Was it the right call from Dana White and co. to book Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch against Diego Lopes at UFC 325 main event in Sydney, Australia? Well, many from the MMA community believed undefeated featherweights Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev deserved to be in Lopes’ spot, as ‘Volk’ defeated the Brazilian decisively in their first fight at UFC 314. With fans already showing their disapproval for the FW championship fight, Dana White’s recent statement on the questionable booking further enraged them.

After their first encounter at UFC 314, Lopes had one fight against Jean Silva, which he won via knockout at Noche UFC 3. With ‘The Great’ himself calling the UFC matchmakers to book him against Murphy or Evloev, the UFC decided to bypass them for the rematch. Moreover, White’s reaction to the criticism did not sit well with the fans.

Dana White’s blunt response fuels UFC rematch backlash

When pressed about the rematch decision during a recent interview, White didn’t hold back. “You got Volk Lopez 2. Some people, I guess maybe were questioning why there was a rematch when the first fight felt a little decisive on Volk’s behalf?” the interviewer asked.

“Yeah, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it,” White fired back. “It was just a fight that made sense. We get in that room and we start putting s**t together and … should be a good fight.”

The UFC President offered no real justification beyond vague matchmaking logic. Instead, he took the dismissive route. His “don’t like it, don’t watch it” attitude struck a nerve across the MMA community. White essentially told concerned fans their opinions don’t matter. The promotion makes the fights they want to make. Fan logic and sporting merit apparently take a backseat to whatever happens in “that room” where matchmakers piece cards together.

White’s comments spark fan backlash as UFC’s disconnect grows

One user warned, “That type of mentality will slowly bleed fans away from the UFC,” while another went further: “DANA should leave the UFC, man its horrible nowadays.” A fan also brought out UFC’s new $7.7 billion deal with Paramount+. “Wow I bet @paramountplus loves hearing that after spending $7.7B,” one commenter noted.

Others saw a troubling pattern emerging. “I feel like 2026 is shaping up to be a year full of gimmick fights across the UFC, driven more by hype than merit. They may as well announce JDM versus Islam again or even float Khamzat versus Dricus.” The critique got more pointed. “To have no logical explanation and to just tells fan to not watch it if they don’t like it is such a terrible way of avoiding a question. It builds a bad reputation and undermines the integrity to make fights that reward deserving fighters. Dana needs to put his ego down.” The harshest reaction pulled no punches: “Get this c**t away from OUR sport and ship him to boxing permanently.”

The negativity from fans shows that there is an increasing gap between the UFC’s management and the fans. White’s confrontational behavior may have a short-term effect, but it is a long-term risk that dismissiveness might cause. Unheard fans eventually stop watching, just like the White told them to do.