Not every wretched soul was bruised with adversity inside the octagon in Las Vegas at UFC 235. Kamaru Usman delivered one of the most dominant five-round performances by a title challenger in MMA history, Johnnie Walker accelerated his hype train with a one-minute knockout of a top-15 fighter, and Zabit Magomedshapirov notched the best win of his career and established himself as a title contender. Unfortunately, all of these feats were overshadowed by a series of head-scratching mistakes by Cody Garbrandt, Herb Dean, and Antony Smith that rendered UFC 235 a confusing, and at times unsatisfying comedy of errors.

Fool Me Three Times

The first big blunder of the night came in the first round of the first main card fight, courtesy of former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt. Garbrandt's mistake would not seem so egregious but for the potentially devastating consequences that it may have on his career. In the span of his prior three fights, Garbrandt's position in the UFC hierarchy has nosedived. Prior to that three-fight skid, Garbrandt seemed to have everything working in his favor. Garbrandt was in with the right people, as both his manager Ali Abdelaziz and his coach and mentor Urijah Faber are known to have significant sway with UFC boss Dana White. Garbrandt has the kind of slick bad boy look that UFC considers marketable, and fights with an action style that produces a lot of knockouts. In his first 11 fights, Garbrandt went on an undefeated run to capture UFC gold, with nine of those wins coming by KO/TKO. But Garbrandt then lost each of his next two fights by KO/TKO to his former teammate turned hated rival (and current bantamweight champion) TJ Dillashaw.

With back-to-back decisive losses to the current champ, Garbrandt's position as a rising star was put in serious jeopardy. As long as Dillashaw is champion, there could be virtually no realistic path back to the belt for Garbrandt, especially with the division teeming with surging young contenders. But with Dillashaw's title reign now sort of in jeopardy after Dillashaw's loss to flyweight champ Henry Cejudo, Garbrandt was at a crossroads. A third-straight loss would put Garbrandt at the back of the line behind the aforementioned cast of surging bantamweight contenders; a third-straight knockout loss could even raise questions about his chin.

Garbrandt returned to the octagon at UFC 235 after a seven-month layoff, and took just about five minutes to repeat the exact same mistake that cost him both of his fights with TJ Dillashaw. For his comeback fight, the second-ranked Garbrandt was matched with ninth-ranked Pedro Munhoz, a five-year UFC veteran who has compiled some nice winning streaks, but typically failed to get past the division's top talent. The opening minutes of the matchup were generally measured, with both fighters feeling each other out and trading shots, and Garbrandt occasionally initiating a blitz, but never yet fully committing. About halfway through the round Garbrandt seemed to be finding his comfort zone, but with one minute left to go Garbrandt was clipped with a hook that wobbled his knees and sent him tumbling to the mat. To make matters worse, Garbrandt simultaneously clashed his chin with the top of Munhoz's head in an attempt to duck the punch.

The former champion got back to his feet with 40 seconds left in the round and tried to turn the tide by unloading everything in his arsenal in pursuit of a knockout. Garbrandt threw a flying knee and then immediately started raining punches. Garbrandt's technique almost looked more like a drunken bar brawler than an MMA boxer, as Garbrandt dropped his lead shoulder to telegraph looping hooks, and chased Munhoz around the center of the cage with murderous intent. Munhoz lobbed back bombs of his own, and for almost 20 seconds both fighters dug in and traded the biggest shots they could muster, many of them landing, until finally Garbrandt was caught overextending and tumbled to the mat in defeat.

While a bloody Munhoz leapt atop the cage to celebrate and to call out contender-cum-commentator Dominick Cruz, Garbrandt was left to lie on the floor and absorb what had just happened. With two full rounds left in the fight, there was no external factor necessitating that kind of urgency from Garbrandt. Perhaps Garbrandt wasn't thinking straight after being rocked, but after losing three straight fights in virtually similar fashion, perhaps this is just who Garbrandt really is as a fighter. It's possible that even the best version of Garbrandt omits technique and precision in favor of wild high-risk high-reward blitzing. But looking at the big picture, one can't help but wonder if Garbrandt couldn't have held himself together for just one fight. A win here could have reestablished the Dana White-favorite as a top star and contender in waiting should Dillashaw lose his title. Instead a third straight KO loss, this time to a mid-ranked fighter rather than a champion, has done more to confirm the doubts about Garbrandt's chin and fight IQ than to quiet them.

Herb Dean Changes the Question

While one can at least understand how a fighter like Garbrandt could fall victim to bad tendencies (especially when rocked on his feet), it's difficult to wrap one's head around the multiple errors that veteran MMA referee Herb Dean allowed in the heavily anticipated UFC debut of "Funky" Ben Askren. The question on everyone's mind was whether the Funky wrestling machine could manage to takedown and control the super-durable anti-wrestler and former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.

