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.