California Commissioner Fully Supports Overturning Jon Jones’ Only Pro Loss: ‘I Didn’t Like The Way It Was Enforced’

Will “Bones” ever get his lone loss overturned?

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Jon Jones makes his long-awaited return to active competition at UFC 309 next weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) against former Heavyweight kingpin Stipe Mioicic.

One of the infamous moments in Jones’ career is his only professional loss, which occurred against Matt Hamill in 2009 at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. Jones was disqualified for using a 12-6 elbow while dominating Hamill. The DQ loss was controversial then and has been criticized for several years. UFC CEO Dana White has tried for many years to get the loss overturned but has been unsuccessful.

Well, the 12-6 elbow is now legal, and the rule went into effect last weekend at UFC Edmonton.

One of the people who was at the forefront of getting the 12-6 elbow legalized was California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive director Andy Foster, also known as the gold standard of State Athletic Commission directors.

Today (Tues., Nov. 5, 2024), Foster reflected on the rule change with Ariel Helwani and gave his support for Jones to have his loss overturned.

“I didn’t like the way it was enforced back then, but that was 14 years ago. I think there were — look, we’re talking about 14 years later. At the time, I thought there were other ways you could handle that situation rather than flat giving the guy a loss,” Foster said. “The rule is what it was then; it’s different now. It would be hard to go back…I’d be actually supportive of getting rid of [his loss], but it’s not my decision.”

While Foster fully supports Jones having his loss overturned to a no-contest, he finds it “hard” to go back and rewrite history.

The decision to overturn “Bones” disqualification will ultimately be made by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, but they have refused to do so since 2009, so who knows if they will stand strong with the brand-new rule.