D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer confirmed that Mazzagatti made his decision to disqualify Jones after looking at replays that showed the 22-year-old delivering three illegal downward elbows to the face of Matt Hamill. Kizer made it a point to back Mazzagatti’s judgment.
“At the end of the day, they were illegal elbows; the only call he can make is a disqualification,” Kizer said. “He made the call he had to make.”
Jones, who now trains under the Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts banner in Albuquerque, N.M., dominated most of the match and battered Hamill with strikes from the full mount up until the stoppage. Kizer said Jones would not face disciplinary action since the blows were clearly not of a malicious nature, but he was quick to dismiss the idea of ruling the bout a no contest.
“The only time it can be a no contest is if it’s an accidental foul,” Kizer said.
Despite a disappointing end to an otherwise productive outing, Jones did little to tarnish his standing as one of the game’s top young talents. However, he did openly question why Mazzagatti failed to step in on Hamill’s behalf long before the illegal elbows were unleashed.
“I hit him with so many legal blows,” Jones said. “I was looking for a way to get in and be more effective. I didn’t realize it was an illegal shot. I hit him so many times. I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t stopped. I think after 14 or 15 unanswered punches, it should have been stopped. It was kind of awkward hitting him like that.”
Jones, who wowed the crowd with his athleticism and unorthodox style, vowed to move forward and learn from his first defeat in 10 professional appearances.
“I’m at peace,” Jones said. “You can’t live in the past and you can’t skip forward into the future. My day-to-day goal is to make the present a beautiful thing.”