5 Things You Might Not Know About UFC 4

Semaphore Entertainment Group moved beyond the one-year mark with its Ultimate Fighting Championship experiment and took its roadshow to the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for UFC 4 “Revenge of the Warriors” on Dec. 16, 1994. It was highlighted by an eight-man openweight tournament with no rounds or time limit, the winner of which was promised a $64,000 payday. Nearly 6,000 fans—5,857 to be exact—showed up to witness the spectacle. More than three decades removed from the event, here are five things you might not know about UFC 3:

1. The locale received the love-it-and-leave-it treatment.

The UFC’s first trip to Oklahoma was its last for well over a decade. The company did not revisit the state until Nate Diaz and Melvin Guillard headlined UFC Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16, 2009 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. It proved to be an even longer wait for Tulsa, which was off the promotion’s radar for almost 20 years. UFC Fight Night 49 marked its return to the city on Aug. 23, 2014, as Benson Henderson met Rafael dos Anjos in the main event at the BOK Center.

2. It served as a return to form for the promotion’s first superstar.

Royce Gracie added another chapter to his legend by winning his third tournament in four tries. He disposed of a 51-year-old Ron van Clief with a rear-naked choke in the quarterfinals, tapped Keith Hackney with an armbar in the semis and then completed his run to the title by dispatching Dan Severn with a triangle choke in the final. However, Gracie’s match with Severn lasted nearly 16 minutes and pushed the show beyond its allotted two-hour pay-per-view window. The result? Viewers did not get to see the conclusion to the main event live.

3. All was fair in love and war.

Hackney made certain he would be remembered forever when he extricated himself from a guillotine by unleashing a volley of legal punches to Joe Son’s groin in their infamous quarterfinal. The kenpo karate practitioner eventually snuck his left hand around Son’s throat and forced him to submit to a basic choke.

4. One of the participants was ahead of his time.

Melton Bowen was something of an unwitting pioneer, as he wore fingerless gloves on both hands in his tournament quarterfinal opposite Steve Jennum. Gloves did not become mandatory equipment until 1997. Bowen submitted to an armbar from Jennum 4:47 into their encounter and never competed in mixed martial arts again.

5. Some under-the-radar history was made.

There were two sub-minute finishes on the card. Joe Charles turned away Kevin Rosier with an armbar 14 seconds into their alternate bout, and Severn dismissed Marcus Bossett with an arm-triangle choke 52 seconds into their semifinal. At the time, Charles’ stoppage was the fastest in UFC history. It was not eclipsed until Oleg Taktarov put down Anthony Macias with a guillotine choke in nine seconds at UFC 6.