Jon Jones has been practising his 12-6 elbows.
The one move that cost Jones his undefeated UFC record is now legal in Dana White’s promotion and the champion looks to be making the most out of it.
Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic on 16 November in the main event of UFC 309 at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden.
UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will have his eyes locked on the clash with the Brit hopeful of a title shot against the winner.
The ban on 12-6 elbows was lifted ahead of UFC Fight Night 246, which took place in Edmonton, Canada, at the start of November.
Brandon Moreno was victorious over Amir Albazi after five rounds via unanimous-decision in the main event, while Erin Blanchfield earned a hard-fought victory over Rose Namajunas.
A 12-6 elbow is an MMA strike where a fighter lifts their elbow as high as possible and drives it straight down with maximum force – from a 12 o’clock to six o’clock position.
The ban was originally put in place to protect fighters from taking the elbows to the back of the head or spine, but there are now separate rules for those offences in modern MMA.
Jones suffered the only UFC defeat of his career when he was disqualified for using the 12-6 elbow against Matt Hamill during The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale in December 2009.
The move was banned during this period, resulting in Jones receiving an early DQ and a loss on his record—a mark that has followed the UFC heavyweight champion to this day.
A video of 37-year-old Jones working on the now-legal 12-6 elbows in training sparked a major reaction in the MMA community online.
The footage showed Jones repeatedly hammering a punch bag with alternating elbows and this led fans to give their predictions for his November 17 bout.
One user took to X and said: “He’s going to kill someone.”
Another added: “Watch Jon Jones walk away from the UFC with a 12-6 elbow KO on Stipe.”
A third responded: “We’re actually gonna witness a murder.”
And a fourth said: “Stipe doesn’t stand much of a chance against Jon. He’s 42 years old and hasn’t fought anyone since getting KO’d by Francis in 2021.
“Jon has been training with the best athletes in the world like Gable Stevenson and Gordon Ryan. I predict Jon takes him down and wins by second round TKO.”
UFC CEO White has claimed that he has tried to get Jones’ loss overturned for years, but there has been no official confirmation as to whether that will be the case or not going forward.
California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show last Tuesday and revealed that he is supportive of overturning the loss.
The main card at UFC 309 kicks off at 3am GMT for UK fans on Sunday, November 17.
The New York event also has Michael Chandler facing off against Charles Oliveira in what is set to be a blockbuster five-round co-main event.
Bo Nickal takes on Scotland’s Paul Craig in the middleweight division, while UFC legend Jim Miller could potentially make his last-ever octagon appearance as he contests his 57th MMA bout against Damon Jackson.
