As Dana White has made abundantly clear, Jon Jones is the best mixed martial artist of all time. He won six out of seven fights after making his UFC debut in 2008 to earn a title shot. The prospect then grabbed the UFC light heavyweight title from Mauricio Rua to become the youngest champion in the promotion's history.
Since then, Jones has fought in 15 consecutive title fights and his upcoming bout against Stipe Miocic is likely to be for the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship.
The only loss on the UFC heavyweight kingpin's almost-perfect record came in December 2009 against Matt Hamill, via disqualification. Here's why Jones got disqualified and whether he can update his record as per the latest rules...
Why Did Jon Jones Get DQ?
Jon Jones was disqualified against Hamill for throwing consecutive 12-6 elbows at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. 12-6 elbows are illegal according to the Unified Rules of MMA and accordingly, in the UFC.
"Bones" was dominating the fight from the get-go, piecing up Hamill with kicks from a distance. He then took the latter down, got top position, and unleashed a flurry of elbows to break his guard.
While most of Jones' strikes were perfectly legal and the fight was about to be stopped anyway, he threw a couple of 12-6 elbows. Steve Mazzagatti quickly jumped in to stop the fight and disqualified the rising contender.
Are 12-6 Elbows Illegal In MMA?
12-6 elbow strikes, also called downward elbow strikes, used to be illegal under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. They can be described as an elbow landed on a grounded opponent imitating the movement of throwing an elbow between 12 to 6 on a wall clock. Due to concerns related to fighter safety, the move was banned until July 2024.
The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports voted to lift the ban on 12-6 elbows in July 2024 but the ruling will be effective from November 1, 2024. All state athletic commissions will have to approve these changes in rules separately as well.
Jon Jones Reacts To 12-6 Elbows Rule Change In The UFC
Soon after the ABC announced their decision to make 12-6 Elbows legal, Jones took to social media to claim his undefeated record. The UFC veteran even tagged the UFC President to help him overturn his loss.
Undefeated then, undefeated now, @danawhite we gotta get that loss out of the history books." said Jones via Instagram.
This is not the first time Jones has protested his loss to Matt Hamill. With state athletic commissions yet to approve the change in rules, it is hard to predict whether he will end up having a perfect pro record.