Support truly
independent journalism
UFC Heavyweight champion Jon Jones has reacted to a recent MMA rule change, urging Dana White to get his only loss “out of the history books”.
Jones is referring to the sole loss of his professional MMA career, which came in 2009 against Matt Hamill. Jones had taken control of the fight quickly, and soon after the four-minute mark in round one, he landed a series of elbows in quick succession which led to him being disqualified without warning.
Jones had been landing what are referred to as ‘12-6 elbows’, where the elbow comes straight up and then straight back down again. That move has been illegal since 2000, but the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports Mixed Martial Arts Committee has now removed the ‘downward pointing elbow’ as a foul.
And soon after the decision was announced, Jones took to Instagram to post a picture of the Hamill fight, saying: “Undefeated then, undefeated now...@danawhite we gotta get that loss out of the history books”.
Jones had previously appealed the result of the fight immediately after the disqualification, but the Nevada Athletic Commission chose not to hear his arguments at that time.
The removal of the foul will go into effect on 1 November, and then each individual athletic commission will need to adopt the rule.
The Association made another change that will likely affect the UFC, with the definition of a downed fighter also being changed. The new definition reads: “A fighter shall be considered grounded and may not be legally kneed or kicked to the head when any part of their body other than their hands or feet is in contact with the canvas (ground)”.
Jones, who is facing misdemeanour charges after an incident during a drugs test at his home, has not fought since March 2023, when he beat Frenchman Cyril Gane to become UFC Heavyweight Champion once again.
He was in line to defend his bet against Stioe Miocic last November, but had to pull out due to injury.
