Is this the reason why the new UFC cannot develope new stars?

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MMAart

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Is this the reason why the new UFC cannot develope new stars?

After Smith got starched by Thiago Santos in February...
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the UFC fed him two quick and easy match-ups against aged and war-torn legends:

June 9th
1. Rashad Evans (who was coming off of a 1-year layoff and 4-fight losing streak)

July 22nd
2. Shogun (who has been inactive for 1 year)

Smith is now back on a "2 fight winning streak," and looks like a killer, but this is because he fought against two legends who should have retired a long time ago.

Meanwhile, Thiago Santos is the much better (with a more exciting style) of the two, yet where is the UFC's promotional effort behind him?

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Many fans have seen how the UFC have been having problems developing new stars after Rousey, Conor, GSP, etc., left the sport, and this is the exact reason:

When the potential stars come along, instead of promoting them, the UFC decide to promote other fighters instead, fighters who they WANT to become stars and not fighters with star potential.

What are you thoughts on this?
 
Growth slows and stops during death
 
They weren't pushing Smith. It was supposed to be an easy fight for Rua. However Rua shit the bed which he sometimes tends to do when the lights are bright.
 
Lol thiago is 34 and just got starched by branch let's no get carried away here
 
I think that if Thiago Santos looked like Sage Northcutt he would have already have had a TS by now.

But sadly he looks like a trucker and sounds like the guy I buy steak from at the market, so he doesn't have the "it factor" but neither does Bobby Knuckles, and it didn't stop him getting his chance when the time was right/there was no other option.

It's just how the game works... If he keeps winning he'll get his chance.
 
Well Santos just got ktfo by a bjj fighter in a fight he was supposed to win..

But yeah. I fundamentally agree that the UFC are poor at building up fighters, but I think a big part of the problem is how rarely they fight. It's possible to have a slow build and fans won't get impatient if a guy's on the up and fights 4 or 5 times in a year, but when someone's fighting once or twice a year ain't nobody excited to wait half a decade to see someone reach the top of a division.
 
Exactly. Another example is Stipe and Ngannou. Promoting the guys they want to hoping that their fighting ability is actually up to par while letting the actual successful fighters sit in the dark.
 
Buff said:
I think that if Thiago Santos looked like Sage Northcutt he would have already have had a TS by now.

But sadly he looks like a trucker and sounds like the guy I buy steak from at the market, so he doesn't have the "it factor" but neither does Bobby Knuckles, and it didn't stop him getting his chance when the time was right/there was no other option.

It's just how the game works... If he keeps winning he'll get his chance.
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the fuck kind of truck stops have you been to?
 
Most stars were legendary fighters, had a defining moment or already famous.

Brock- already famous from WWE
Pettis- showtime kick
Fedor- went on a crazy streak at HW
Cro Cop- was headkicking people left and right
Big Nog- watch the Sapp fight. Enough said.
Chuck- was KOing the best of the best
Randy- back and forth HW and LHW champ who fought until near 50
Hendo- dual PRIDE champ and ended Wand's reign
Wanderlei- violence incarnate
BJ- size of a modern FW and took out prime Hughes
GSP- WW GOAT
Silva- MW GOAT and lived in the matrix
Jones- LHW GOAT and unbeaten
DC- Took out the best UFC HW champ ever in R1
Aldo- FW GOAT
Conor- KOed Mendes and Aldo
Ronda- MONSTER before she got headkicked
Shogun- his grand prix was epic

And so on....

What has Smith done to make him a star? Nothing the UFC could do right now could make Anthony Smith any sort of star. Though that's not to say every great fighter becomes a star. Look at Stipe, for example. Then again, Stipe admitted to hate doing promoting.
 
Good point. Rather than try to create stars they may do well to let stars come into existence organically.
 
BenRichards said:
Lol thiago is 34 and just got starched by branch let's no get carried away here
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As that saying goes, it's not the year but the mileage. Thiago Santos utterly destroyed Smith and showed no signs of being 34.

In addition, Branch is no slouch. He was destroying Rockhold, the former MW champ. There is no shame in losing to Branch, who would have destroyed Smith.
 
A.S. Deep said:
And so on....

What has Smith done to make him a star? Nothing the UFC could do right now could make Anthony Smith any sort of star. Though that's not to say every great fighter becomes a star. Look at Stipe, for example. Then again, Stipe admitted to hate doing promoting.
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Ths is the sticking point. The UFC doesn't make stars because they CANT. Someone has to come around who by his or herself has ALREADY commanded the attention of the people,and the UFC can choose to hitch their wagon to that person and put the full promotional war machine behind them.
 
Yep, will never be a fan of these new guys with less mileage who destroy Legends. It's gross. Legends should all leave the UFC and go to Bellator and do TRT and GHRP.
 
Santos just got destroyed by David Branch and doesn't speak English but it's the UFC's fault he isn't a star?

I like to shit on the UFC's promotional abilities more than most people but Santos was never going to be a star regardless

Neither is Smith for that matter
 
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