Jon Jones has been warned there will be 'broken bones and blood' involved if he chooses to give a rematch to the only man to beat him.
The legendary two-weight world champion is undefeated by all accounts throughout his career. But technically there is one on his record, which was presented to him by Matt Hamill during the 2009 finale of The Ultimate Fighter 10.
Jones threw about 12 to 6 elbows during what would have been the end of the fight, which was banned in MMA at the time. This forced controversial referee Steve Mazzagatti to intervene and stop the fight completely, with Hamill declared the winner by disqualification for a rule that has since been changed.
Jon Jones' only career loss came in 2009 against Matt Hamill
Jon Jones has admitted he was left in tears after the only defeat of his career. He had valued his undefeated record so much that he was devastated to have lost it, especially under such bizarre circumstances.
But without the pressure of a clean sheet, he immediately managed to get back into action and move towards a world title. He eventually won the light-heavyweight title multiple times and now finds himself at heavyweight, where he has won a second title and secured his status as one of the all-time greats.
“I feel a lot of different ways,” he told the New York Post during an interview about the incident while promoting his UFC 309 fight with Stipe Miocic last year. “At the time I was absolutely devastated to lose my undefeated record.
“But over the years I have learned to accept that it is what it is. I didn't fully understand the ruleset and my own ignorance cost me my own undefeated record. Seeing how far I've gone undefeated, I know it would have helped me market myself for my post-MMA life
“To be an 'undefeated fighter who is also a movie star' or whatever I may be next. That just looks good in my overall book, so I'd love to see that taken off my record. To hear that Mr [Andy] Foster is interested is great news. I know Dana White has tried several times, but so far we haven't had any luck.
“But I'm keeping my fingers crossed and our sport is improving and growing every day and I feel like the Matt Hamill fight should have been stopped long before the 12-6 elbows happened so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed, but if it doesn't happen, I'm fine.”
Matt Hamill still wants a Jon Jones rematch 15 years later
Despite the common belief that the Hamill-Jones fight wasn't that close, the former UFC star still wants another chance against his old rival. Following his 'win', Hamill went 3-3 in the promotion and moved on to other shows before ending his career in 2018.
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And after confirming that he can now hear again after previously being deaf, he is keen to get back into action against Jones. “It wasn't my night,” he admitted last night during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“But if the one-loss record bothers Jon Jones, I told him, let's have a rematch. I mean, I'll tell you something. It won't be the same as Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson. I expect there will be blood, I expect there will be broken bones. So let's take one last chance.”
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