1. An Overall Lack Of Star Power
David Becker/AP/Press Association ImagesWho is the biggest star in the UFC in 2014? GSP has walked away. Anderson Silva will sit out the year with injury. B.J. Penn has retired. Nick Diaz doesn't seem to know what he wants to do. Urijah Faber is yet to win a belt and won't fight team mate T.J. Dillashaw. Cain Velasquez is injured. Johnny Hendricks is injured. Anthony Pettis is injured. There's basically Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey. Chris Weidman's drawing ability without Anderson Silva remains to be seen. There's no Shamrock, no Ortiz, no Rampage, no Lesnar, no GSP, no Silva. No Rich Franklin, no Forrest Griffin. Names like Shogun and Machida don't draw what they once did. All this means watered down, weak cards. Cards that you can skip on FOX Sports 1 or Fight Pass. Pay-Per-View's that you don't bother ordering unless you're a die-hard fan. Dana White has only himself to blame, as the UFC President has become the face of the organisation, rather then the fighters. It has stopped producing stars. UFC events are just numbers now. If you're not a hardcore fan, who do you know in the UFC? Who is there that appeals? Amongst casual fans, Rousey, Jones, and perhaps Big Country. Cain maybe, but he's also the guy millions saw get knocked out on FOX in under a minute, to fans who only tune in from time to time. The hardcore fans get Cain's work ethic, they know Faber built Team Alpha Male into a killer camp, they know JDS is the next best heavyweight after Cain, they know how good Werdum is looking. They know Aldo is a dominant champ with tough challengers gunning for him. Casual fans? Not so much. If anything, Dana White is going to want to forget 2014, because it's been the year that proved that the company, and the president, aren't the draws - it's the fighters, and right now, they haven't been promoted the way they should have been.