UFC is going to struggle coming up, not sure they will prosper without SOME of the old guard draw staying on. With news that Lesnar is thinking of coming back, I bet you Dana makes it really worth his while now.
Outside of Jones Gustafsson II, I can't think of a single fight that I'm really looking forward to. I mean they just had to re-book Rousey in 2 months 2 PPV's from now.
Not sure what the UFC gets out of bring Lesnar back other than a slight bump in ratings/PPV for one,
maybe 2 fights. He's a 1st Rd TKO for any of the top 8-9 guys in that division.
Here's an article echoing your questions about UFC's future
I'm guess I may be in the minority but I'm excited about the level & depth of talent across weight classes in the UFC today and could see some interesting future marque match ups/rivalries. Here's what I'm looking forward to in 2014 (and in the next couple years)
Hendricks/Lawler (and the welterweight division in general). Condit gets the winner (if he gets past an interesting match up w/ Tyron Woodley). This division is stacked with quality contenders even without GSP.
Weidman/Belfort (and the middleweight division in general). Souza & Machida offer additional quality potential opponents.
Anthony Pettis' title defense. Should happen later this year vs winner of Henderson/Thompson. Melendez & Grant are solid contenders down the road.
Jones/Teixeira. I have a feeling that Teixeira will be a little tougher win than expected for Jones (but I think he gets a decisive win in the rematch w/ Gust.)
Cormier/Evans. Cormier makes the move down to light/heavy. I think he's the main future threat to Jones @ 205.
The future of the heavyweight division. I think Jones' makes the move up in 2015 and gets an immediate title shot. I think he matches up well with Velasquez and the other smaller heavyweights (Jones/Dos Santos would be a great fight). I think he would struggle with a guy like Travis Brown.
I'd love to see a super fight between Aldo & Pettis.