UFC legend Jon Jones would still have an unbeaten record if he wasn't controversially disqualified in his 2009 fight against Matt Hamill.
Jones, 35, holds a professional record of 26 wins, one loss, and one no-contest but is widely considered unbeaten by fans because of the nature of his lone defeat. In just his third UFC appearance, 'Bones' was disqualified against Hamill despite dominating the fight after landing a series of '12-6' elbows, an illegal technique that bans the use of striking downward using the point of the elbow.
The history of the banned technique remains a grey area and dates back to when the unified rules of MMA were first written over 20 years ago. It's believed that commissioners banned the technique after watching traditional martial artists break objects such as bricks with downward elbows, which led to officials deeming the technique too dangerous for MMA.
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This theory has been disproved by Keith Kizer, former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who labelled the story as "revisionist history". Despite Jones landing the illegal strikes in the fight, his disqualification should have been changed to a win according to UFC referee John McCarthy, who claimed that Hamill was unable to continue due to a separated shoulder that was sustained after a "legal throw" from Jones.
"Jon Jones' loss to Matt Hamill was handled & adjudicated by the referee," McCarthy tweeted. "He called the foul and then called for a DQ based upon Hamill not being able to continue. The reason he couldn’t continue was because of a separated shoulder which occurred on a legal throw. The DQ was wrong."
UFC boss Dana White has tried his best to appeal the lone defeat of Jones' career, insisting the Nevada Commission was in a bad place at the time of his fight against Hamill. "That one loss on his record, it was at a time and a place in the Nevada State Athletic Commission when it was at its worst," White told ESPN.
“The guy’s never lost a fight ever. It was the weakest commission ever in the history of Nevada. The referee that reffed that fight shouldn’t have even been in there and he disqualified Jon, which shouldn’t have happened either.
“I’ve battled hard to try and get that one taken off the back of his record which is almost impossible to do. Which is insane, it is crazy that that thing doesn’t go away. You should be able to look back and say okay let’s make this right. So far no good, I have really worked hard to try and get that one taken off his record."
