I do understand where you're coming from. I think there was a major shift in fighters' attitude. Back in the days the dominating mentality was: "I'll fight whoever and whenever UFC want me to fight", but now they're all more calculating, more aware of their worth and of the fact their careers are relatively short-lived so no one is keen on taking on risks with little benefits.
But from the UFC's perspective, it's also not great if some no-name, ranked outside of the top 10, beats up their star. They know it's not easy to hype-up another fighter. So they'll just trying to milk them as much as possible while they're still famous and still on the top.
But that is what Dana White actually likes. When obvious underdog beats dominant fighter (like Edwards was receiving beating during all fight, and finished Usman with a single high kick), Dana always say that "that is what UFC is about". You never know what will happen, you never know how fight will go, as in octagon anything can happen.
If UFC was about getting maximum milk from their cow, we would see Conor, and p4p fighters fight every weekend. And UFC perfectly knows how to hype a guy. Just that Paddy the fatty that came out of nowhere. Average fighter. UFC made his metabolism as a feature and we see everywhere Fatty drowning in fast food and later fighting slim in octagon.