“3-9 is an awful hard strike from side control” - CSAC director comes out swinging against “silly” 12-6 elbow rule in passionate monologue

The executive director of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) recently blasted the Unified Rules of MMA ruling on 12-6 elbows during a very passionate monologue.

Andy Foster, who has a very strong reputation in combat sports, explained the reasoning behind how rules are put in place for elbows and why it needs to be addressed. During his appearance on today's episode of The MMA Hour, the CSAC director shared his views on 12-6 elbows and outlined the different elbow strikes that are currently permitted in certain positions. He said:

"That's just silly. That rule [12-6]. What about 11-5 if we're going to use the clock, or 1-7? Those aren't illegal. 3-9 is an awful hard strike from side control, but that's not banned. It doesn't make any sense is I guess the point I'm trying to make. Either you ban elbows or you allow. This [12-6] is the only one that's not and it's poorly enforced. Hardly ever is it enforced. When it is enforced, it's enforced wrong."

One of the most notable instances in which the rule was enforced was when Jon Jones fought Matt Hamill in 2009. The bout is famous for being Jones' lone career loss after he was disqualified for landing 12-6 elbows on Hamill while he was on the ground.

As suggested by Foster, if the rules committee makes adjustments and allows 12-6 elbows, it will be interesting to see whether it would result in a significant difference when fights go to the ground.

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CSAC director Andy Foster opens up on granting Power Slap a temporary license

CSAC director Andy Foster recently made headlines as he granted Power Slap a temporary license to host an event in California.

Power Slap, as well as slap fighting as a whole, has received plenty of negative criticism for some of the gruesome effects during a bout and fighters not being able to protect themselves. During the aforementioned appearance, Foster opened up about the decision to grant Dana White's promotion a license and made a comparison to MMA during the early years of the UFC.

He said:

"We look at their [Nevada's] data, so they [Power Slap] have a temporary one fight license as well...Back in 2000, it [MMA] was a new thing and people didn't like it or whatever. And the world evolves, the world changes, and we kind of have to be adept to change with it."