Some fights are supposed to be guaranteed fireworks, but the recent BMF title clash between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira left fans and Dana White himself underwhelmed. Now, the UFC boss has made a candid admission that marks a sharp U-turn from his initial defense of the bout.

Expectations were high as Holloway stepped into the cage to face Oliveira. Fans were bracing for a slugfest at the T-Mobile Arena. Instead, the matchup between a premium striker and an elite grappler, both known for their finishes, became a high-level wrestling affair that went the distance and drew scrutiny. White initially tried to deflect the criticism, but his tone shifted when Michael Bisping compared it to the upcoming Pereira-Gane co-main event on the White House card.

“Yeah, I used to get (it); I used to always have a guarantee that there were certain fights you saw that you’re like, ‘It’s impossible for this not to be good,'” he told Bisping. “And then the BMF title happened, uh, you know, last week.”

With UFC Freedom 250 announced, plenty is riding on the card. While many have found the card underwhelming, the event has generated significant buzz, especially around the co-main event, where Alex Pereira will be trying to become the UFC’s first three-division champion against Ciryl Gane. White does not want to jinx anything, particularly in light of how last week’s UFC 326 headliner unfolded. That result has made the UFC boss noticeably more cautious.

That shift in tone may confuse some at first glance. Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira were meeting again ten years after their first clash in 2015. The bout ended in a TKO loss for the Brazilian. This time, on March 8, Oliveira avenged the defeat in a dominant performance to win the BMF title.

However, that second straight win since his setback against Ilia Topuria failed to impress fans and spectators, who booed as the main event wrapped up.

Dana White came to his fighters’ rescue, explaining why the fight unfolded the way it did.

Inside Dana White’s reversal on the Max Holloway – Charles Oliveira clash

“I thought there would be a lot more stand-up, and I thought Max would do a better job of defending the takedown, and if he got taken down, he’d pop back up,” he stated at the UFC 326 post-fight presser. “Well, I think you’ll have those types of guys, but the goal, at the end of the day, in every fight is to win. He(Charles Oliveira) did exactly what he needed to do to win, and I think probably—you’d have to ask Max—but in training camp, they were probably expecting that. If you see Charles fight, he’s not afraid to go toe-to-toe in the stand-up, and they obviously really believed that if they took him down to the ground, tonight would happen.”

White’s changing stance makes more sense when viewed through the lens of what fans expect from a BMF fight, especially one involving Max Holloway.

UFC 300 largely shaped that expectation. Headlined by Alex Pereira’s title defense against former champion Jamahal Hill, the event at the T-Mobile Arena became iconic because of the clash between Holloway and Justin Gaethje.

The fight earned Fight of the Night honors, and Holloway not only picked up the Performance of the Night award, but his knockout of Gaethje is now widely regarded as one of the UFC’s most memorable moments.

After losing to Topuria, Holloway defended his BMF title against Dustin Poirier this past July. The fight went the whole distance, ending in a unanimous win for Holloway. With that recent history in mind, the disappointment grew when his second title defense against Charles Oliveira followed a similar pattern.

A BMF fight is supposed to be a stand-up striking battle, not a ground-heavy chess match. Dana White’s comments a week later reflected the same frustration many fans voiced after the event.