‘The Pink Panther’ returns: David Kozma to put welterweight title on the line at Oktagon 37

David Kozma, known to his legion of fans as “The Pink Panther,” is all set for his latest title defense as he looks to register his second victory of 2022 at Oktagon 37.

Kozma will take on Brazilian challenger Kaik Brito in the headline bout of the December 3 bout, which takes place at the Ostravar Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

The 30-year-old has a professional record of 30 wins, 11 defeats, but has been perfect inside the Oktagon cage since joining the promotion in 2018.

Kozma’s run with Oktagon has seen him reel off 10 consecutive wins inside the Oktagon cage, a run that also saw him capture the promotion’s 170-pound title and defend it five times to become Oktagon’s longest-reigning champion.

He faces Brito, who comes into the bout with a 3-1 record with the promotion, but patchy form overall. The 25-year-old from Goiania has alternated wins and losses through his last seven bouts stretching back to 2019, but in his last outing he claimed a resounding first-round knockout of Andrej Kalasnik to earn himself a shot at Kozma’s title.

When he wins, he does it impressively, and has a 100 percent finish rate, with all 15 of his wins coming inside the distance – 12 by knockout and three via submission. Even more impressively, 10 of those wins came in the first round.

Featherweight strap up for grabs

The recently-vacated Oktagon featherweight championship will be on the line in the co-main event, as Mate Sanikidze takes on Jakub Tichota for the honor of being the promotion’s next champion at 145 pounds.

The belt was vacated by Ivan Buchinger, who relinquished the title due to injury, leaving the door open for Sanikidze and Tichota to battle it out for the vacant strap, and both men head into the matchup in fine form.

Both athletes will arrive in Ostrava riding five-fight win streaks, with Georgia’s Sanikidze sporting a record of 8-2, while 2019 IMMAF world amateur champion Tichota heads into the bout with a perfect 5-0 resume.

The winner of the bout could find themselves propelled into a huge champion versus champion bout, with newly-crowned lightweight king Losene Keita already expressing his interest in moving down a weight to face the winner early next year.