What was unique about UFC 2: No Way Out?

UFC 2: No Way Out was the first and only 16-man tournament in the history of the organization. The winner of the tournament won $60,000 after making their way through the entire event.

The first seven fights were not aired on pay-per-view but could be viewed via the home video version of the event.

No judges were in attendance as the bouts could only end via submission, throwing the towel or knockout. Furthermore, none of the fights had rounds or were restricted by time. However, there was still a referee in the cage.

The event took place at Mammoth Gardens in Denver, Colorado, which is the same city that hosted UFC 1. Two thousand fans attended the live event, with UFC 2: No Way Out having a total buyrate of 300,000.

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Who won UFC 2: No Way Out?

Royce Gracie beat Patrick Smith in the final of UFC: 2 No Way Out in March 1994 in Denver, Colorado.

Gracie won via submission after Smith tapped to strikes, with the fight lasting just one minute and seventeen seconds.

The UFC legend also submitted Remco Pardoel, Jason DeLucia and Minoki Ichihara on his way to the final.

Watch Royce Gracie at UFC 1 below:

His eventual opponent, Patrick Smith, had a more mixed method of victory in his fights. Smith submitted Johnny Rhodes in the semifinals and knocked out Scott Morris via elbow strikes in the bout before fighting Rhodes. In the opening round of the tournament, Smith won via submission after catching Ray Wizard in a guillotine choke.

Gracie's longest bout was against Minoki Ichihara in the opening round of UFC 2: No Way Out. Ichihara was from Japan and held a second-degree black belt in Daido Juku karate.

Gracie is regarded as one of the pioneers of MMA and especially jiu-jitsu inside the octagon. The grappling specialist finished his MMA career with a record of 15 wins, two losses and three draws.

The 55-year-old would shockingly return to the sport to face Ken Shamrock in 2016 at Bellator 149. However, after winning that bout via TKO in the very first round, Gracie is yet to return to competition.