The only fighter to ever beat Jon Jones in the UFC, Matt Hamill, has issued a statement following the news of a huge change to the unified rules of MMA.
Back in 2009 and only four fights into his UFC tenure, Jon Jones faced off against Matt Hamill as he continued his domination over the light heavyweight division.
After an extremely dominant four minutes of the first round, where the then-21-year-old Jones battered Hamill with sensational striking and dominant grappling, the fight was stopped by the referee, Steve Mazzagatti, due to illegal elbows thrown by ‘Bones’.
The 12-6 elbow rule finally changes from November 1
The elbow thrown by Jones is called the 12-6 elbow as it comes directly up and down, and since its integration, it has been seen as one of the most controversial rules in the unified rules of MMA.
From November 1, though, fighters don’t need to worry about the angle at which they’re throwing their elbows, as the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports Committee announced earlier this week that the rule has been removed from the unified MMA ruleset.
Reacting to the news, Jon Jones once again called for the assistance of UFC CEO, Dana White, stating that they need to get his loss to Hamill removed from his record so that he is officially undefeated.
Despite it having happened almost 15 years ago, the current UFC heavyweight champion can appeal the loss in hopes of getting it overturned to a no-contest.
Dana White has fought for years to try and get the loss overturned, but because it was still an existing rule, they had no luck.
Matt Hamill issues statement following huge rule change
The 37-year-old isn’t the only one to have reacted to the news though, as ‘The Hammer’ has also issued a bizarre statement following the news, and he doesn’t seem happy.
“Let’s cut this chase… Dana White, I know you’re desperate to get Jon Jones 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!” Hamill stated.
Hamill, who is now 47-years-old last fought in MMA in 2018, defeating Chris Birchler at Maverick MMA 6. He hasn’t competed under the UFC banner since 2013, when he lost to Thiago Silva.
Jones is currently preparing to take on the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic, with their fight targeted to finally take place in November.
Related Topics