The UFC has quietly become a black box - The Fine Art of Violence

We don't know much, and it's by design.

Along with today’s column I’m interspersing a gallery of Arman Tsarukyan. His is a curious situation in which the two fights he is most lauded for are both losses. A close and competitive decision to now-champion, Islam Makhachv, and a controversial split decision versus Mateusz Gamrot. The Gamrot fight is what put Arman on the map, and won me over. Enjoy the artwork, and today’s column.

Arman Tsarukyan’s hip flexibility on display while defending a takedown attempt by Mateusz Gamrot

The Black Box Metaphor

The black box is the colloquial name for the flight recorder in an aircraft. In the case of a crash or accident, the device records all of the cockpit voices and flight data with the aim of helping investigators learn how things went awry. A black box is the complete opposite, defined as “a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs… without any knowledge of its internal workings.”

Earlier this week Dana White was on a Nelk Boyzzzzz podcast and it was “leaked” that the UFC is aiming to book Kevin Holland against Michael “Venom” Page at UFC 297. The leak came from a screen shot of the podcast video, seen below. Holland came out on Wednesday with a video shooting down the rumor, saying that he hasn’t been offered any fights. The funny thing is that none of this needs to be happening.