Whereas the classics it emulates sought authenticity by filming on overseas locations, Mr Soderbergh flaunts the artifice of the genre we call film noir, recreated in the appropriate colours: blacks darker than night and whites that give off an infernal glare.

ECONOMIST: Steven Soderbergh seeks sex, lies and film noir in Berlin

He is perhaps the brightest young star in the UFC, with a stony glare that has gazed upon tourists from Times Square billboards, but on this night, removed from the forbidding "Octagon, " he was easy-going and passionate about his contentious sport.

WSJ: Jon Jones: A Formidable UFC Champ in a Forbidden City