Jones disqualified in UFC bout
Rochester native Jon “Bones” Jones dominated his fight against RIT graduate Matt “The Hammer” Hamill on Saturday night but still wound up with the first loss in his mixed-martial arts career.
Jones was disqualified midway through the first round of the light heavyweight fight for using illegal elbow strikes, and Hamill was awarded the victory at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale at the Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas
“They say when you lose you come back a better, stronger person,” Jones said during a post fight interview on Spike TV. “God is good to me and life is so great. Everything happens for a reason.”
Despite the loss, Jones (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) had an impressive performance against Hamill, a three-time Division III NCAA wrestling champion.
The fight began with both fighters measuring each other up, but Jones managed a takedown a minute into the fight and jumped on top of Hamill (9-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC).
Hamill fended off Jones’ offense for about a minute but Jones’ strength was too much as he began to rain down punches and elbows with little defense from Hamill, who dislocated his shoulder during the fight.
Jones was then disqualified for using illegal elbow strikes at 3:45, giving the bloodied and battered Hamill the win.
“I couldn’t move my arm,” Hamill said in the post fight interview. “I will come back.”
