In the end, the UFC 224 main event was — as predicted — a routine title defence for UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

While opponent Raquel Pennington was game, taking a fair amount of punishment from the champion, and stayed in the contest throughout, she showed little to genuinely challenge Nunes. Instead, Pennington repeatedly found herself pushed back to the cage, stung by big punches and heavy kicks from the champion.

The finish came in the fifth round, after Nunes had Pennington bloody and battered and a series of heavy blows on the ground caused the referee to step in. While Nunes’ ability to get the finish should be applauded, Pennington’s corner will likely face some backlash after the challenger attempted to quit on her stool before the final round, only for her team to talk her out of it.

Considering Pennington went on to absorb a large amount of punishment following that, there will likely be a discussion on whether or not they made the right decision.

"I'm done!"

Corner: "No, no, no, no."

Raquel Pennington is finished in the fifth round just moments after telling her corner "I'm done" 🤔 #UFC224 pic.twitter.com/wU52xiCaLE

— UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 13, 2018

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