Daniel Cormier believes allowing 12-to-6 elbows in the UFC will only perpetuate claims that mixed martial arts is nothing more than glorified “street fighting.
Earlier this year, The Association of Boxing Commissions unanimously voted to abolish the controversial 12-to-6 elbow rule.
Ironically, the decision will go into effect on November 1, days before Jon Jones is expected to defend his undisputed heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Before ‘Bones’ became the youngest champion in UFC history, he was notoriously disqualified for landing a series of 12-to-6 elbows on opponent Matt Hamill in 2009.
With 12-to-6 elbows no longer an illegal maneuver, Jones could look to have the DQ loss overturned and eliminate the only stain on his career thus far.
However, Cormier is not a fan of ABC’s ruling, believing that this is just the first step toward allowing other banned strikes, like soccer kicks, and blurring the lines between the UFC and the kind of garbage you see on WorldstarHipHop.
“I don’t like that,” Cormier said on a recent episode of his Funky & The Champ podcast with Ben Askren. “I don’t like 12-to-6 elbows, and I don’t like soccer kicks. Here’s my thought: when I was fighting Rumble Johnson, you couldn’t [move the elbows straight down]. But you could do it with an arch, so I was able to cut Rumble with an arching elbow, but it came straight down…
“I just don’t want anything that makes fighting look like a street fight, that’s it. John McCain, before he passed, was against fighting because it was “human cockfighting.” They would show these videos of gang fights, people running around, and people on the ground. It starts to look like that again, and that’s not good man. The moment we start opening those rules again, it’s gonna be more and more and more, and ultimately we’ll get back to soccer kicks” (h/t BJPenn.com).
Joe Rogan has a different take on the 12-to-6 elbow rule
Cormier’s pay-per-view broadcast partner Joe Rogan does not see it the same way.
The longtime color commentator has often lobbied for the reinstatement of 12-to-6 elbows by calling it “one of the dumbest rules in combat sports.”
Who’s side are you on, Cormier or Rogan?