It is no exaggeration to say the fight took one of the most unexpected turns in MMA history in its first 20 seconds. Lawler grabbed a single leg out of the clinch, but instead of shooting for a takedown hoisted Askren up over his shoulders and forcefully returned him to the mat head-first, as if performing a more brutal version of pro wrestler John Cena's signature "Attitude Adjustment" slam. Lawler thumped Askren with powerful ground and pound strikes, and Dean easily could have stepped in and called the fight as a TKO win for Lawler as Askren's head bounced off the canvas.

Instead, Dean sat back and watched Askren get pounded -- but Askren surely isn't complaining. The undefeated UFC debutant managed to endure the punishment and eventually find his way back to his feet, bloodied and wounded, but alive and able. Askren finally landed a takedown with about two minutes left in the opening round, and after a scramble Askren came out on top with a side headlock and Lawler in turtle position. Lawler continued to roll through and Askren latched on a bulldog choke, a technique more commonly used as a catch wrestling maneuver to control the opponent's head than as a submission move. Bulldog chokes aren't typically applied as "blood chokes" that impede bloodflow to the head and cause opponents to pass out, and have rarely finished fights at the UFC level. But Askren seemed to have the choke in deep, and Herb Dean panicked when Lawler's right arm seemed to go limp. Lawler had positioned his right arm behind Askren's head, but suddenly dropped it and let it hang limp. Had Lawler gone out, or had he just realized that he wasn't effectively fighting the position by pressing Askren's head, and just dropped his arm to conserve energy? Joe Rogan hollered "he's out! he's out! he's out! he's out!" and Dean rushed in to check on Lawler. Lawler certainly hadn't tapped, but if he was passed out in a chokehold the referee would have a duty to save him from being left in the hold.

Dean asked Lawler if he was okay; obviously a fighter in a chokehold cannot give a verbal answer, so Dean grabbed the seemingly limp right arm to see if it was dead or if Lawler was still in control. Lawler indeed reacted by moving and sort of wiggling his right arm in a circle, and even appeared to give Dean a "thumbs up." Dean stepped in and called the fight anyway. An obviously conscious and fully awake Lawler immediately leapt to his feet in shock and protested the stoppage. Dean defended his call on the basis of Lawler's arm going limp, and Lawler reacted extremely professionally by moving on and accepting the result. Lawler was robbed of the potential to earn a six-figure win bonus, and fans at home that ordered the card on pay-per-view (or worse, may have wagered money on the result) were robbed of a sporting conclusion to a highly anticipated bout.

There is an argument to be made in defense of the stoppage. One could posit that the referee's job is to protect the fighters, and that if a fighter's arm goes limp in a choke the fighter has stopped intelligently defending himself and should be "saved" from being put to sleep. The problem is that this argument is based on incorrect assumptions about the nature of submission holds in MMA. The default assumption in an MMA fight, at any given time, is that both fighters are actively striving to win even in the face of adversity. There is a reason that the entire nature of submission grappling revolves around tapping out; even when a submission appears to be locked in, a skilled and resilient fighter may fight to escape. MMA audiences have seen fighters escape seemingly deep submissions time and time again, and again, a bulldog choke is known not to pose a particular threat as a fight finisher.

So in the face of all of that it is understandable that Dean reacted to Lawler dropping his arm by checking on Lawler, but what proceeded from there cannot be rationalized. The referee checked the arm, and the fighter responded by moving his arm, and even pointing up his thumb. What more could Lawler have done to signal that he was still in the fight? Why did Dean even bother checking the arm only to disregard Lawler's response to the check? Herb Dean reversed the burden of proof so that instead of having to tap to signal the fight was over, Lawler had to signal that he was alive and that the fight wasn't over. Apparently waving the arm and pointing up the thumb wasn't enough to meet that burden. Here's hoping that UFC does right by their veteran former champion and runs this back for a rematch, and that Herb Dean is nowhere near the cage when it happens.

Anthony Smith Lets Jon Jones Get Away With It

Here's a familiar story -- light heavyweight champion Jon Jones nearly cost himself his title by blatantly disregarding the rules, but ultimately the person deciding his fate let him off with a warning. The only twist in the latest chapter of this repetitive story is that this time Jones's transgression came during the fight instead of outside the cage. The lead-up to this fight was refreshingly scandal-free, a rarity for a Jones fight. Yes, Jones failed drug tests again, but this time only for the drugs that fans are being told that he's supposed to fail for. Jones didn't rack up any traffic violations. It was almost too good to be true.

