Matt Hamill: I Didn't Win and Jon Jones Didn't Lose

When I wrote my morning-after thoughts on Saturday night's Ultimate Fighter Finale, I mentioned that Matt Hamill would be the first to tell you that he doesn't have much to be proud of from his victory over Jon Jones, in which Jones thoroughly dominated him but Hamill technically won the fight because Jones was disqualified.

Now Hamill has posted a statement on his personal web site, and he says he thinks that no matter what the rules say, he doesn't think Jones was attempting to do anything dirty when he drilled him with an illegal downward elbow. And he's OK with fans considering Jones the winner.

"I give all the credit to Jon Jones," Hamill writes. "He caught me by surprise with an awesome trip and I dislocated my shoulder when we hit the ground. I knew it was probably over at that point but I will die before I tap so I did the best I could under the circumstances. We train to wind up in bad positions and it paid off because I felt I was still able to defend even though I knew I couldn't get up. Jon's young and full of so much talent. Aside from making a mistake he did his job and he did it well. He definitely didn't lose this fight and I definitely didn't win."

Hamill noted that he doesn't always agree with what the official records say, and he has always considered himself the rightful winner of his controversial split decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 75. So it's fine with Hamill if people consider Jones the rightful winner of Saturday night's fight.

Hamill also says he'll be back in the Octagon soon, and the broken shoulder and bloody face he had at the end of Saturday night's fight shouldn't be a cause for concern.

"I know it looked bad Saturday night but it looked a lot worse than it was," Hamill writes. "Aside from a few stitches in my nose and a sore shoulder I feel fine. ... I'll be back. Fighting in the UFC is my job and I'll be back to work very soon. ... I'm just waiting on MRI results so we can rule out any further damage and I plan to be back in the gym right after the holidays."