After four battering rounds against bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 224 PPV event, Raquel Pennington told her cornermen “I’m done,” but instead of throwing a towel, they convinced her to go back out for the fifth round. Moments later, Nunes countered and took the fight to the canvas where she unleashed a barrage of ‘ground-and-pound’ strikes covering the canvas in blood. Eventually, referee Marc Goddard put a stop to contest and declare Nunes a victor by TKO.
Several fighters spoke against Pennington’s corner saying they let Rocky getting an unnecessary punishment, even Nunes heavily criticized saying the corner “failed” Pennington. But former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has a different perspective on the situation during an appearance on SiriusXM Rush after the event, where she defended Rocky’s corner and said she agreed with the decision not to stop the fight. (Quotes via MMAFighting)
“I think that I would’ve done the same thing if I was in her corner’s shoes. It’s important that a fighter loses with dignity, and I think that Raquel lost with dignity. She went out there and she got finished. She went out on her shield. I would have done the same thing because sometimes when you’re tired and you don’t think you have enough left, your coach’s job is to pull the most out of you and I think that’s what the corner was trying to do – not let her give up on herself, get her back in the game mentally. When you’re in those mentally weak spots, that what your coach is there to do. Your coach is there to say, “No, no, no. Don’t give up on yourself. You made it this far. You’ve got one more round. Five more minutes for the rest of your life. I’m not going to let you quit.’ That’s the coach’s job and I think that he made the right decision.”
Former champion Tate does have a history with both fighters. Back in July 2016 ‘Cupcake’ lost a title to Nunes via rear-naked choke at UFC 200. Before hanging her gloves for good, Tate went out for her last out against Pennington, eventually ended up losing via decision at UFC 205 in the same year.
Tate said Rocky was the author of her own fate at UFC 224 night and in the long run, will be happy with her corner’s decision.
Do you agree with Miesha Tate’s assessment on Pennington’s cornerman?
