The UFC 235 Card is Stacked to the Gills and I'm Not Even Remotely Exaggerating

Main Card
Weight class
Light Heavyweight	Jon Jones*	vs.	Anthony Smith
Welterweight	Tyron Woodley (c)	vs.	Kamaru Usman
Welterweight	Robbie Lawler	vs.	Ben Askren
Featherweight	Jeremy Stephens	vs.	Zabit Magomedsharipov
Women's Bantamweight	Holly Holm	vs.	Aspen Ladd
Women's Bantamweight	Gina Mazany	vs.	Macy Chiasson
Light Heavyweight	Ovince Saint Preux	vs.	Misha Cirkunov
Bantamweight	Cody Garbrandt	vs.	Pedro Munhoz
Bantamweight	Thomas Almeida	vs.	Marlon Vera

If you're a fight fan just take a moment and read through that list of names...

...Wow.  Let's break this down a little bit so it's easier to digest.

• Two different major championship fights with two of the most dominant champions of their respective generation.
  
• The UFC debut of the current top ranked pound for pound shit talker in Ben Askren versus a living legend in Ruthless Robbie Lawler.
  
• Holly Holm back in action against Aspen Ladd who to be perfectly honest I don't really know of at all.  She's likely in a great deal of trouble.
  
• Jeremy Stephens - an absolute brawler - against the one guy who, in my stupid brain, can give Max Holloway a run for his money at 145: Zabit.
  
• Cody Garbrandt in a bounce back fight against a very capable Pedro Munhoz.

Again - wow.  This is hands down the single best card I've ever seen and close to the most excited I've ever been for a fight night in my entire life.  I need the UFC to keep this fucking card together, which is going to make it all the more devastating when a couple of the fights inevitably break down.  The worst part is that in my mind the two most likely candidates are the Jon Jones and Ben Askren fights.

Jon Jones still hasn't been cleared by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and granted a license even though his system is miraculously cleared of steroids again even though it might still pop up.  So what happens if Jones tests positive all leading up to the fight and then "pops up" again a few days before?  According to Dana and Jeff Novitzky (accounting major) who were told by The Experts, the trace amounts of turinabol metabolite in Jon Jones system might randomly appear from time to time for up to 7 years...is Nevada just cool with that now even though they totally were not cool with it three weeks ago?  Only time will tell.  

The Ben Askren fight is a different story.  Ben Askren will be there and he will face someone across the octagon at UFC 235, that much I can guarantee.  As for Robbie Lawler, that is a completely different story.  From what I've read, he might not even be cleared to fight yet.  I'm sure he's working out and training but for someone who has been out as long as he has (13 months), going into a fight with a specialist like Askren those sparring sessions are crucial for getting your feel back.  

I'll be excited for the fight regardless, if only for the simple fact that it's Askren's debut and I am absolutely dying to see him against UFC competition, but the matchup is something I was genuinely looking forward too.  Such a huge contrast of styles.  Robbie likes stand up and bang it out while Askren just wants to pin you down and physically dominate you in a death by a thousand cuts while also holding a plastic bag over your head type of approach. Think of him as an ultra American version of Khabib. He's not the most entertaining, sure, but he also NEVER loses.  

If I had one critique, one small little ask, it would be that Colby Covington get to fight Woodley instead of Usman.  

Usman and Woodley is a better fight in my mind, but the fact of the matter is that Colby had the interim belt and he and Tyron fucking hate each other.  True, unadulterated disgust for one another.  It would be an absolute beatdown, an ass whooping of damn near unbelievable proportions.  Colby legitimately may have left T-Mobile Arena in a body bag should that fight have happened.  Now that I'm thinking about it, that fight needs to headline it's own show.  The entire lead-up would be a goddamn circus stealing away everyone else's shine.