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Fighting in the UFC is undoubtedly a highly dangerous pastime. While only a handful of fighters have suffered serious injuries inside the octagon, it’s a possibility that's there in every fight.
Due to the kind of risks involved, it’s paramount UFC’s fighters trust the coaches in their corner completely. At times, the fighters find themselves let down, though.
Anyone who coaches a UFC fighter probably has their pupil’s best interests at heart. However, at times, it feels like safety is the last thing on the mind of a corner.
When you consider that a UFC fight can end at any time, this almost makes sense, but it can also be detrimental to a fighter’s overall health. On that note, here are five times when a UFC fighter was let down by their corner.
#5. Benoit St. Denis vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos – UFC 267
The most recent example of a corner letting a fighter down in the UFC came this weekend at UFC 267.
Newcomer Benoit St. Denis already had his hands full with a tough opponent in Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. However, the Frenchman probably wasn’t aware of quite how bad things could get for him.
‘Capoeira’ clearly won the first round of the clash, but at that stage St. Denis was at least hanging in there. That changed in the second round, when he found himself wobbling around the octagon, eating what seemed like an endless amount of brutal strikes.
Inexperienced referee Vyacheslav Kiselev somehow decided to let the fight continue, despite St. Denis taking an inhuman amount of punishment. However, it seemed highly likely the debutant’s corner would throw in the towel between rounds.
Incredibly, though, they allowed their fighter to head back out, where he took even more punishment. Even when the fight was momentarily paused due to an eye poke, St. Denis’ corner simply let him recover and continue despite the fact that he clearly had no chance of winning the clash.
In the end, the newcomer ended the fight practically running away from the Brazilian, and unsurprisingly lost a decision. The aftermath of this unfortunate fight saw plenty of criticism for Kiselev, but St. Denis’ corner was equally culpable.
Quite why they didn’t simply end the fight after that horrific second round is anyone’s guess.
#4. Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper – UFC 150
Injuries are part and parcel of fighting in the UFC. However, unfortunately, we’ve seen numerous instances of injuries bringing fights to premature ends, much to the annoyance of the fighter suffering them.
In this instance, though, a fighter was allowed to continue a fight despite disclosing a serious injury to his corner. That brought into question whether they had the fighter's best interests at heart.
The fighter in question was light heavyweight Jared Hamman. At UFC 150, ‘The Messenger’ faced Michael Kuiper. Having gone 2-3 in his previous octagon appearances, it was probably fair to suggest his back was against the wall.
Unfortunately, the fight couldn’t have begun much worse for Hamman. He ate a number of clubbing punches from his Dutch opponent in the opening round. He also took a particularly bad leg kick that buckled his knee.
It quickly became clear that ‘The Messenger’ was struggling to stand. When he told his corner between rounds that he’d torn his hamstring, it looked like the fight would probably be stopped. Incredibly though, Hamman’s corner refused to throw in the towel, instead begging their fighter for 'one more round'.
Despite being in pain, Hamman duly obliged, and took a serious beating from Kuiper in the second round that ended with him getting knocked out.
Hamman did recover from the injury to fight in the UFC again, but he spent a year on the shelf recuperating. Why his corner felt it was safe for him to continue with such an injury remains a mystery to this day.
#3. Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira – UFC Fight Night 171
There’s no disputing that Anthony Smith is one of the toughest fighters in UFC history. Over the years, his battles with opponents like Jon Jones, Mauricio Rua and Ryan Spann have more than earned him his ‘Lionheart’ nickname.
In May 2020, Smith took a truly inhuman beating from future UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira. It was the kind of beating that could have been detrimental to Smith’s overall health. Even more disturbing was it could’ve been avoided.
The fight actually started well for Smith, who pushed the pace against Teixeira with his striking. However, as the bout went deeper, ‘Lionheart’ began to struggle, particularly on the ground.
After a seriously brutal third round, it was painfully clear that Smith was done. He’d taken a serious amount of abuse from his Brazilian foe, with referee Jason Herzog considering a stoppage more than once.
The fight was allowed to continue, though, and only got worse for ‘Lionheart’. After somehow surviving the fourth round, he told his cornermen that his teeth had been knocked out.
Sure, it seemed like a frank statement, but it should’ve been a red flag to his coaches, forcing them to throw in the towel. Instead, they let him go out for the fifth round, where the fight was mercifully stopped after one more minute.
Smith’s career has thankfully since recovered. He suffered a crazy amount of injuries in the fight with Teixeira including a broken nose and a broken orbital bone. To say his corner let him down here would probably be an understatement.
#2. Raquel Pennington vs. Amanda Nunes – 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.
#1. Josh Koscheck vs. Georges St-Pierre – UFC 124
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.
