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

[podsox]

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.

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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.

i don’t know how improved he is and I doubt he could pull it off but taking on all challengers would do it.

 

[MMAart]

Good point. Rather than try to create stars they may do well to let stars come into existence organically.

Pretty much this. PRIDE and Strikeforce were able to cultivate many of the MMA stars and legends we see today, simply because they don't selectively pick who they want to and not want to promote.

They gave all potential star fighters equal opportunities to showcase their skills and unique characters:

 

[J0N0]

The kind where the ladies a virtue is negotiable, and the snacks come in Crystal form.

It’s a date

 

[Taric]

The UFC should pump any and every fighter that is both younger then 30 and goes on a win streak bigger then 2 fights. Simple as that.

 

[podsox]

Ufc isn’t at fault for the young talent not wanting to be active

 

[LouisBolanos]

Stars are born not created.

 

[BenRichards]

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.

Well branch was the litmus test and he failed so I mean you can't do much promotional material with that. He beats branch you got a new name. Smith took the chance twice now and came up big. Now his litmus test at 205 approaches.. I highly doubt he'll look like a badass against most of the rest of the top 10 but who knows

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

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.

if they really thought Smith would be an easy fight for Rua then that's the problem, incompetent matchmaking.

 

[Azure]

Mostly it is because the UFC gives the matches fans want and retard fans claim guys are GOATS and unbeatable after 2-3 fights and get rushed when they woulds be better off taking a few more fights and getting experience under their belt

 

[BenRichards]

Which says all that much more about all of them. Smith is not a title contender.

Fact is, 205 is simply barren of talent.

I'm inclined to agree on both fronts but maybe Smith is just better suited at 205 with his frame idk.. beating shad and shogun don't mean much to me these days

 

[SalvadorAllende]

I love Marreta but he loses a bunch of fights he shouldnt lose to.

He debuted against Hall (who has well ranked at the time) and lost.
They put him at UFC 200 and got starched.
They gave him a rebound against Spicely.. he lost.
He knocked out 4 guys and then when they gave him a step up in Branch he was put to sleep again.

Dont get me wrong.. when he fights Im watching 100%. Exciting fighter and is a good addition to any card.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Mostly it is because the UFC gives the matches fans want and retard fans claim guys are GOATS and unbeatable after 2-3 fights and get rushed when they woulds be better off taking a few more fights and getting experience under their belt

See Ngannou, Yair and PVZ for examples

 

[Pakman]

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.

Smith was the favorite, how was it supposed to be an easy fight for Shogun?

 

[TruthHurts001]

I think the weight cut was killing Smith. He looks like a completely different animal at 205.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

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.

They give Santos a lot of fights. He has to be the most active MW in the roster.

3 fights in 2015
3 fights in 2016
3 fights in 2017
2 fights in 2018 so far.

He just lost some key matches.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

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.

sure they can. they just need to match their star up correctly. how they did Conor was a masterpiece in how to give a star his best path to success.

even the way they handled Cain was pretty good to some degree. Cain's entire top level career is based on the matchmaking that UFC had given him. he has never fought anyone outside of the top 5 since getting his first title shot. i think only Browne wasn't a top 5 guy, but he was still a top 8.

 

[DetachedOrchid]

Smith was the favorite, how was it supposed to be an easy fight for Shogun?

He was a journeyman going into the fight. Just because money came in for Smith and made him the favorite doesn't change that.

 

[HHJ]

sure they can. they just need to match their star up correctly. how they did Conor was a masterpiece in how to give a star his best path to success.

even the way they handled Cain was pretty good to some degree. Cain's entire top level career is based on the matchmaking that UFC had given him. he has never fought anyone outside of the top 5 since getting his first title shot. i think only Browne wasn't a top 5 guy, but he was still a top 8.

Conor already had peoples interest. That's how the UFC decided to go with him. What they did to Conor helped him along,but he was already a STAR. Just like Rousey was a star before she even fought Tate for the belt. Everyone could see it.If the company didn't promote rousey and conor the fans would demand that they did. That kind of thing you cant make happen. Its already there.

 

[Pakman]

He was a journeyman going into the fight. Just because money came in for Smith and made him the favorite doesn't change that.

it does change the fact that this was supposed to be an easy win for Shogun when he isnt considered a favorite.. Also, most who have any idea about MMA knew this wasnt some gimme fight for Shogun as Smith is known for having KO power.

 

[johnmangala]

Ass matchmaking.