At UFC Vegas 123 prelims, female flyweight Tainara Lisboa drew some unintended criticism after suffering her third straight loss to Lucia Szabová via third-round TKO. But the backlash around that fight wasn’t over her defeat. It was centered on the controversial cornerwork of her head coach and husband, Bruno Polengo. 

Lisboa was trailing on the scorecards when she entered the third round against Szabová on Halloween. To wake her up, Polengo went ballistic and used explicit language during the corner work. He repeatedly shouted, “You’re f—g embarrassing yourself,” and “Is this what you trained for?” to push her to go all out in the final round. But Polengo’s approach met with instant criticism from Daniel Cormier, who said he “didn’t love the cornerwork” and argued that her corner should have given her a technical message instead of an “emotional message” when she was on the cusp of losing the fight.   

The female UFC flyweight has finally broken her silence on the controversy in an interview with MMA Fighting, defending her coach and husband from the ongoing wave of criticism. 

“Someone is trying to take your head off, someone trying to take your dreams away, so there’s no way it can be any different,” Lisboa said. “I was embarrassed by what I did, by what I failed to do—by what I know my coaches. I prepared to deliver regardless of the result. That embarrasses me. 

“And him trying to rescue me, yelling and trying to wake me up, is actually a huge proof of love. Even if he were just my coach, his love for my dreams, because he knows how important that is to me. It’s a very decisive fight, a fight that will probably cost me my career in the organization, against an undefeated and very tough girl, and we had to accept it.”   

Tainara’s words suggest that she had no problem with Bruno Polengo’s style of cornerwork. In fact, she clarified that her husband was yelling at her during the bout because he was trying to motivate her to win an important fight. Despite her coach’s effort to fire her up, the 35-year-old ended up losing the fight, and she feels that’s a more difficult feeling for her. 

In the same interview, the Brazilian also reflected on how she has been suffering from mental health problems after undergoing surgery following her second fight in the UFC. In doing so, Tainara admitted that her coach scolding her during the fight is a part of her “modus operandi,” so she can get out of her shell and push to win.

To reinforce her point, the UFC flyweight also disclosed that she asked him beforehand to yell at her if needed, and her husband and coach simply complied with her instructions. 

“It wasn’t a good fight. It was a fight that already carried a huge weight,” she added. “We were coming in against someone who had no pressure. (She was) undefeated, excited about making her UFC debut, while I was carrying a piano on my back… Am I going to get cut? I need to win this fight…. We need this money. I need to show I deserve to be here and I had to perform.

“So much so that in the first round I told him, ‘Fight with me, fight with me.’ Because I felt I wasn’t getting into the fight, that I wasn’t there. In the locker room I asked him, ‘Don’t let go of my hand, no matter what happens.’ Unfortunately, I didn’t do my part. I couldn’t wake up. I couldn’t respond, but he did what we had agreed on.”  

Going by the Brazilian UFC flyweight’s words, she had already agreed with her coach that he would do whatever it took to motivate her to save her career in the promotion. Even if that meant going harsh with his words, which she admitted to knowing would happen. Hence, she defended Bruno Polengo from the backlash.

This seems to be the first time Tainara has opened up about her controversial cornerwork. But it is not the first time a fighter has had to defend a head coach’s decision. 

UFC lightweight Max Rohskopf defends head coach’s controversial decision 

In 2020, Max Rohskopf faced Austin Hubbard at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Volkov, where a highly controversial moment unfolded. According to reports, Rohskopf asked his corner to end the fight nine times during the thirty-second rest periods between the second and the third rounds.

Rohskopf’s head coach, Robert Drysdale, tried to convince him to continue fighting, but his fatigue had reached a point where he had no energy left to fight. As a result, he lost the fight via second-round retirement. 

Following the dismal ending of this fight, Drysdale received a ton of backlash for urging his worn-out fighter to continue. Even the Nevada Athletic Commission said they would “look” into the matter. However, Rohskopf said his coach didn’t deserve to be blamed.  

“For people to come out and say that he was wrong in that situation, there’s literally no debate or discussion about it,” Rohskopf told MMA Fighting. “At the end of the day, I’m the one paying him, and that’s what I wanted him to do– and that’s what I expected him to do. 

“And if I was cornering someone else, that’s exactly what I would have done. There’s really no discussion about it. Rob did the right thing, and he’s always done right by me.” 

Though Rohskopf’s example is a little different from Tainara Lisboa’s, since she defended her husband, who is also her coach, both situations unfolded similarly, with the fighter addressing the controversy surrounding their coach.

That said, regardless of the criticism, Tainara lost the third fight of her UFC career, and a potential cut is looming. If the UFC does not part ways with her immediately, another loss might end her run in the promotion.