5 Things You Might Not Know About UFC 2

Nearly four months to the day after WOW Promotions and Semaphore Entertainment Group gave birth to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the second installment was brought to the masses with much less fanfare.

UFC 2 “No Way Out” unfolded on March 11, 1994 at Mammoth Gardens in Denver, where 2,000 people were purportedly on hand to witness the continuing exploits of Royce Gracie and Co. The lanky Brazilian was booked to defend his UFC 1 championship in a 16-man openweight tournament—double the size of the promotion’s original field. Gracie proceeded to carve through Minoki Ichihara, Jason DeLucia, Remco Pardoel and Patrick Smith for his second straight title and a $60,000 payday. It took him a little more than nine combined minutes to run the gauntlet, highlighted by his 77-second technical knockout of Smith in the final.

Now more than three decades removed from the event, here are five things you might not know about UFC 2:

1. It was staged at an outside-the-box venue.

Mammoth Gardens was known as more of a music hub. It survived multiple closures and underwent numerous renovations and name changes before being rebranded to its current iteration as The Fillmore Auditorium in 1999. The building has played host to wide range of musical royalty, from James Brown, Jethro Tull, The Who, The Grateful Dead and Joe Cocker to Cyndi Lauper, Pantera, Oasis, Coldplay and Beastie Boys.

2. Sheer numbers made it stand out.

The 16-man competition at UFC 2 was the first—and last—of its kind for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. All other UFC tournaments have consisted of eight participants or fewer.

3. Diversity was not an issue.

Martial artists from six different countries partook in the event. In addition to Brazil, fighters from the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Span and France received invitations.

4. New celebrities were hatched.

UFC 2 marked the debut of “Big” John McCarthy as a referee. A Los Angeles police officer at the time, he went on to become the most recognizable official in mixed martial arts. McCarthy helped establish the Unified Rules for MMA and even published his own autobiography—“Let’s Get It On! The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee”—with longtime journalist Loretta Hunt in 2013.

5. Quick-hit offense was a theme.

Seven of the 15 bouts at UFC 2 lasted less than 90 seconds. Scott Morris needed just 20 seconds to submit Sean Daugherty with a guillotine choke in the show’s shortest match.