MANILA, Philippines -- The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) needs to develop new stars after former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar announced his retirement after UFC 141 last Friday in Las Vegas (Saturday in Manila).

Lesnar was dominated in his last UFC bout, falling to Alistair Overeem via technical knockout in the very first round.

Afterward, he announced his retirement, saying that the past two years have been difficult for him and his family. Lesnar's bout against Overeem was his first in over the year, having dealt with diverticulitis and undergoing surgery.

According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Lesnar's retirement will pressure the UFC into developing new stars who can become major pay-per-view draws.

In his short career, Lesnar became the UFC's biggest pay-per-view draw. He brought casual fans into the sport, fans who recognized him from his time in the WWE.

"(Lesnar's) impact upon the business side of the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts was significantly greater than his actual fighting ability," Iole wrote.

"Pay-per-view sales were the biggest when the big men fought. Tickets were harder to get when he was topping the bill. Media interest was at its highest. Merchandise sales were more robust. The celebrity quotient was off the charts," he added.

According to Bloody Elbow, an MMA blog, the pay-per-views that featured Lesnar in the main event all brought in over a million buys.

"When it scheduled Lesnar, the UFC could reasonably count on a multi-million dollar paid gate and pay-per-view sales that would at least approach a million," Iole said. "Without him, it's a much greater, though hardly impossible, challenge."

Iole believes that the UFC can survive Lesnar's retirement in the short term, but will be pressured to develop new stars in the long term.

"It simply won't work if some of the younger fighters on the roster, such a light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, don't morph into reliable drawing cards," he added.

Tough job

According to Josh Nason of Bloody Elbow, the UFC will find it difficult to find a fighter who can fill the void left by Lesnar.

Two of the sports' biggest stars, Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, are both injured, with St. Pierre out for the whole of 2012. Jones, the light heavyweight champion and one of the sports' greatest talents, is still trying to break into the main stream.

"With 32 shows planned for 2012, the UFC will be challenged once again on how to make and create stars that people will plunk down money to see," Nason said. "They need to create buzz, build challengers and somehow make pay-per-view matter again like they did so well in years past."

Nason added that Lesnar "was the right guy at the right time for the UFC," helping the sport elevate into the main stream and giving the promotion a huge financial boost.

"Perhaps (UFC President Dana) White's toughest fight ahead is how to find the next right guy," he said.