Who did Jon Jones lose to and why does the UFC consider him undefeated?

Jon Jones is undoubtedly one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time, but even his record in the Octagon is not flawless.

‘Bones’ further cemented his claim to his GOAT status by knocking out legend Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

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The American emerged victorious from the historic fight with a 28-1 record and one no-contest in his 30 career fights. Yet that defeat has been almost unanimously dismissed by leading figures in the sector.

MMA expert Adam Catterall this week called Jones an “undefeated fighter,” while UFC president Dana White refused to acknowledge a loss for his prized asset. This is why…

Who did Jones lose to?

The 37-year-old’s only UFC loss came to Matt Hamill in the Ultimate Fighter 10 Finals in 2009.

In what was only his third Octagon appearance, Jones dominated ‘The Hammer’ after dislocating his shoulder during a takedown.

‘Bones’ then bombarded his American compatriot with ground-and-pound, but suffered a disqualification loss in the first round.

Jones landed several illegal ’12-6′ elbows to Hamill’s face and referee Steve Mazzagatti ruled the down blows worthy of a DQ.

Mazzagatti, who has not refereed an MMA fight since 2015, has been called “the worst referee in the history of any fighting company” by UFC boss White.

Future two-time light heavyweight champion Jones appealed the result, but was unsuccessful.

Since then, he has embarked on a 19-fight win streak, the last of which was a first-round victory over Ciryl Gane in March 2023.

The lone exception came in his 2017 rematch with Daniel Cormier, after a failed drug test by Jones resulted in the fight being ruled a no-contest, even though he had knocked out ‘DC’.

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Why does the UFC consider him undefeated?

The 12-6 rule was highly controversial within the UFC, in part due to the subjective level at which it was enforced.

During the early years of the UFC, the legality of a downward elbow was placed in the hands of whoever was refereeing the fight.

Mazzagatti, who initially took a point from Jones for his attacks, then stopped the fight when Hamill could not continue.

“He certainly didn’t lose this fight, and I certainly didn’t win, but I think the rules are there for a reason,” Hamill said at the time.

“It is what it is. I went into this fight feeling like my record was actually 9-1, so with this so-called win I now consider my record to be 9-2.”

According to UFC CEO White, it was an outcome that “shouldn’t have happened.”

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“It shouldn’t have happened like that. He shouldn’t have to suffer a loss, so it’s a shame,” White told media at the time.

“It was a drop elbow, you get a point,” White added. “Hamill couldn’t continue because his shoulder was messed up. It had nothing to do with the elbow.”

“Why the fight was stopped had nothing to do with the elbow,” White said.

“If he had been cut open and the fight couldn’t continue, or had his nose broken and couldn’t continue – something to do with his face or something to do with an illegal attack – then I would understand. But that didn’t happen. ‘t. He couldn’t continue because of his shoulder. That should never have been the decision.”

White led the calls to overturn Jones’ defeat, which gained further momentum when the ban on the 12-6 elbow was lifted.

In July, the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) voted unanimously to lift the ’12-6 elbow’ ban, which has been in place since the MMA Unified Rules were created in 2000.

It means that if Jones vs Hamill went down today, ‘Bones’ wouldn’t have received the DQ – and that’s how the executives see it anyway…