Jon Jones reacts to the elimination of the 12-6 elbow rule: “Undefeated then, undefeated now”

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones didn’t take long to react to the eradication of the 12-6 elbow ban in MMA’s unified ruleset.

The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports lifted the ban of 12-6 elbows on Tuesday in a rules committee meeting. The committee voted unanimously to lift the ban on the controversial technique.

12-6 elbows will be permitted as of November 1, 2024, shortly before Jones’s likely next fight against Stipe Miocic. Jones’s lone defeat, a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in 2009, was ruled due to illegal elbows by Jones.

Now, Jones has the opportunity to appeal the disqualification loss and get it wiped from his otherwise unblemished MMA record.

Jon Jones intends to get lone defeat erased from UFC record

In a recent Instagram post, Jones reacted to the news.

 

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“Undefeated then, undefeated now..” Jones posted Tuesday. “[Dana White] we gotta get that loss out of the history books.”

As of this writing, White hasn’t responded to Jones’s post, although he may comment at UFC 304.

Leading up to the disqualification defeat to Hamill, Jones was dominant in the cage and seemed destined for another lopsided win. Jones took out his frustrations on his next opponents, winning the UFC light heavyweight title four fights later against Shogun Rua.

Jones is arguably the greatest UFC fighter of all time. After a dominant UFC light heavyweight title reign, he won the then-vacant heavyweight belt at UFC 285.

UFC analysts like Joe Rogan have been critical of the 12-6 elbow rule for years. The lift of the ban will allow fighters to add another brutal technique to their ground-and-pound arsenals.

Jones has the opportunity to bolster his UFC GOAT case if his planned appeal of the Hamill loss is successful. In the meantime, the lifting of the 12-6 elbow ban is a historic moment in MMA.