Jon Jones watches on as UFC Vegas 100 winner throws elbow that cost him his unbeaten record

Nov 10, 2024

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones sat just a few feet away from one of the first 12-to-6 elbow strikes landed since the changes to MMA’s unified rules.

Jon Jones, who faces Stipe Miocic in the UFC 309 main event next weekend, took some downtime from training to take in the action at UFC Vegas 100. The card was headlined by a welterweight clash between Carlos Prates and Neil Magny.

The card opened with a slew of finishes on the prelims. This included the return of Tresean Gore, who submitted his opponent with a standing guillotine.

Jones’s lone career blemish was a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in Dec. 2009. It was due to illegal 12-to-6 elbows, which were recently made legal as revised in MMA’s up-to-date unified rules.

UFC strawweight Gillian Robertson took advantage of the lifted 12-to-6 elbow ban in her fight against Luana Pinheiro. After her coach Din Thomas screamed ‘Hit her with the Jon Jones!’, Robertson obliged, landing a 12-to-6 elbow to Pinheiro’s backside.

Jones was amongst several current and former UFC athletes in attendance at the 100th UFC Fight Night event held at the Apex facility. Along with preparing for his UFC 309 return, he’s also working with UFC CEO Dana White and others to get the Hamill DQ loss overturned.

Since then, Jones has been unbeaten in his last 19 fights, including UFC world titles in two divisions. He most recently defeated Ciryl Gane for the then-vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285.

Meanwhile, Robertson has won three in a row with the victory over Pinheiro. She remains a tough out for the strawweight division’s top contenders.

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Jones is arguably the greatest UFC fighter of all time after an astonishing run in the Octagon. He’s earned many wins over MMA’s greatest legends, including Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson.

Jones’s DQ loss to Hamill could get switched to a ‘no contest’ after the changes to the unified rules. It would be the second no-contest of Jones’s career after a knockout win against Cormier at UFC 214 was overturned after testing positive for a banned substance.

Jones could potentially retire, win or lose, after UFC 309. A possible clash with interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is on tap for the Jones vs. Miocic winner, although it’s uncertain if either will stick around to face Aspinall.

In the meantime, Jones basked in Robertson’s history-making 12-to-6 elbow strikes at UFC Vegas 100. She’s likely one of many who will take advantage of the new unified rules as 2024 winds down.