While many pundits are criticizing Raquel Pennington’s coaches for letting her continue in the fifth round after saying she was “done” against Amanda Nunes at UFC 224, a UFC Hall of Famer believes it was the right call.
“At least she can say she didn’t quit”
Urijah Faber is the latest to come to the defense of Pennington’s coaches and joins Miesha Tate and Tecia Torres, who have also backed up the coaching staff of the TUF 18 competitor. He believes her corner did exactly what they were supposed to do as he told TMZ in a recent interview.
“If she really wanted out of the fight, she could have told the ref.” Faber explained. “It didn’t go her way but at least she can say for the rest of her life that she didn’t quit.”
Faber retired at the end of 2016 after defeating Brad Pickett at UFC on FOX 22 and amassed a 34-10 record. He also fought four times for UFC championships, twice against Dominick Cruz (UFC 132 and UFC 199) and two times against Renan Barao (UFC 149, UFC 169) coming up short in all four outings. He’s since moved onto more of a coaching role with Team Alpha male since retirement.
Meanwhile Pennington (9-6) was stopped for just the second time in her career this past Saturday at UFC 224 and subsequently snapped her four-fight win streak. The 29-year-old competed for her first UFC title and was stopped via TKO for the first time in her career. “Rocky” released a statement regarding the backlash towards her coaches following the loss.
“Everybody needs to relax. A fight’s a fight. And at the end of the day, we have our coaching staffs. I’ve taken years to build up trust with my coaching staff, and I know that I have awesome people in my corner. At the end of the day, it was a f**king awesome opportunity, and I’m proud that, knowing what I went through in the first round, that I freakin’ hung in there for as long as I did, and I’m proud of my coaches for being there for me and to keep pushing me and not let me give up on myself. Because at the end of the day, quitting like that on yourself would have been more brutal.”
Did Raquel Pennington’s corner make the right call letting her continue at UFC 224? Comment below and tell us what you think!
