On the Road to UFC 100, Looking Back at UFC 2

by Luke Thomas on Apr 6, 2009 10:27 AM EDT in MMA History

Ufc_2_boxcover_medium

Dave Meltzer is doing a UFC retrospective of sorts as UFC 100 approaches (even though it is not the centennial show for the organization). In this edition, Meltzer explains what UFC 2 did differently than UFC 1:

The first was the introduction of John McCarthy as the referee. McCarthy did not, however, have any power to stop matches, which included a 21-second massacre by Smith on Scott Morris. McCarthy demanded the power to stop fights going forward and ended up becoming one of the key figures in the evolution of the sport.

The second was that the show drew approximately 100,000 orders on pay-per-view, up from 80,000 for the first show. It made the show profitable, which the first show wasn’t, and suddenly the prospect of UFC as a continuing series garnered momentum.

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people sleep on the importance of this event

But it was the one more people saw — for whatever reason the VHS of UFC 1 was almost impossible to find in the early days and UFC 2 was in every convenience store that sold videos.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 6, 2009 11:42 AM EDT reply actions

Makes sense. I saw two before I saw one.

by Luke Thomas on Apr 6, 2009 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Same here.

by pud333 on Apr 6, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I actually ordered UFC 4, and my dad and I got screwed on the ending to the Severn v. Gracie final because of it running over time. My dad argued with the cable company and we got all four shows two weeks later when UFC put on a New Year’s Eve marathon. I still have the old VHS tapes.

by reillyfactor on Apr 6, 2009 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions

But what about all those guys who "been there since UFC 1?"

by zeroword on Apr 6, 2009 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions

“THERE ARE NO RULES!”

by Kierkegaard on Apr 6, 2009 12:06 PM EDT reply actions

Damn, you beat me to it.

by pud333 on Apr 6, 2009 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

and look at that box cover

Scott Morris and Fred Ettish were the stars who made that such a cult success. Let’s face it the early marketing of UFC was on a par with such later internet monsters as Brickfist and Consumption Junction — sheer ghoulishness and necro-voyeurism.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 6, 2009 12:06 PM EDT reply actions