The problem with MMA right now is there are no stars. In fact there have been no stars for awhile. Conor is one of the "stars" but he keeps doing stupid shit like retiring. Khabib is not and never will be a star.
Usman and Masvidal got something going on, and I liked the over the top bullshit from Covington, especially with the Trump phone call. But overall the UFC has been lacking of stars and getting those stars to fight consistently in the Octogon. There's also a lot of really old fighters basically taking up space in my eyes, but this has been the case in the UFC for awhile I remember like five years ago Damian Maia was headlining cards at 37. It's hard to push dudes out who keep winning fights but old dudes with no star power hurts the brand. Also, Bones doing drugs really put a hurt on both himself and the UFC because he was likely to be the Light Heavyweight Champion forever.
Khabib is a stone cold killer, but he is very unlikeable and doesn't do much for the brand.
Why does this matter? Well, Reebok is not extending their deal with the UFC and you can also look at the other sponsors. This has huge effect on payouts. I would need to dig into the data, but you go back to pre-reebok and fighters that had deals who were on the top end got huge appearance fees and win bonuses. Affliction was paying out like 150k+ for win bonuses to Cain. But UFC was also charging those companies to have the privilege of being on their athletes.
Everyone get ready for Venum.
