Daniel Cormier explains why he’s against ABC decision to legalize 12-to-6 elbows in MMA

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Daniel Cormier is against the recent rule change to legalize 12-to-6 elbows in MMA.

But not for the reasons you’d assume.

“I don’t like that. I don’t like 12-to-6 elbows and I don’t like soccer kicks. I do not want to see soccer kicks,” Cormier said this past week on his YouTube channel.

“So here’s my thought, because there’s a little bit of a difference, right? So when I was fighting [Anthony] ‘Rumble’ Johnson, you can’t [throw a 12-to-6 elbow], but if you do a little bit of an arch, it’s OK. 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. I just don’t want anything that makes fighting look like a street fight. That’s it.”

In July, the Association of Boxing Commissions voted to remove the 12-to-6 elbow as a foul as one of two key rule changes for the unified rules of MMA. The other rule change altered the definition of a “downed fighter” to open up more offensive opportunities in scrambling and wrestling transitions. Those changes are due to go into effect on November 1.

The most infamous incident of a 12-to-6 elbow occurred in Jon Jones’ controversial 2009 loss to Matt Hamill. Jones, a fierce rival of Cormier’s during Cormier’s UFC career, was disqualified for hitting Hamill with a downward elbow in a fight he was otherwise dominating. Fifteen years later, that fight still stands as the only loss on Jones’ pro MMA record. UFC CEO Dana White and Jones have both spoken openly over the years about wanting to get the loss reversed, and did so again after the rule change was finalized.

Considering their rivalry, which included two heated UFC championship bouts from 2015-17, it’d be only natural to assume Cormier dislikes the decision to legalize 12-to-6 elbows because of Jones’ history with the no-longer-banned technique. But Cormier says that’s not the case. Instead, he says, it has to do with the slippery slope the decision could kick off.

“John McCain, before he passed, was against fighting [MMA] because he said it’s human cockfighting,” Cormier said of the once-critical U.S. Senator who reversed course on MMA later in life. “But then they would show these videos of like gang fights, and people running around and people on the ground and they would just kick them in the face. You know how that happens. If we get to soccer kicks, it starts to look like that again, and that’s not good.

“Everything kind of looks clean [without 12-to-6 elbows]. I’m telling you, bro, these are my reasons. I don’t like the [12-to-6 elbow rule change]. I mean, 12-to-6 elbow, I don’t feel as strongly about — I don’t care as much about 12-to-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 then ultimately we’ll get back to soccer kicks. Because you do know that now, hands down, starting in November, is not grounded anymore. ... Again, that’s one move back toward that, then there will be something else moves closer to that. That’s just my biggest worry.”