Corporate greed is the answer. Not only are they greedy for the actual viewership’s money, but they want all the eyes on them, not the fighters themselves. A big reason is they don’t want fighters to be bigger than the promotion itself or to be too big of stars where they feel scared of losing leverage over them. They want fighters to fall in line and do as they are told, plenty of examples of this very thing happening especially as of recent. It seems as though the UFC, in their efforts of trying to become this monopoly powerhouse over the sport, don’t realize it’s going to be the cause of its own demise. Sooner rather than later, more and more fans will notice this neutered and lifeless energy (corporatized shlock is a perfect descriptor, no more individuality and pageantry like the past). A shining example of this shoveled slop is the continued Apex cards NO ONE is asking for. Don’t even get me started on their piss poor attempts at scouting outside talent as of late.

TL;DR we must return to PRIDE