying.

“I feel really good,” Bell told NBC. “I feel really comfortable. In practice, I don’t think the pace showed what we had but inside the car, I felt super comfortable. I know we are gonna have a shot at it tomorrow.”

While it’s a great way to start the Round of 8, Bell has also never won a Cup race from pole position before.

“I’ve been in this position many times and obviously, I’ve never won from the pole yet,” said Bell, who just earned his 13th career pole position. “Still waiting to do that, but maybe tomorrow’s the day.”

Reddick will line up alongside with the recently eliminated Alex Bowman in third. Denny Hamlin was fourth and Kyle Larson fifth. Filling out the remainder of the top-ten on the grid: Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, and Joey Logano.

The only two playoff drivers to not advance into the pole round were Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Ryan Blaney, who did not make an attempt after a practice crash. Blaney will start 37th (last) in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford.

Round 1 

Thankfully, there were no incidents like Blaney’s in a very clean qualifying session. In the first round, Bell set the pace with a 29.153s lap in Group A. He advanced along with Hamlin, Logano, Gibbs, and Hocevar. Martin Truex Jr. was the first driver to miss out, just 0.009s back of Hocevar.

In Group B, Reddick was quickest at a blistering fast 29.007s lap. He advanced along with Byron, Chastain, Bowman, and Larson. Austin Cindric was the first driver out, 0.077s out.

FRANCIS NGANNOU tearfully made his return to MMA by viciously knocking out Renen Ferreira – and dedicated it to his late son Kobe.

Ngannou was beaten in the boxing ring by Anthony Joshua in March but suffered a far greater loss just a month later.

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His son Kobe – only 15-months-old – suddenly passed away to leave Ngannou devastated and contemplating retirement.

But the heavyweight hero – who emigrated from Cameroon to France on foot over the course of a year – vowed to fight for his boy.

And with Kobe tattooed on his bicep, Ngannou dedicated victory to son as he broke down in tears in the cage.

He said: “I can’t think about anything other than my son, Kobe. I only took this fight because of him, I took the fight for him.

“I hope they can remember his name because without Kobe, we wouldn’t be here tonight. I wouldn’t have fought.”

Ngannou put his MMA career on hold after walking out on the UFC in 2022 as their heavyweight world champion.

And he crossed over to pursue a lifelong ambition of boxing, sensationally dropping Tyson Fury on his debut.

But he lost a controversial split-decision loss to Fury, 36, before being knocked out five months later by Joshua, 34.

Ngannou went back to his MMA roots to make his return against Ferreira, 34, but had to do it carrying the burden of losing his son.

He said: “It was tough, it’s been tough. Not only the training camp was tough, the past two days were very tough, full of emotion.

“I couldn’t do anything without thinking about it. I was trying to say I was strong, tell myself to keep moving but it was hard.”

Ngannou came out swinging against Ferreira but scored a surprise takedown to take the bout to the ground.

But it was on the floor that he ruthlessly hammered 6ft 8in Ferreira into submission to hand him an emotional first-round finish.

Wiping away the tears from his eyes, Ngannou once more dedicated the moment to his son.

He said: “I just want to say, please remember my son. Remember my son, Kobe. This is for Kobe.”

Francis Ngannou is back in a big way.

The former UFC heavyweight champion returned to MMA action for the first time in over two years and needed less than four minutes to dispatch Renan Ferreira in devastating fashion to cap off PFL: Battle of the Giants.

While he’s so well known for his fight finishing power on the feet, Ngannou actually delivered a single takedown to start the fight and he never let Ferreira back up again. Once Ferreira got stuck in a bad spot on the canvas, Ngannou unleashed some truly vicious ground and pound that just started hammering away at the PFL heavyweight champion.

With each punch, Ferreira’s defense crumbled and Ngannou wasn’t slowing down until the fight was stopped. Referee Dan Miragliotta mercifully stepped in to rescue Ferreira at 3:32 in the first round as Ngannou secures his first win under the PFL banner.

Following the win, Ngannou was emotional as he dedicated the performance to his son Kobe, who passed away earlier this year at just 15 months old.

“I can’t just think about anything than my son Kobe,” Ngannou said. “I only take this fight for him. I hope they can remember his name because without Kobe, I wouldn’t be here tonight.

