On Tuesday, the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) approved a rule change that has been haunting Jon Jones since December 5, 2009.
“Bones” Jones was not UFC heavyweight champion at the time, he wasn’t even yet UFC light heavyweight champion. He wasn’t yet known as the greatest fighter of all time, in fact, he wasn’t even in consideration.
A mistake led to Jones losing a fight to Matt Hamill by way of disqualification and the 12-to-6 elbow, which basically means a fighter bringing their arm up straight and straight down to land an elbow on an opponent, would always be questioned. Should it be illegal?
A new ruling that will go into effect starting Nov. 1, although each individual athletic commission still needs to adopt the rules before fighters see the difference in the cage or ring, will bring an end to that 12-6 elbow ban.
“Undefeated then, undefeated now.. @danawhite we gotta get that loss out of the history books,” Jones wrote on social media following the change.
That prompted Hamill, who hasn’t fought since winning the Maverick MMA light heavyweight title in 2018, to respond.
“Let’s cut this chase… @danawhite,” Hamill wrote on his Facebook fan page. “I know you’re desperate to get @jonnybones an undefeated record. I see how you want to profit from that! Is also why you bail him out of all the other things…How about a rematch?! I’ll be happy to fight him for a heavyweight title. If I beat him, I want a UFC belt. Let me know if Stipe Miocic backs out. I’ll take short notice, just remember he already lost to me!”
