Now that the 12-6 elbow rule has been eliminated from the UFC rulebook, Jon Jones wants Dana White to wipe his record clean. The UFC Heavyweight champion has a single blemish in his otherwise perfect record – a loss against Matt Hamill. Jones, who was just 9 fights into his MMA career at the time, executed some 12 to 6 elbows while Hamill was lying on his back. Unfortunately, the UFC considered the move illegal back then, and the referee disqualified ‘Bones,’ automatically handing him his first loss.
However, as it turns out, Jones was right about being undefeated all along. The fighter recently took to his Instagram to share a snippet, which claims the 12-6 elbow rule will cease to exist post-November 1, 2024. Moreover, considering the rule change, he even requested White to officially remove the loss from his record, saying,
“Undefeated then, undefeated now.. @danawhite we gotta get that loss out of the history books”
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Although several UFC fans already consider Jones to be the ‘Greatest of all Times,’ a completely unbeaten record will further strengthen his legacy in the promotion.
Still, while the New York native has every right to appeal the decision, popular analyst Ariel Helwani believes it might be too late to do so
Helwani believes it is too late to overturn Jones’ defeat
Jones was dominating every aspect of his fight against Matt Hamill. In fact, he was quite taken aback when the referee disqualified him.
Well, even though the 37-year-old might have a chance to appeal the decision now, Helwani believes White cannot do anything about it, since the incident occurred almost 15 years ago. Addressing the issue on X, Helwani detailed what he believes might be the outcome, stating,
“Worth noting, Jon Jones can appeal his 2009 loss to Matt Hamill to get it overturned into a no contest (not a win) but it *might* be too late since that was almost 15 years ago”
Worth noting, Jon Jones can appeal his 2009 loss to Matt Hamill to get it overturned into a no contest (not a win) but it *might* be too late since that was almost 15 years ago https://t.co/nLVVjdcrg7
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 23, 2024
From the looks of it, the UFC might not be able to give Jones a win, although overturning the original decision to a no-contest is very much possible. In that case, the New York native will have two no-contests on his otherwise undefeated record.
Since Jones has been pursuing an unbeaten record for quite some time now, this is the perfect opportunity for him to try and remove all evidence of his defeat. Still, only time can tell if White and the UFC will rule in his favor.