Consolidating the success of the third championship in battles without rules (also abbreviated UFC), the creators wanted to hold another championship before the end of 1994. So what began on November 12, 1993, as an adventure from the point of view of sports, grew into a conveyor, where the viewer was given for money (because the viewing was on a paid subscription) “bread and circuses”.
By and large, UFC-4 is no different from previous tournaments. There was also (almost) the principle of “there are no rules”, but I cannot but note that attention was paid to the presentation and direction of the event. This applies to the appearance of a timer in the corner of the picture (at that time there were no rounds with breaks, so the viewer was given to understand how much time has passed since the beginning in this way), and focusing on the octagon girl (girls of model appearance, showing the sign to the audience with martial arts).
As for the fights, here I would like to highlight a few of them.
First, Steve Jennum and Melton Bowen. Alas, having beaten the opponent, Jennum never managed to beat in the semifinals due to injury. But it was then that he managed at the time of UFC-3 to successfully replace Ken Shamrock and win the final of the tournament. By the way, in order not to repeat the situation as the previous time, the organizers held several alternative fights between “spare” participants, so that they did not go into the octagon “fresh”.
Second, Kate Hackney and Joe Son. Here it should be noted that after this fight, the UFC leadership began to abandon the motto “there are no rules”, since the numerous blows in the groin that one of the fighters received clearly made it clear that this should not be the case anymore and something should be changed in the regulations.
Third, Royce Gracie and Dan Severn. I never really had any questions about Gracie – it was quite easy for him to deal with rivals in his kimono. But the Severn turned out to be a really “hard nut”. A professional wrestler, tall and formidable, Severn inspired fear with his appearance. And by the method of lingering rivals, he easily reached the final, where he came across Gracie, who was difficult to break morally. The main thing is that the fighters showed an example of courage and courage. Although given the time (15 minutes 49 seconds), their fight is impossible to watch (especially now) without rewinding. Because most of the time Severn was bluntly lying on top of Gracie and trying to take some action (and there were no breaks then).
In general, the championship is getting better and better.
7 out of 10