The single biggest change is that Dana has made the fights about the UFC brand and less about individual fighters. Not having superstars is a feature not a bug when you run a company that way. However..
The second biggest change is that he is making the UFC an international company not just an American one. To do this he does need fighters with star power in different countries. So...
You create a star from a country/region then assimilate them and their fans into the growing UFC borg. Conor, Khabib, Israel all fit this model.
Wash, rinse and repeat.