Four rounds into her match against Amanda Nunes at UFC 224, Raquel Pennington felt like she was finished. Pennington wanted out, and she can be heard expressing that sentiment to her team, saying, “I’m done. I want to be done.” However, her cornerman Jason Kutz quickly fired back, repeatedly telling her “no.”
“I know it hurts. Let’s power through this. Let’s power through this, let’s believe,” Kutz said. “Change your mindset. Change your mindset. Let’s throw everything we got. We’ll recover later … Throw everything we got.”
Pennington ventured back into the Octagon, even as she appeared to have suffered a broken nose. Pennington lost in the fifth round via TKO. During the post-fight press conference, Nunes discussed the corner’s decision to send her friend out there after she pleaded to end the fight. “It’s sad,” Nunes said, via MMAJunkie. “(My girlfriend) Nina (Ansaroff) told me. I didn’t even know. Nina told me in the locker room. It’s sad because you could avoid something. She went to the hospital. It might be a bad injury for her to go to the hospital. I already asked Nina to text her — if she needs anything I’m here. It’s sad."
Nunes mentioned how her 18-month layoff might have impacted her conditioning, and led to her asking out early. She makes it clear that it's up to Pennington's corner to spot these signs, especially the most obvious one of her asking out, and do what's best for their fighter. “If she didn’t have the right conditioning to fight then the coach should have thrown in the towel for sure. I think my coach wouldn’t let me go through that. It’s sad," she said. "Everyone must be saying a lot of bad things about him on social media, but I really think she needs to surround herself with people who want the best for her so she can really evolve for her next fights. Unfortunately, tonight (the cornerman) failed.”
