Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World

by Matt Parker

Welterweight UFC fighter Rory MacDonald noticed that whenever he walked out before a fight they would not play the walkout song he requested. His opponents were picking aggressive songs to get them in the mood, and these were being played, but his choices seemed to be disregarded. I imagine that trying to get in the zone before a fight is not helped by the unexpected blasting of MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.” Other fighters were making fun of his music choices. This persisted until, one day before a fight, the producer came up to Rory and apologized for not being able to play the Nickelback song he had requested. Rory claimed he had never asked for such a thing and the producer showed him the text messages where he had. An old phone number of Rory’s had been recycled and accidentally given to a UFC fan who had been happily picking Rory’s music for him.