Undefeated 24-year-old makes UFC history with brutal DWCS finish

Martin
Kozak’s
Ultimate Fighting Championship signing marks a huge moment for
Slovakian mixed martial arts.

Kozak (7-0) beat Christian
Echols (8-5) in a middleweight matchup on
Week 5 of
Dana White’s Contender Series 2026 on Sept. 8 to earn a UFC
contract.

Martin Kozak becomes youngest Slovakian to earn a UFC
contract

Kozak looked nearly flawless as he dropped Echols with a flush head
kick in the opening round. While it seeed like Kozak almost
finished Echols in the final seconds of the round, the referee had
stopped the fight due to a low blow from the Slovakian. Kozak took
hardly over 90 seconds in the second round to finish the job with a
vicious flurry. The 24-year-old became the youngest Slovakian to
earn a UFC contract.

Kozak says he has a well-rounded arsenal, which he puts on display
every time. Having his dream of a lifetime come true, he was at a
loss for words.

“This is what I do,” Kozak said in his post-fight interview. “I’m
constantly killing my opponents with many techniques, kicks and
punches. This is what I do… All my career, my whole life, I have
been dreaming about this moment. Now, finally, it happened. I can’t
describe my feelings; it’s amazing.”

Kozak follows in the footsteps of Ludovit
Klein and Martin
Buday, the only longtime Slovakian UFC fighters. Meanwhile,
Vlastislav
Cepo recently made an unsuccessful UFC debut in Serbia in
August.