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Why Is It Harder for the UFC to Build New Stars?

Why is it harder for the UFC to build new stars? Weekly events give fans more fights, but less time to learn names or follow a champion's rise.

By Brett Hanson · Underdog Podcasts · August 12, 2026

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Mike Crone lives near Philadelphia, and the UFC was coming back to town. He usually goes to fights. This time, he told Greg Crone he could not see himself paying $350 for a distant seat at UFC 330.

That exchange gets at why it is harder for the UFC to build new stars. The weekly schedule is packed, so fighters get more chances to appear, but fans have less time to remember each one. Then a champion changes or leaves a division. The story fans just learned can start over.

Why is it harder for the UFC to build new stars?

Greg Crone said on The Octagon Brothers that he found himself caring about fewer fighters. He was not sure whom to blame. Maybe, he said, he was getting old. Mike Crone had a simpler complaint: he liked having fights every weekend, but they did not feel quite as special.

That does not mean the fighters lack skill. Greg Crone pointed to Islam Makhachev, who had won titles in two divisions, as someone who should have had more buzz. Mike Crone pushed back on the idea that Makhachev was merely a wrestler who held opponents down. He pointed to the finishes on the champion’s record.

They were talking about a problem of attention. A fan can watch an excellent fight on Saturday and have another full card waiting the next Saturday. By the time a new fighter returns, several more have made their case. The schedule keeps moving, whether anyone has learned their names or not.

UFC 330 is a useful example. Its August 15, 2026, card in Philadelphia had two title fights. Mike Crone still called it weak for a major event in a city that had waited more than 15 years for another numbered UFC card. That was his judgment of the card, not proof that its fighters were poor. It shows how high the bar can become when there is always another event to compare it with.

Does a UFC event every week make fights feel less special?

The calendar really has changed. The UFC says it held ten events in 2005. In 2015, it announced plans for 45. Those are different measures, one a completed year and the other a planned schedule, but the jump explains the memory Greg Crone was reaching for.

He recalled a time when fans might get one big card, then hope for a free show on Spike TV. There were fewer nights to follow. A fight had more room to sit in your head before the next one arrived.

Mike Crone did not ask to go back. He said he likes weekly fights. That is a fair answer. More cards mean more work for fighters and more chances for someone new to break through. The trade-off comes later, when that person needs fans to recall what happened three months ago.

Consider Greg Crone’s own experience in Philadelphia. He remembered attending UFC 101 in August 2009, when B.J. Penn defended his lightweight title against Kenny Florian and Anderson Silva fought Forrest Griffin. He was also at UFC 133 in August 2011, headlined by Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz. He could name those nights years later.

Part of that is memory picking its favorites. UFC 101 had stars before anyone bought a ticket. A smaller schedule alone did not make them famous. Still, a fan could spend longer talking about Silva’s win over Griffin without another dozen fights arriving days later and asking for the same space.

Do changing UFC champions make stars harder to follow?

Greg Crone thinks the belt matters because fans need familiar people at the top. He said title changes can be fun, then wondered how the UFC builds a core group of names when those titles keep moving. Both thoughts can be true during the same fight.

A long reign gives casual fans an easy way in. Georges St-Pierre defended the welterweight title nine times during his second run as champion. Anderson Silva held the middleweight title from 2006 to 2013. The challengers changed. The name on the poster stayed put.

That pattern is hard to count on. In 2025, the UFC light heavyweight title changed hands twice. Alex Pereira began and ended the year as champion, with Magomed Ankalaev holding the belt between them. At bantamweight, Merab Dvalishvili defended his title three times that year before Petr Yan took it in December.

There is a wrinkle here. A new champion can become a star through the win itself. Someone has to beat the familiar face. The trouble comes when a viewer has only just learned one champion’s story and the next title fight asks them to learn another. Four defenses tell a different story from four months with a belt.

“It's just not as special, maybe.”
— Mike Crone, on The Octagon Brothers

Some changes happen without a defeat. Makhachev gave up his lightweight title in 2025 to move to welterweight. Ilia Topuria then beat Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt. That move gave Makhachev a shot at something bigger, but it also ended the weekly question of who could take his lightweight crown.

How did Forrest Griffin become a UFC household name?

Greg Crone brought up Forrest Griffin because he remembered knowing the man before the title. Griffin won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter by beating Stephan Bonnar in the finale. That was in 2005. Viewers had watched him as a person before they had to remember him as a contender.

Griffin did win the light heavyweight title, beating Quinton Jackson in 2008. Greg Crone was unsure of that detail as he talked; his point was about name recognition. Griffin’s fame did not depend on staying champion for years. He lost the belt in his first defense against Rashad Evans.

That path is worth looking at closely. A show gave viewers time with Griffin, then a fight gave them a reason to keep following him. By the time Anderson Silva stopped Griffin at UFC 101, people knew who had walked into the cage.

Greg Crone said he misses seeing someone grow that way. The UFC still puts new fighters in front of fans, including through its contender shows. Yet an introduction is only the first step. A name has to come back often enough to stick, with enough space between appearances for people to want the return.

There is no promise the older method would work the same way now. Griffin’s season arrived when the UFC held far fewer events. It also had Griffin and Bonnar, whose finale gave viewers plenty to talk about. You cannot schedule that part.

Why did Islam Makhachev seem to get less hype than Khabib?

Makhachev was the example Greg Crone could not shake. Before UFC 330, the champion had won 16 UFC fights in a row, tying Anderson Silva’s record. He had already defended the lightweight title four times and had won the welterweight belt in November 2025.

Greg Crone asked when people had last heard much about the streak. Mike Crone said he had heard about the record that day while watching Dana White on Pat McAfee’s show. Mike Crone knew about it already, he added, but felt it deserved more attention.

Greg Crone compared Makhachev’s profile with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s. He thought Nurmagomedov had drawn more hype, even though Greg Crone found Makhachev’s approach more varied. Greg Crone also named a difference in the surrounding cast: Nurmagomedov had Conor McGregor as a rival.

That matters. A winning streak gives fans a number. A rival gives them a fight to picture, even before it is booked. Makhachev’s wins were real; the hosts’ sense of his fame was an opinion, with no audience figure attached.

The record grew after the episode. Makhachev beat Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision at UFC 330, defended his welterweight belt and reached 17 straight UFC wins. It is the sort of achievement a promotion would love people to know without having to explain it first.

What helps a new UFC fighter become a star?

The hosts’ discussion points to a modest answer: give fans a reason to remember someone between fights. A title can do that. So can a rivalry, or a stretch of time watching a fighter grow. None guarantees that the next person will connect with a crowd.

Mike Crone’s Philadelphia ticket test says more than any grand rule. He said he would pay the steep price for a card he thought was much better. Greg Crone understood, though he still found fights on the bill worth discussing. They followed the sport closely. They disagreed about how much this night meant.

UFC 330 ended with Makhachev setting a record in the main event. Mackenzie Dern also defended her strawweight title against Gillian Robertson. Those results gave Philadelphia an accomplished night. Mike Crone, who had wondered about buying a seat up in the rafters, had made his decision before either champion walked out.

The full episode of The Octagon Brothers is on Underdog Podcasts, with the rest of the network's shows.