Tag: 12-to-6 elbows

UFC Legend Urijah Faber Displays 12-6 Elbow Changes in the Unified MMA Rules

Legend Urijah Faber Displays 12-6 Elbow Changes in the Unified MMA RulesMMA legend Urijah Faber and tenured UFC referee Mike Beltran teamed up with the California State Athletic Commission to…

Legend Urijah Faber Displays 12-6 Elbow Changes in the Unified MMA Rules

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.

UFC

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.

UFC

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.

UFC

Daniel Cormier Condemns 12-to-6 Elbows, Labels Them Street Fighting: ‘We’ll get back to soccer kicks.’

Daniel Cormier Condemns 12-to-6 Elbows, Labels Them Street Fighting 'We’ll get back to soccer kicks.'Daniel Cormier believes allowing 12-to-6 elbows in the UFC will only perpetuate claims that mixed martial arts is nothing…

Daniel Cormier Condemns 12-to-6 Elbows, Labels Them Street Fighting 'We’ll get back to soccer kicks.'

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.

12-to-6 elbow ruling

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.

Jon Jones DQ'd for 12-to-6 elbows

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.

12-to-6

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?