MMA community appalled at Pennington's corner
Raquel Pennington's corner was met with scrutiny and derision from the mixed martial arts community after sending the embattled fighter into the fifth round of her bantamweight title bout against Amanda Nunes at UFC 224.
Pennington told her corner that she was done after the fourth round ended, but her team convinced her to return for the final frame. Nunes subsequently defeated a visibly battered and bleeding Pennington via TKO (punches) in the fifth round.
Related: Pennington's corner sends her out for 5th round after she says 'I'm done'
After the fight ended, the MMA world took umbrage with Pennington's corner's decision to send her back in against Nunes:
This is incredibly uncomfortable to watch. “We’ll recover later”? What? And throughout this no technical advice is shared. Just a pep talk and a refusal to listen to their fighter. Pennington, who is the epitome of a fighter, deserves better than this. https://t.co/WONNOWHWzN
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 13, 2018
Raquel’s team most definitely knows how tough she is given all she’s been through with her injuries that have kept her out of the octagon.
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) May 13, 2018
For them to send her out for the 5th round when she says she’s done is complete negligence on their part and selfish as fuck.
I’m at a bar, I did NOT get to hear that! That’s insane and shitty. https://t.co/n5hWtGPeOZ
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) May 13, 2018
Coaches should throw that towel...sad
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) May 13, 2018
They should have never let her go into the 5th round like that.
— Brian Ortega (@BrianTcity) May 13, 2018
Really feel bad for her. They’re meant to save her from punishment like that.. not send her out for more.
— Bec Rawlings (@RowdyBec) May 13, 2018
Perfect example why you shouldn’t let a fighter continue if THEY say they’re done. #UFCRio
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) May 13, 2018