The fight itself was relatively uneventful, as far as Jon Jones fights go. Jones controlled the fight as he was expected to as a -800 favorite, throwing in the occasional flashy spinning techniques, but never fighting with much urgency. In the fourth round Jones easily tripped the exhausted challenger and tossed him to the ground. Jones threw a light kick at Smith's head, an obviously illegal technique that has been forbidden for the duration of Jones's MMA career. Rogan wondered aloud if that was an illegal kick, and the broadcast team paused before Jon Anik awkwardly answered "perhaps." Referee Herb Dean took no action despite having a clear view of the blatant infraction.

Smith was exhausted and busted open, and Jones continued to chip away with hammerfists, knees to the body, and top control grappling. With 10 seconds left in the round Jones stepped back, wound up, and delivered a heavy knee to Smith's temple. This second illegal kick/knee to the grounded Smith was much more damaging than the first, and Smith lurched over and covered his head as Herb Dean rushed in to intervene.

Dean called timeout, and noted Jones-fanboy Joe Rogan made no attempt to hide his bias as he lamented "oh no, no no no no no no no," sensing the imminent disqualification that would surely be coming. This knee was identical to the illegal strike that cost Greg Hardy a DQ loss in his UFC debut earlier this year, with the difference here of course being that Jones is a veteran UFC champion with no plausible reason to be confused about the rules, and that the stakes in this title fight were much higher.

Instead, Anthony Smith and Herb Dean dropped the ball, and they let Jon Jones "get away with it" again, as he always does. Instead of DQ'ing Jones on the spot, Dean made the reasonable decision to check on Smith, and see if Smith could continue and the pay-per-view-headlining title fight could be salvaged. Smith, who sports the nickname "Lionheart" and routinely tweets out stuff like "This is my time and I have never been more ready," takes himself seriously and apparently wants to win with honor and integrity. Which is of course fine and even respectable, but the problem is that he has completely missed the boat on what that means.

First of all, Smith was in no way at fault for being on the receiving end of an illegal knee. Fans could not have held it against him if he was rendered unable to continue, and recent precedent shows that they likely would have been sympathetic to him -- fans didn't blame Dustin Poirier for being unable to continue after a similar illegal knee from Eddie Alvarez in 2017 (and in fact, Dean also refereed that fight, and merely deemed it a No Contest instead of a DQ because he found Alvarez had no malicious intent).

Second, the context matters, both in terms of Jones's history, and Smith's. From the Jones perspective, again, this is the same old song and dance -- Jones does something clearly illegal; people like Joe Rogan wring their hands and try to make excuses; Jones goes and sits in his corner and crosses himself in prayer, impressively quick to recast himself as Born Again, and Again, and Again. If ever there was a fighter who didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt after a concussive illegal strike, it is Jones. And while it would be unsatisfying to see a title fight end in DQ and the inferior fighter crowned the winner, in another sense it would be very satisfying to see Jones finally suffer a real consequence for his wrongdoing.

From Smith's perspective, it would be cynical to suggest that he should have contemplated his career and financial prospects in determining if he was fit to continue, but they can at least be considered in retrospect. Smith was positioned as a potential up-and-comer in the build to this fight, but in reality he is more of a seasoned journeyman with a 45-fight career spanning over a decade. Smith had an extremely atypical career trajectory for a UFC title challenger -- prior to his current UFC run, Smith had suffered multiple losing streaks of three fights or more, and has been cut from the UFC once before. With all due respect, the fact that he ever even made it to headline a pay-per-view card is an odds-defying achievement, and one that he is exceedingly unlikely to ever repeat. So while it's a bridge too far to argue that Smith should have been quicker to accept the DQ (or No Contest) to ensure a second lucrative main event fight against Jones, it is fair to at least note that he would have been wholly entitled to accept that DQ for just and non-cynical reasons, and that by making it a point to avoid that conclusion, he seriously impaired his career prospects.

So on the one hand, Smith does deserve some respect for the resilience he demonstrated by continuing when he could have accepted a stoppage. But ultimately, Smith went too far in chasing honor, and by refusing to admit that he could be wounded, just ended up joining the cast of CSAC and USADA and UFC goons enabling Jon Jones to break the rules, posture as an innocent buffoon, and walk away untouched. It may be dishonorable to search for a DQ, but honor does not necessitate Smith martyr himself when his opponent has acted dishonorably.

UFC 235 touted a lot of big name talent and did feature some fun action, but it didn't fully deliver on its potential in its biggest-name bouts. After Ben Askren had his hand raised as the victor, he hypothetically asked the UFC boss "Hey Dana, is that really the best you've got?" A fight fan doesn't have to be the UFC President to be able to say that the answer is "no."