UFC: When No Means No
May 14, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: May 21, 2024, 10:40 pm
The UFC held an event Saturday night. Amanda Nunes defended her belt against Raquel Pennington in Rio. Let’s be clear, Amanda Nunes is a badass, and after 4 rounds the champion was well on her way to defending her belt. The bell rang, and Pennington returned to her corner.
Once there, she told her cornermen she was done. She obviously wanted to quit the fight. Check the exchange yourself:
"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" 🤔 #UFC224 pic.twitter.com/wU52xiCaLE
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 13, 2018
Let’s be clear- there is a very unique relationship between a fighter and her corner. They’ve trained together for months, they understand each other deeper than any fan could ever imagine. But the ultimate responsibility of a corner is to protect their fighter, sometimes even from themselves.
This was an absolute failure in judgement, and Pennington went back for the 5th round a sacrificial lamb. The fight was stopped shortly after she went out for that final round, broken and done.
This should never, ever happen. She needed her corner, and her corner wasn’t there. And she took a hellacious (and unnecessary beating because of it.