The UFC's star-powered problem

If you ask non-UFC fans to name one fighter, they would probably come up with one name. Conor McGregor. But McGregor hasn’t fought in the UFC since 2021. And if his recent activity on social media is the truth, we may never see him fight in the organization again.

But why is this a problem for the UFC, you ask? Growing sports like MMA need to have larger-than-life stars to build interest in the sport. Women’s basketball has Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. WWE has Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. And the UFC has no one.

That is the biggest problem plaguing the UFC right now. No fighter is that star to bring viral attention to the brand. Conor McGregor was a household name, but there have been precisely zero fighters to come close to his status since then.

Why is this the case? Well, one part is that other nations do not support their stars like Irish fans did for McGregor.

McGregor and his opponent at UFC 189, José Aldo, toured the world on a press tour. This tour concluded in Dublin, Ireland, the home nation of McGregor. Fans were raucous and created more viral moments than McGregor did on the mic himself.

Another, more straightforward explanation is that no fighter will ever be able to reach the hype that McGregor generated.

Conor quit MMA for a year to box Floyd Mayweather, and still came back to fight for a title against rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. This fight remains the most purchased UFC pay-per-view of all time.

McGregor had an incredible effect on the MMA community that still lingers today.

So if this problem is so easily identifiable, what is the fix? The UFC needs to market its international fighters better. US fans have so many options when it comes to their favorite fighters.

But a nation like Bahrain may only have one. International fans have shown to be rowdy in support of their fighters, so here are a few guys I think could fix the UFC’s superstar problem

My first suggestion is Ilia “La Leyenda” Topuria. Topuria is currently the UFC featherweight champ, but will vacate the belt to move up to the lightweight division. Topuria has not lost in his professional MMA career, defeating Alexander Volkanovski to win the belt and defending it once against Max Holloway.

The Spaniard has the entire country behind him, with many calling for UFC president Dana White to book a pay-per-view in Spain for Topuria to headline.

The Spanish population is fanatical about soccer, but if the UFC can reach the population, one would imagine the community the UFC could build in Spain.

The second fighter I want the UFC to highlight is current interim-heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall.

A product of Great Britain, Aspinall’s only loss in the UFC was due to a knee injury sustained in a match against Curtis Blaydes. Aspinall has a tremendous social media presence, combined with championship-level in-the-ring talent.

The United Kingdom has had champions before, but not one they could rally around like Aspinall. He has been attempting to fight the current UFC heavyweight champ, Jon Jones, for a long time.

Jones continues to push back against the fight. The UFC could use this fight to push Aspinall into stardom and get the entirety of Britain to have his back in this fight.

So what will Dana White and the UFC do? I hope one of these two becomes a mega-star or the UFC finds the next Conor McGregor.

Luke Stefanisko is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ljs6415@psu.edu.