Szabova challenged Cecilie Bolander in the main event in the open-air stadium in Stvanice, and finished the Norwegian champion to capture championship gold in a fight that was blighted by some questionable officiating.
The problems came early for Bolander, as Szabova stepped in and looked to take her down with an inside trip. Unfortunately, during the move, Bolander’s knee badly buckled during the move, and she appeared to tell Szabova to stop and that she couldn’t fight on.
However, referee Pavel Tous ruled that the action should continue, and Szabova had no option but to press on as she hammered a downed, and largely helpless, Bolander until Tous finally called a halt to the action after three minutes, 11 seconds.
👑 AND NEW!
Lucia Szabová 🇸🇰 remains undefeated and moves to 10-0 as she finishes Bolander to win the bantamweight belt in the very first round #OKTAGON74
📺 https://t.co/TVP7NaEp1x & RTL+ pic.twitter.com/hCUIdNkpxP
— OKTAGON (@OktagonOfficial) August 9, 2025
In truth, it was a fight that should have been stopped much, much earlier, with Bolander not being left to take so many strikes with no defence other than attempts to cover up.
But the win belonged to Szabova, who extended her perfect professional record to 10-0 as she captured her first major championship.
In the co-main event, OKTAGON middleweight champion Kerim Engizek stamped his authority on the Tipsport Gamechanger tournament with a first-round finish of Mick Stanton.
Stanton moved into takedown range and shot for a leg, and Engizek, aided by a blatant cage grab that was missed by the referee, was able to avoid being taken to the mat.
Stanton persisted, and ended up on his back as Engizek managed to turn the tables as they fell to the canvas. Having moved into a dominant position, Engizek punished Stanton with ground strikes and, as Stanton looked to work for a leg, he continued his onslaught to force the stoppage victory after three minutes, three seconds.
Engizek’s victory means he progresses to the semi-finals of the tournament, where he’ll take on Dominik Humburger, who produced a huge performance to knock out the fancied South African contender Mark Hulme in the second round and move into the final four.
🤯 HUGE KNOCKOUT!
Dominik Humburger 🇨🇿 stops Mark Hulme to advance to the Tipsport Gamechanger semifinals #OKTAGON74
📺 https://t.co/TVP7NaDRbZ & RTL+ pic.twitter.com/sNs5YaIef5
— OKTAGON (@OktagonOfficial) August 9, 2025
The other tournament semi-final was also confirmed, with Poland’s Krzysztof Jotko producing a dominant performance to finish Marek Mazuch via second-round TKO, while tournament alternate Hojat Khajevand took full advantage of his substitute appearance to upset the applecart and defeat former interim champion Piotr Wawrzyniak via unanimous decision after a superb performance.
The night also saw the confirmation of a couple of huge upcoming bouts. Recently-released former UFC heavyweight contender Martin Buday was unveiled as the promotion’s newest signing, with the former OKTAGON heavyweight champion returning to the promotion to challenge for the title again.
He’ll take on reigning two-division champion Will Fleury at a future date, with OKTAGON 77 in Bratislava on October 4 looking the most likely event for the pair to meet.
Also confirmed was a battle for the OKTAGON welterweight title, with reigning champ Ion Surdu taking on Czech fan-favourite Andrej Kalasnik at OKTAGON 79 in Kalasnik’s home town of Brno on November 1.
Štvanice forever! 💛🖤 #OKTAGON74
📺 https://t.co/TVP7NaDRbZ & RTL+ pic.twitter.com/hceW6ONN6x
— OKTAGON (@OktagonOfficial) August 9, 2025
OKTAGON 74: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Lucia Szabova def. Cecilie Bolander via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:11 – for bantamweight title
- Kerim Engizek def. Mick Stanton via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 3:03 – Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-final
- Dominik Humburger def. Mark Hulme via knockout (elbow) – Round 2, 2:59 – Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-final
- Krzysztof Jotko def. Marek Mazuch via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 2, 4:36 – Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-final
- Hojat Khajevand def. Piotr Wawrzyniak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-final
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Radek Rousal def. Adrian Hamerski via TKO (body shot and ground strikes) – Round 2, 1:09
- Kamil Oniszczuk def. David Zawada via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Tipsport Gamechanger reserve bout
- Daniel Ligocki def. Andre Langen via TKO (knees and ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:00
- Vojtech Khol def. Raphael Federico via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 1:11
- Niamh Kinehan def. Michaela Hlavacikova via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
