Jon Jones will file an appeal over the final decision of his recent disqualification loss to Matt Hamill, his co-manager Jason Genet confirmed to FanHouse.
During last Saturday night's Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, the previously unbeaten Jones (9-1) appeared on the verge of a TKO victory with full mount against Hammil, but after throwing an effective series of punches and elbows, Jones landed a pair of illegal downward elbows that forced referee Steve Mazzagatti to stop the action. Mazzagatti eventually ruled that Hamill could not continue because of the illegal strikes, giving Hamill the DQ win.
According to Genet, the appeal will come over the issue of whether Hamill was unable to continue because of the illegal strikes, or because of a shoulder injury that he sustained during the fight and later mentioned in his post-fight interview.
While Mazzagatti called the bout over about 20 seconds after deducting a point from Jones, the fighter's camp feels that Hamill should have been given an opportunity to recover after the illegal blows, and that if a timeout had been called, the shoulder injury would have forced Hamill out of the fight, giving Jones a TKO win.
The rule likely to be challenged is Nevada Athletic Commission rule NAC 467.7966 regarding MMA fouls, which states, "If the unarmed combatant's chance of winning has not been seriously jeopardized as a result of the foul and if the foul did not involve a concussive impact to the head of the unarmed combatant who has been fouled, the referee may order the contest or exhibition continued after a recuperative interval of not more than 5 minutes."
Genet said the camp did not know specifically when the appeal would be filed.
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