It may come as a shock to some, but turns out nobody watching UFC 224, specifically the main event, knows the first friggin’ thing that goes into being a professional fighter…specifically how a battered and bruised mind can, at times, cause a fighter say some truly batsh*t crazy stuff.
As the bell rang to close the fourth round of the main event, Raquel Pennington, fighting for the first time since November 2016, announced to her corner that she was done.
“I’m done…I wanna be done.” was how she put it, leaning up against the cage. There was some brief back and forth before Pennington’s corner talked her into going back out for the fifth and final round – where she would suffer a TKO defeat at the hands of Amanda Nunes…who, by the way, is terrifying. You’d have to give me football equipment to get in the octagon with her. And you best not saddle me with a single bar Gary Anderson helmet!
Meanwhile, back in Pennington’s corner…
“Quit your damn whining and get back out there!! – After all, you are a bloody fighter!” (not an actual quote)
It’s worth mentioning that Pennington’s face and left leg were both essentially broken by this point. In the above interview with Ariel Helwani, she admits to being in a boatload of pain as a result of Nunes’ kicks, most notably the first kick of the fight. She goes on to say she barely put any weight on it – remember, we are talking about the first kick of the fight!
Nonetheless, the chick is a fighter, a warrior, and despite what she said, there is no f***ing way she would have felt better had her words resulted in that fight being stopped between rounds.
The moment the corner *controversy* happened, everybody (including myself) put our “WELL, I THINK EVERYONE OUGHTA KNOW MY OPINION” hats on and started spouting off from every corner of the social media universe.
You don’t know what you’re talking about, Trini Kwan.
Then you have Fox News doing what they do best – skewing and misrepresenting the news like a bunch of conservative buttheads…plus why do they even care? – she’s a lesbian. I’d allow Pennington to bully me, for the record.
Finally, we even had criminal accusations being tabled…
(I encourage you to search the pages upon pages of faux coaches – once again, myself included – providing their two cents on the matter) – it’s amazing how quick and easy it is to learn in today’s tech-driven world. You’d think there was fucking Rosetta Stone for MMA coaching…
Pennington was hurt, badly. Don’t get me wrong. But you, me, and most all of us would be feeling shitty if we’d just returned from twenty minutes in an enclosed area with the Lioness.
In the moment, she said something that deep down she didn’t mean. And that’s why you invest so much time, energy, money, and any other resource you can think of on building the best team and corner possible. They know you – they understand how you are in certain situations, how you react and express yourself in key moments. But once again, try telling that to the throngs of hall of fame coaches two-finger typing on their smartphones at 1am on a suddenly Sunday morning.
While I’ve since come to terms with my judgemental shortcomings, and promise to clean up my despicable act moving forward, many remain clinging to their firmly held stance: that what Raquel Pennington’s corner did — convince her not to quit but rather fight as she’s done her whole life and career — was downright inexcusable…
Take a lap with that BS –
