By Matt Molgaard
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

Let’s be honest here, as of late, we’ve been force fed a slew of UFC hosted events. Being highly addicted to the sport in general, I’m not personally opposed to all the action, but one must wonder, has the abundance of events stolen away from the mystique of the fight game? Once upon a time fans were forced to wait months in between events. At the time, it seemed to be quite disheartening having to wait months to catch a good fight, but in hindsight, the scheduling enabled the promotion to create stars.

Remember the days when fans clamored for a Chuck Liddell fight? It was almost painful to wait months to see the man take to the cage, and that manufactured a level of anticipation that is all but non-existent in today’s mixed martial arts landscape. Cards seemingly roll in with the breeze these days, and it’s made for a challenge in creating truly massive draws. Fighters like Jon jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, Nick Diaz and Junior dos Santos still garner heavy anticipation; we can’t wait to see these men compete. However, when you’re running a promotion that boasts hundreds of fighters on their roster, a small handful of truly marquee faces isn’t exactly profound.

The problem, in my personal opinion, is the UFC’s sudden and strange inability to create bona fide household names. There are spectacular fighters signed with the promotion, but they’re never gifted the promotional push to elevate their status from “good fighter”, to legit “superstar” status worthy of raking in major ticket sales and big Pay-Per-View buys.

Fighters like Dominick Cruz, Fabricio Werdum, Dan Henderson, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, Chris Weidman, Martin Kampmann, Jake Ellenberger, Gray Maynard, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Diego Nunes and Renan Barao (to name just a few) are supremely talented individuals who aren’t being marketed as legit superstars, when in fact, they should, without a doubt be. These are remarkably skilled individuals who should command undivided attention. Yet, they’re not; ask a casual fan to name a few mixed martial artists, and it’s highly unlikely that these names will surface in conversation. It’s a travesty in my mind, as these guys are deserving of the highest level of respect from fans.

It’s not happening, and I’ve got a few theories as to why.