MMA legend Urijah Faber and tenured UFC referee Mike Beltran teamed up with the California State Athletic Commission to address the impending change to the longstanding 12-to-6 elbow rule.
In July, the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports voted unanimously to lift the ban on 12-to-6 elbows in addition to redefining what it means to be a “grounded opponent” under the Unified Rules of MMA.
In the video, which you can see below, Faber and another fighter explain what will constitute a grounded opponent once the new rules go into effect on November 1.
Under the new rule set, a fighter is considered grounded when any part of their body, aside from their hands or feet, touches the mat. Previously, a fighter was considered grounded if they had at least one hand on the mat, along with any other part of their body, and were also making contact with the floor.
Later in the clip, Beltran explains the change to the 12-to-6 elbow rule which will now allow fighters to raise their arm in a 12 o’clock position and drive it straight down into the 6 o’clock position.
Jon Jones wants dQ loss scrubbed from his uFC record
12-to-6 elbows are not terribly common in mixed martial arts, but there is one well-known example of a fight being controversially stopped due to the striking maneuver.
Competing against Matt Hamill during the Ultimate Fighter finale in 2009, Jon Jones was dominating the bout and dropping a series of elbows from the mount. In the closing moments of the opening round, referee Steve Mazzagatti brought a stop to the bout after ‘Bones’ dropped the illegal elbows on his opponent. Jones was disqualified, handing him the only blemish on his otherwise spotless record.
Reacting to the rule change earlier this year, Jones suggested that his DQ loss against Hamill be overturned.
“Undefeated then, undefeated now… Dana White we gotta get that loss out of the history books,” Jones wrote on Instagram.
Hamill, on the other hand, had a different suggestion.
