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This past July, the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports approved a change to two rules that have long been in effect and were enacted with the goal of protecting MMA fighters.
The 12 to 6 elbow, which involves a fighter delivering a “straight up, straight down elbow strike” to a grounded opponent, beginning with this weekend’s UFC Fight Night event in Edmonton is now legal.
The 12 to 6 elbow rule was implemented in MMA in an effort to prevent damage that could be caused by a downward elbow strike on a fighter’s orbital bone, as well as an attempt to limit possible spinal injuries that could have been caused before weight classes were standardized.
Former UFC champion Jon Jones’ only loss of his career came when he was disqualified in a fight in 2009 for using a 12 to 6 strike on his opponent Matt Hamill.
Jon Jones, following the announcement of the rule changes in July, asked UFC president Dana White to overturn his only loss.
“Undefeated then, undefeated now. @danawhite we gotta get that loss out of the history books,” he wrote on Instagram.
The ABC also redefined what constitutes a “grounded opponent.” Now a grounded opponent is defined as a fighter who has “any part of their body other than hands or feet” on the canvas. Before, if a fighter had a hand on the canvas he was considered to be “grounded” and could not be kneed or kicked in the head.
Petr Yan lost the UFC bantamweight title after being disqualified for what was then considered to be an illegal knee on a grounded opponent in his fight against Aljamain Sterling in 2021.
Earlier this month, UFC referee Mike Beltran, UFC Hall of Famer Uriah Faber, and MMA fighter Sczar Charles demonstrated the two new rules.
Watch as @RefMikeBeltran, #mma veteran @UrijahFaber, and fighter @SczarPhair demonstrate the recent changes to the @abcboxing's Commission’s Unified Rules of MMA, effective Nov. 1, 2024. pic.twitter.com/mzJckzRIh6
— CSAC (@_CSAC) October 1, 2024
Both rule changes will officially take effect this weekend at UFC’s Edmonton event featuring a men’s flyweight bout between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi, and a women’s flyweight fight between Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield.