The man who shows up at UFC headquarters each morning as Dana White’s personal runner showed up on Tuesday night with a combination that put Ozzy Martin to sleep.

Sal Everett needed 1:57 of the opening round to finish Martin at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. The welterweight ran his professional record to 5-0. Martin, who had entered 4-0, was dropped by a right hand after Everett had picked him apart with the jab.

White handed over the UFC contract in the cage.

“We got title fights in here; I don’t know if it has ever been as loud as tonight during your fight,” White said. “And listen, everybody in the UFC loves you. You’re a great kid. Forget about the whole fighting and the contract; you’re a great human being. This could not have happened to a better person. It’s kind of weird cause you’re already in the UFC, but Sal, welcome to the UFC.”

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A 2019 rejection, a 2026 UFC contract

Everett had tried to get into the company the normal way first. He applied for a UFC job in 2019 and was turned down after telling the director of security that his five-year plan was to fight for the UFC.

“I told him, ‘Fighting for the UFC.’ And he actually didn’t give me the job for whatever reason,” Everett said. “A year and a half later, or two years later, I wound up working for them.”

He eventually got in through a third-party security agency before transitioning into a full-time runner role for White.

“You’ve worked your way from the bottom up”

Standing beside him in the cage, the UFC’s CEO leaned on that climb.

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“You’ve worked your way from the bottom up,” White told him. “This is a life-changing contract.”

All five of Everett’s professional wins have come by finish. His first bout on the UFC roster has not been scheduled.

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