Raquel Pennington showed off her toughness during the UFC 224 main event, but ultimately came up short against women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes to cap off a wild night of finishes at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But while Nunes was dominant throughout the fight, it was the title challenger who drove the biggest post-fight storyline thanks to a decision made by her corner ahead of the final frame.
After Round 4, Pennington returned to her corner to tell her coaches, “I’m done.”
But her corner did not throw in the towel and instead convinced Pennington to go into the final round where she was once again pummeled until blood poured out of her face and the referee jumped in to stop the fight just two minutes later.
Here was the moment Pennington told her corner she had enough.
“I’m done!”
Corner: “No, no, no, no.”
Raquel Pennington is finished in the fifth round just moments after telling her corner “I’m done”
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That begs the question: should Pennington’s corner have thrown in the towel and respected their fighter’s wishes? Many in the mixed martial arts community criticized Pennington’s corner for their decision, while others understood why they would not want her to regret quitting in a title fight.
Ultimately, it is a decision they will all have to live with and it may be easier to deal with the title loss by knowing you went out on your shield rather than by throwing in the towel.
What do you think Pennington’s corner should have done? Share your thoughts in the poll and sound off in the comments section below.