With the removal of the ban on 12-to-6 elbows in mixed martial arts, Jon Jones stands to win on two fronts; beat Stipe Miocic and solidify his status as the greatest fighter in MMA history, and have the only blemish removed on his otherwise clean MMA record. ‘Bones’ is virtually undefeated in his career, save for one loss that came as a result of a deadly move he executed on his opponent back in 2009. With the Association of Boxing Commissions’ MMA Rules Committee lifting the ban on the move, effective November 1st, Jones has been gunning for his only loss to be overturned. However, the MMA ‘Bad Guy’ Chael Sonnen has a different opinion that is sure to disappoint the UFC heavyweight champion.

“The idea of revisiting an established outcome a decade plus later is insane. Just that idea, that a government agency funded by taxpayers would revisit an established outcome from a decade prior. That is insane!”, stated Chael Sonnen on his YouTube show. ‘The American Gangster’ touched upon the logistical nightmare involved in changing decisions from more than a decade prior. Furthermore, Sonnen alluded to the fact that this move would have to be applied across the board, and not just with Jon Jones, only adding to more confusion. On top of that, the Oregan-native doesn’t even like the idea of Jones being paid his due from 15 years ago, for an overturned decision – “To get these repaid, we are not going to revisit Jon Jones and his salary that night, and go cut him an extra check because it should not have been this way. We are not going to do any of those things.”

In his fourth UFC appearance, Jones faced TUF 3 alum Matt Hamill in a mostly one-sided bout that saw the two-weight champion absolutely maul his opponent. In the first round of their bout, Jones secured a takedown, mounted Hamill, and let loose a barrage of punishing strikes. In the flurry, ‘Bones’ unleashed 12-to-6 elbows leading referee Steve Mazzagatti to stop the bout, for it to eventually be called a DQ for Jon Jones and a win for Matt Hamill. The move has haunted Jones for 15 years, as he could have had a clean record had he just adjusted his ground-and-pound against Hamill.

Chael Sonnen further argued that rules are in place for a reason, and changing them shouldn’t affect or alter past outcomes. Citing the example of Matt Hamill, Sonnen raised the fundamental question – “What if Matt Hamill had that same move? And he saw an opening for it within that same fight. But Matt did not go to that secret technique, because it was against the rules.”

While Chael Sonnen has been very critical of Jones’ loss being overturned, a former bitter rival of the two-weight champion thinks otherwise. Despite there being no love lost, Daniel Cormier made a surprising move by speaking in favor of Jones in light of the 12-to-6 being legal in the UFC.

Daniel Cormier believes that Jones should have an undefeated record

It’s no secret that Daniel Cormier doesn’t like Jon Jones. Despite their rivalry being in the past, ‘DC’ doesn’t seem like he is warm to Jones as a person. However, as an analyst, Cormier is as professional as they come. Without letting his personal bias get in the way, Daniel Cormier thinks Jones deserves a perfect undefeated record.

“Jon Jones should be undefeated. He really should be. A 12-6 elbow is crazy, but you know, we only can fight under the rules that they give us and, unfortunately, there was a moron referee that said he should be disqualified. But he’s undefeated.”, ‘DC’ said on his YouTube show. The ‘moron referee’ in question is Steve Mazzagatti who even Dana White despises with a passion. However, despite his shortcomings as a referee, one can argue that Mazzagatti made the right call in light of the rules back then, as acknowledged by Chael Sonnen.

So far, there has been no confirmation on Jon Jones’ only loss being overturned. If the development does come through in favor of Jones, then on paper there is no denying Jones’ bid to be the greatest MMA fighter ever.

What do you think of Chael Sonnen’s take on this whole situation? Do you agree with him or are you willing to play the Devil’s Advocate in favor of Jones, like ‘DC’? Let us know in the comments below.