“It’s been tough. Not only the training camp was tough but the last two days was tough, full of emotion. I couldn’t do anything without thinking about it. It’s hard. This is for Kobe.”

The emotional turmoil seemingly fueled Ngannou to one of his most dominant victories as he displayed his full range of weapons to beat Ferreira on Saturday.

Some heavy leather thrown to start the fight led to the takedown from Ngannou as he planted the giant Brazilian on the canvas. While Ngannou looked to inflict damage from the top, Ferreira managed to toss up a triangle choke attempt from the bottom.

Ngannou resisted the submission before breaking free as Ferreira desperately tried to scramble free but soon he was eating punches from the terrifying heavyweight on top of him. With Ferreira basically just covering up and not offering much resistance, Ngannou just began unloading shots in succession.

Ferreira appeared severely dazed before just falling flat on his stomach as Ngannou kept throwing bombs until the referee finally stopped the onslaught. Following the win, Ngannou remained down on the canvas for several moments as he embraced his coaches and let the wave of emotion finally wash over him.

The win moves Ngannou to 1-0 in the PFL after the promotion made a huge investment in him as a free agent following the end of his UFC career. As far as what comes next, Ngannou wasn’t ready to speculate just yet if he’s going to stick around in MMA or perhaps return to boxing because the only thing on his mind was paying tribute to his son with this win.

“I knew I didn’t miss a step,” Ngannou said about his comeback. “I wasn’t worried about it. I knew everything was still there. It was just about me being able to manage my emotion. We’re here, we finally get the result

“I think my next move in combat sports all depends on me, how I feel. I always thought I still had a lot to give in combat sports. Hopefully I keep thinking that way.”

Light-welterweight contender Adam Azim passed his toughest test to date with an impressive eighth-round stoppage win over Ohara Davies at London’s Copper Box Arena.

The 22-year-old from Slough dropped Davies with a body shot in the fifth round.

Davies, 32, gallantly fought on but was floored again three rounds later as a left hook landed flush.

The contest was waved off by the referee before he noticed Davies’ corner frantically waving the towel.

“It was my best performance. I had to be very switched on for him,” Azim, now unbeaten in 12 pro fights, said.

Azim expects to face Harlem Eubank next and then settle a rivalry with Sheffield’s Dalton Smith in 2025.

The pair were ordered to fight for the European title but Azim vacated his belt, leading to a public spat between the two teams.

Davies, meanwhile, said it “might be the end” for his career, after a fourth defeat in 29 pro fights.

“I feel like you have to know when your time is done. You don’t want to stay in this sport for too long and take too much,” he added.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

In the case of the PFL: Battle of the Giants main event Saturday, Francis Ngannou took height out of the occasion.

At Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ngannou (18-3) pounded Renan Ferreira (13-4) into unconsciousness with ground-and-pound punches from back mount for a knockout stoppage at 3:32 of Round 1.

Ngannou, 38, took the fight to the ground early. From there, Ferreira shot up a triangle. Once Ngannou escaped, it was practically game over. The former UFC heavyweight champion who never lost his title blasted his opponent with big punches to end the fight.

FIRST. ROUND. FINISH!

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— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 19, 2024

The bout was Ngannou’s first in MMA since his UFC departure in early 2023. He competed twice in boxing vs. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, and lost both bouts. The first was by controversial split decision. The second was a knockout defeat.

Ferreira’s four-fight winning streak comes to an end. He emerged as the best option for Ngannou after knockout wins over Matheus Scheffel, Maurice Greene, Denis Goltsov, and Ryan Bader.

Up-to-the-minute PFL: Battle of the Giants results include:

MAIN CARD (DAZN pay-per-view, 4 p.m. ET)

• Francis Ngannou def. Renan Ferreira via knockout (ground-and-pound) – Round 1, 3:32
• Cris Cyborg def. Larissa Pacheco via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) – for women’s featherweight superfights title
• Johnny Eblen def. Fabian Edwards via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) – for Bellator middleweight title
• Zafar Mohsen def. Husein Kadimagomaev via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Paul Hughes def. A.J. McKee via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Raufeon Stots def. Marcos Breno via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:01
• Makkasharip Zaynukov def. Dedrek Sanders via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
• Ibragim Ibragimov def. Nacho Campos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Taha Bendaoud def. Tariq Ismail via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:51

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.