Raquel Pennington 'Proud' of Coaches for Actions During Fight vs. Amanda Nunes

Raquel Pennington's coaching staff has been the target of criticism following the UFC bantamweight's loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 224, but the fighter showed her support for the coaches Monday.

"At the end of the day, my coaches know me best and they know my toughness," she said on The MMA Hour, via Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com. "They know what I can handle, and I trust my coaches with everything that I have, that they wouldn't put me in a situation I can't handle."

Okamoto noted Pennington added she was "proud" of her coaches' encouragement amid the controversy, which started when she told her team she was "done" after losing the first four rounds to Nunes.

However, Jason Kutz—one of her coaches—responded by saying "change your mindset" and helped convince her to go out for the fifth round, per Okamoto. She then lost via technical knockout a mere two minutes later.

Okamoto noted Pennington was fighting for the first time since Nov. 2016 due to injuries, including a broken leg she suffered during an ATV accident.

"I agreed with my coaches as soon as the fight was done. I was agreed with them in that moment," Pennington said. "Because at the end of the day, the ball was still in my court. I could have easily waved off the fight. I could have bent down and tapped out."

Despite Pennington's insistence fighting to the end was worthwhile, Nunes said during a post-fight news conference her opponent's coaches "failed" her.

Nunes (16-4, 11 KOs) is one of the best fighters in the world as the UFC bantamweight champion, with victories over the likes of Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko on her resume. She was the far superior fighter Saturday and left Pennington (9-6, 1 KO) with a visibly injured nose and plenty of blood thanks to relentless punches and kicks.

Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting called it "uncomfortable to watch" and said "Pennington deserves better than this" after she was told to get back out there for the fifth round.

Still, the fighter supported her coaches and took pride in finishing the fight instead of calling it quits after the fourth round.