Undefeated Kozak becomes youngest Slovakian to earn UFC contract with DWCS TKO

Martin Kozak (7-0) made Slovakian MMA history on September 8, stopping Christian Echols (8-5) by second-round TKO in a middleweight bout at Dana White’s Contender Series 2026 Week 5 to earn a UFC contract — becoming the youngest Slovakian ever to do so.

Kozak was dominant from the opening bell, dropping Echols with a flush head kick in the first round and appearing close to a finish before the referee intervened to deduct a point for a low blow. Any momentum Echols might have hoped to carry into round two evaporated quickly: Kozak needed barely 90 seconds to close the show with a vicious flurry that left the referee with no choice but to wave it off.

“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.”

The performance underlined what Kozak has long claimed about his game — that he carries genuine finishing power across multiple disciplines. The head kick that rocked Echols in round one and the precise ground-and-pound that ended it in round two were evidence of exactly the well-rounded arsenal he describes.

Kozak joins a short but growing list of Slovakian fighters to reach the UFC. Ludovit Klein and Martin Buday are the only countrymen with sustained careers inside the organisation, while Vlastislav Cepo made an unsuccessful UFC debut in Serbia as recently as August. Kozak’s arrival, at 24 and still unbeaten, gives Slovakian MMA its most promising prospect yet at the sport’s highest level.