Jon Jones wants to get a KO victory using 12-6 elbows now that they’ve been legalized in MMA.
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For Jon Jones, finishing the UFC 309 headliner with 12-to-6 elbows will somewhat right the only blemish on his record.
Jones’ otherwise perfect record is marred by a controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in December 2009. Jones was mauling Hamill on the ground with 12-to-6 elbows, which were then illegal, forcing referee Steve Mazzgatti to call off their fight in the first round. Jones recalls that maintaining his perfect record in the UFC was very important for him. The manner in which he suffered his lone pro defeat left “Bones” devastated and in tears backstage.
“When I lost that night, I actually cried backstage,” Jones told ESPN. “It was absolutely devastating to me. I had always had this vision in my mind and in my heart that I would do MMA right. There are so many things that I have failed on in life. There were so many things that I wasn’t good at growing up. And with the UFC I felt like, ‘Okay, I’m an adult. My life is in my control now.’… I wanted to have a perfect MMA career.”
UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
After years of debate surrounding 12-to-6 elbows, they were finally legalized under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, taking effect on Nov. 1. While Jones would love to get his loss against Hamill reversed, he is more excited about legally using 12-to-6 elbows now. The heavyweight champ is scheduled to defend his belt against Stipe Miocic in the main event at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. If Jones can finish Miocic with 12-to-6 elbows, it would even out the Hamill loss for the former light heavyweight champ.
“Fast forward years, 12-to-6 elbow is legal. It’s very exciting… To get that reversed would be very exciting,” Jones said. “But now I’m embracing the 12-to-6 elbow. I train it constantly. I’m excited to possibly be one of the first athletes to use it in the arena now that it’s legal. And be one of the few athletes to lose to it… I mean if I can get a knockout with a 12-to-6 elbow, that would be really, really sweet.”
