5 times a UFC fighter was let down by their corner

#2. Raquel Pennington vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 224

Raquel Pennington's corner should've recognized that their fighter was outclassed by Amanda Nunes at UFC 224.

It’s true that a fight in the UFC can end at any time. Even fighters who appear to be on the brink of defeat are often capable of a miracle comeback.

However, on some occasions, it becomes painfully clear that a fighter is simply being outclassed by their opponent. If that fighter is particularly tough, such an outclassing can result in a horrendous and potentially career-changing beatdown.

Such a beatdown happened to Raquel Pennington at UFC 224. 'Rocky’ headlined that show against Amanda Nunes in her first shot at winning UFC gold. It quickly became obvious she just wasn’t in the same league as ‘The Lioness’.

Nunes beat Pennington from pillar to post from the early part of the fight all the way into the later rounds. By the end of the fourth, it was clear ‘Rocky’ had nothing left to offer.

Surprisingly, she seemed to realize this herself, and told her corner she was 'done', essentially asking them to throw in the towel.

The correct course of action would clearly have been to oblige her wishes. However, in a bizarre move, her cornermen refused, telling her to 'power through this' and to change her mindset. Neither of them were going to help her against Nunes, though.

Sure enough, the fight lasted just two more minutes, and ended with Pennington being stopped for the first time in her UFC career. Why Pennington’s corner didn’t simply listen to their fighter, and oblige her wishes, is anyone’s guess.

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#1. Josh Koscheck vs. Georges St-Pierre – UFC 124

Josh Koscheck suffered a career-altering beating at the hands of Georges St-Pierre, but his corner failed to stop the fight at the right time.

It’s a well-known fact that the career of a UFC fighter can be altered completely by one bad beating or serious injury inside the octagon. In Josh Koscheck's case, he suffered both in his UFC welterweight title fight with Georges St-Pierre at UFC 124.

Clearly wary of Koscheck’s stellar wrestling pedigree, St-Pierre chose to stand and strike with the former TUF star. It quickly became clear that St-Pierre possessed the superior boxing prowess of the two.

GSP began to land laser-sharp jabs to the face of his opponent. While the shots didn’t look overly telling, they were clearly beginning to add up and were hurting Koscheck badly.

By the second round, Koscheck’s right eye was beginning to swell up badly. When he headed to his corner after the five minutes were over, he appeared to be in agony, particularly when his corner attempted to ice the area. Realistically, his coaches probably should’ve called the fight off there, especially as his eye socket appeared to be moving underneath his skin.

Choosing to believe their fighter could still win, they let him go out for the third round. They also let him out for a fourth and fifth, despite a doctor considering a stoppage at one point due to the damage inflicted by GSP.

Sure enough, Koscheck came away from the fight with a badly broken orbital bone. He was unable to even fly home for a number of days after the event due to the dangers of the increased air pressure on the injured eye.

After this beating, ‘Kos’ was never the same again, often looking panicked every time an opponent struck his eye. He failed to win six of his last eight fights prior to his retirement in 2017.

Had Koscheck’s corner simply pulled him out of the GSP fight after the second round, his career could have been very different. Therefore, it is fair to say that they let their fighter down here.