The more I think about the pay-per-view price bump for UFC 168, the more some things just don’t add up for me.

I’m not talking about the financial math of it all, or why the UFC might feel like it could squeeze an extra five bucks out of its fans for the big year-end event. That part makes a certain kind of sense. I’m talking more about UFC President Dana White’s recent explanation for it, or the lack thereof.

When asked by reporters in Sacramento this weekend why the UFC had decided to increase the price of this one pay-per-view event, White replied, “Cuz.”

As in, just because. As in, what you say when you have no specific reason, or when you have a reason that you can’t be bothered to explain.

“Cuz” is what you say when someone asks why you have that Green Day CD in your car, or why you absolutely refuse to go ice skating under any circumstances. It’s the one-word response that says, “I don’t owe you an explanation.”

In a lot of situations (see above Green Day example), that’s perfectly fine. I’m just not sure this is one of those situations.

What we have here is a business that has suddenly decided that its product, or at least this one version of it, is worth more than the long-established price that consumers are used to paying. It’s not an across-the-board price increase, which would be worse, but which the UFC could at least justify with some stuff about rising production costs or the damage done by Internet piracy or whatever.

Instead, it’s a one-time increase for this single PPV. Like if you went to the movies and discovered that, this one night for this one movie, the ticket costs more than usual. And when you asked why, the dude behind the glass wearing the clip-on bow tie replied, “Cuz.”

But hey, as the UFC president noted, it’s only five bucks. “Get a couple more friends and have them come over,” White said.

Problem solved, at least in the version of fans’ lives that exists in White’s imagination. In that version, of course, you currently know people who would be interested in pitching in on UFC PPVs, but who you would not invite over to your house unless you absolutely needed their money to fund the experience. Most of us have a word for people we feel that way about, and “friend” isn’t it.

Maybe (probably) White doesn’t feel a strong need to make the case for the UFC 168 bump. He also noted that he had nothing to do with the decision to increase the price, that “some guys got together in the office and decided to do that,” and from the sound of things, he was not one of those guys. It might be a good explanation for why we shouldn’t pester him for answers about it, but for fans, “dudes in our office said so” is a pretty terrible explanation for why they should pay more.

The thing is, it’s not like the UFC couldn’t explain this if it wanted to. UFC 168, which takes place Dec. 28 in Las Vegas, is a loaded fight card. Two title fights, both of them of great interest to most fight fans, plus what ought to be an entertaining bloodbath of a heavyweight scrap between Josh Barnett and Travis Browne? I don’t think it’d be so difficult to make the case that this is a special event with a special price tag. So why isn’t the UFC doing that?

Probably because that answer would lead to a lot of other questions. If the UFC raises the price for a really good one, that means UFC PPVs don’t have one set price. It means the price tag can fluctuate depending on the quality of the fight card. If the good ones cost more, what about the not-so good ones? What about the ones that start out fine, but end up riddled with injuries and replacements, plan B giving way to plan C, until the final product limps across the TV screen on fight night?

Why, a reasonable fight fan might ask, are those not offered at a discount, especially if the good stuff is offered at a premium?

My guess is the UFC would rather avoid that line of questioning altogether, so it’s choosing not to offer the answers that would lead to it. Instead, you’ll have to pay more for UFC 168 just “cuz.” Guys in the office said so. Now get out there and make some more friends.

That’s the galling thing here, the indifference to the fans. Five bucks isn’t a ton of money, especially when you’re already paying $55 to watch in HD. Boxing and pro wrestling have both been known to charge more for PPVs. This isn’t an unreasonable burden on MMA fans. What’s annoying is this implication that we aren’t even owed an explanation, as if no one can even be troubled to make the case for it.

We know what White will say to these concerns. If we don’t like it, we shouldn’t buy it. Seems to be missing the point, especially for a business that struggles so much with Internet piracy, but fine.

It just seems like, if there’s one segment of fight fans that the UFC should really take care to maintain a good relationship with, it’s the people who actually buy its PPVs. Those are the people who are giving the UFC not insignificant chunks of money every month, all because they really, really like its product. Seems to me that when the UFC demands more of that money, the least it can do is come up with a reason.

For more on the UFC 168, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.