Report: Jon Jones Loses Appeal on Matt Hamill Fight

I’m trying to come up with an appropriate analogy here, but nothing’s perfect. Let me give it a try, anyway.

It’s like overturning a TD in football because of a 10 yard foul on the 2-point conversion attempt, when in reality all the scoring team needed was the TD’s 6 points to take an insurmountable lead and hold it for one kickoff before the clock’s final second expired. The outcome was essentially decided, and the foul had nothing to do with the outcome of the game. Nothing.

It’s like overturning a run scored in baseball because the scorer, after the play is completed, turns around and clocks the catcher before being ejected from the game. The punch to the catcher had nothing to do with the run scoring, and the proper sanction is to eject him and perhaps suspend him for a few games. You don’t delete the run, that’s absolute nonsense.

If Hamill had been unable to continue due to the illegal elbow, then you’re absolutely right. The illegal strike caused the irreparable damage, and so the outcome hinges on that(those) strike(s).

The fight was as over when it hit the mat as it would have been, had Jones applied and executed an omoplata. Nearly EXACTLY the same. The ref is to blame for his own incompetence in not recognizing that the joint was previously broken, and the fight should have been stopped then and there, as is customary for an MMA bout. If there are broken bones or seriously damaged muscles or ligaments that affect a fighter’s ability to fight effectively and/or defend himself (which this clearly describes the situation), then the fight is stopped and the outcome is decided then and there.

Now, if it were not customary to stop a fight if a major limb has been broken/seriously impaired functionally, then my argument would have no weight. But I’m right. The fight was already decided before Jones started throwing the LEGAL elbows, forget about the illegal ones.

Referee incompetence at perhaps its worst. Firstly the ref failed to identify a fighter as being seriously impaired, secondly he allowed said fighter to endure FAR too much punishment, and third he decided to stop the fight and unilaterally declare stoppage based on nothing but his own judgment, when it is clearly not within his purview to do so.

And finally, as if this weren’t enough of a rant, the icing on the cake is that this was the first implementation of the much vaunted Instant Replay system for the UFC, and the bottom line is the NSAC didn’t want egg on their face for their first usage of the system. Again, terrible reasoning, allowing politics to interfere in an open-and-shut situation.