Jon Jones is One of the World’s Greatest MMA Fighters… Some Would Say the Best Ever… He Only Has One Blemish on His Winning Record and Now Dana White Wants to Overturn it…
Here’s a question for an MMA drinking game: who is the only man to inflict defeat upon Jon Jones? The answer to that question is, of course, Matt Hamill. The pair fought way back in 2009 and Jones completely dominated the fight until he was the creator of his own downfall.
Jones was cited for an illegal 12-6 elbow and was disqualified from the fight. As a result, it’s the only loss on his record, alongside a single no-contest from his rematch with Daniel Cormier. Now Dana White has revealed that he is in talks with the Nevada Athletic Commission to overturn the result ten years later and give Jones back his unbeaten record.
This is bound to be controversial because of Jones’s history of testing positive and the favours the UFC have already done for him in the past, including moving an entire card to another state on a week’s notice because of his picograms. Not everybody will be supportive of this move.
No-Contest
White is adamant that Jones has never lost a fight. He believed that his loss should be overturned to a no-contest. Of course, this would have nothing to do with the fact that having an unbeaten champion on your books is good for marketing. They’re just trying to do the right thing.
“The guy’s never lost a fight ever. That one loss on his record, we’re trying to get that overturned,” White said. “It was at a time and a place in the Nevada State Athletic Commission when it was at its worst. It was the weakest commission ever in the history of Nevada, and the referee that reffed that fight shouldn’t have even been in there, and he disqualified Jon, which shouldn’t have happened, either. So hopefully we can get that overturned.”
Joe Says Yes
One man who supports this is the long-serving UFC commentator and professional comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan. He also believes the result should be overturned because the rule is, in his eyes, ‘dumb.’ Rogan tweeted the following:
“I’m in agreement with this 100%. The 12-6 elbow rule is one of the dumbest rules in combat sports. At the very least that fight should be a no contest. He was completely dominant.”
That may be the truth, but the obvious argument is that Jones knew the rules going into the fight and he broke them. As a result, surely the Commission wasn’t wrong to enforce them? There are surely bigger issues in MMA right now?
Rematch?
Well, what about what his opponent on the night thinks? Matt Hammill is understandably unenthusiastic about giving Jones an NC. He made a very good point about the light-heavyweight champion’s positive test results in the past and tweeted:
“@joerogan @danawhite @JonnyBones to supports overturning Jon Jones DQ loss to me to a no contest? Well I’m not complaining about jones in the past what he used illegal substance when he fought me.12/6 elbow is illegal. Back to back wins. How about rematch?”
No, he doesn’t want that fire but he does have a point. It’s one rule for Jones and another for everyone else.
