Daniel Cormier explains why he 'doesn't like' the new rule change coming to the UFC later this year
08/08/2024 07:25 AM
There are plenty of rules in MMA that fans and fighters alike would want to see removed or added into the unified ruleset; with a new round of updates set to come into effect later this year.
Despite the vast majority of UFC fans and fighters praising the decision to lift the ban on one of the sport's most controversial strikes, that isn't to say that everyone is happy with the change.
The UFC is getting a new rule change this November
In July, the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports voted to remove the controversial '12-6' elbow ban from the unified rules, of which the UFC follows.
Whilst the decision on whether to adopt this new rule change is left down to the individual athletic commissions, it's widely believed that the majority will accept the ruling, starting from November 1.
The upcoming rule change has been met with widespread praise by both fans and fighters since its announcement, with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in particular noting "I think that's pretty good, they’re good changes."
Ironically, the '12-6' elbow was famously the reason why undisputed champion Jon Jones was disqualified from his 2009 fight with Matt Hamill – with 'Bones' taking to social media to post "Undefeated then, undefeated now," in response to the rule change.
Yet there's another one of Jones' former rivals who is against such a rule change being implemented in the UFC – none other than Hall of Famer, Daniel Cormier.
Daniel Cormier explains why he isn't a fan of the new UFC rule change
Speaking with Ben Askren on the latest episode of 'Funky and the Champ', the former two-weight world champion revealed that he isn't a fan of the '12-6' elbow ban being lifted.
"I don't like that, I don't like 12-to-6 elbows, and I don't like soccer kicks," he stated, before diving into one of the key times where he experienced the divisive strike in the octagon.
"Here's my thought: When I was fighting 'Rumble' Johnson, you can't do this [imitates throwing an elbow straight down], but if you do a little bit of an arch, it's okay.
"Angle and arch, so I was able to cut 'Rumble' with an arching elbow, but it really did come straight down – it was very little in terms of not being straight up and down."
According to Cormier, he doesn't want to see any rule change, whether that's an addition or ban, resulting in a fight having the optics of a street fight, rather than a professional contest.
"I just don't want anything that makes fighting look like a street fight, that's it. [Senator] John McCain, before he passed, was against [MMA] fighting because he said, 'It's human cockfighting', then they would show these videos of gang fights, people running around and people on the ground, and they would kick them in the face."
The UFC Hall of Famer argued that if the ban on '12-6' elbows is lifted, then we'll see more and more rule changes coming down the pipeline, and that it's a slippery slope to eventually including the likes of soccer kicks in the official ruleset.
"If we get to soccer kicks, it starts to look like that again, and that's not good… I don't care as much about 12-6 elbows, but I think the moment we start opening those rules again, then it's going to be more and more and more, and ultimately, we'll get back to soccer kicks."
- HUH: Old video of Dana White makes fans question why he's so adamant Jones is the greatest of all time
Unsurprisingly, Cormier also wasn't a fan of some of Dana White’s comments about Jon Jones' DQ loss being potentially overturned so far after the fact.
"Man, what's going on with Dana and Jon lately? What's happened lately? He's been very adamant about him being pound-for-pound number one, he is going crazy every time… I've never seen him defend him like that before in his entire career."
We’ll have to wait and see when and where the new changes are adopted, with the first event of November set to be held on November 2 at The Apex.
