Marloes Coenen is a Dutch mixed martial artist. She has competed professionally
since 2000 and is a former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion.
Coenen is currently the #2-ranked 145-pound female MMA fighter in the
world according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.
Early life Coenen's brothers and grandfather were
both involved in martial arts, with the latter having trained in jiu-jitsu, and
this aided Coenen with her own transition into the sport.
She began training with Pierre Drachman and Martijn de Jong at Shooto Holland
while only 14, who recalls that, "I really had respect for that, because it
didn't matter if it rained or snowed. She still kept on coming." She started
martial arts training because she had to bicycle alone through a lonely part of
the forest to and from school, and she had heard rumors that there were "dirty
men in the forest" who preyed on girls. Along with her competitive career,
Coenen is planning to study Communications Sciences in Amsterdam
with a goal of future employment in that sector.
Mixed martial arts career Coenen debuted in mixed martial arts in
November 2000 and scored eight consecutive victories, winning the 2000
ReMix World Cup along the way. This was the first female MMA championship making
her the first ever female MMA champion. Prior to a 2004 fight with Erin
Toughill, Coenen was alleged to have referred to Toughill as the
"personification of arrogance." However, she later confirmed that no such
statements were made, and has mostly positive things to say about Toughill.
She later advanced to the finals of the 2007 K-GRACE tournament, but lost to
Roxanne Modafferi by split decision. Coenen signed a contract with Elite XC
shortly before the promotion folded in 2008, but did not receive a chance to
compete before its closure. = Strikeforce=
Following Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on August 15, 2009, it was announced
that Coenen would likely be the first challenger for new Strikeforce Women's
Featherweight Champion Cristiane Justino.
Coenen, who was in attendance at the post-fight press conference, later
addressed the proposed fight with Justino and other potential fights under
the Strikeforce banner. However, Justino suffered an injury and
Coenen was then set to compete in a rematch with Toughill at Strikeforce:
Fedor vs. Rogers to determine the first title challenger.
On October 27, 2009, Toughill withdrew from the fight due to an undisclosed
medical condition, but Coenen still competed on the card in a rematch
against Roxanne Modafferi. She defeated Modafferi by armbar submission in the
first round. Coenen challenged for Justino's title at
Strikeforce: Miami on January 30, 2010. She lost the fight by TKO in the third
round. Coenen expressed a desire to fight again
for Strikeforce on June 26, 2010, but Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed
that Coenen would not be competing on the card.
Coenen was invited to take part in the August 2010 Strikeforce women's
tournament at 135 pounds and verbally agreed to participate. However, on July
10, 2010, it was confirmed that she was no longer scheduled to be part of the
tournament. On July 22, 2010, Strikeforce announced
that Coenen would drop down to 135 pounds to face Sarah Kaufman for the
Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship. Coenen was named the
number one contender for the title, while the winner of the Strikeforce
135-pound one-night tournament, Miesha Tate, will assume the number two
contender spot behind Coenen. She will continue to compete at 145
pounds as well and Strikeforce had planned to set up a rematch between
Coenen and Cindy Dandois sometime in 2010. On August 19, 2010, it was
reported that the rematch was off. Coenen faced Sarah Kaufman for the
Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship on October 9, 2010 in San
Jose, California. Coenen won the fight by submission due to an armbar in the
third round to become Women's Bantamweight Champion.
She was also scheduled to compete one week later at Ultimate Glory 12 on
October 16, 2010 in Amsterdam, Holland against Lena Buytendijk. However, it was
announced during the event that the fight had been cancelled.
Coenen was scheduled to defend her Strikeforce title against Miesha Tate at
Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson on March 5, 2011. Tate was forced off the
card due to injury. Liz Carmouche stepped in on short notice to face
Coenen for the title. Coenen defeated Carmouche via triangle choke in the
fourth round. Coenen defended her title against Miesha
Tate at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30, 2011 and lost via submission
due to an arm-triangle choke in the fourth round. This was the first time
that Coenen had been submitted in MMA. Prior to the bout, Zuffa management
changed the name of Coenen's title from Welterweight to Bantamweight in order to
keep all weight classes the same. On August 3, 2011, Golden Glory
announced that Coenen had been released from her contract by Strikeforce.
= Invicta FC and Dream= On August 26, 2011, Coenen announced
that she had signed a three-fight, non-exclusive deal with North
Carolina-based organization BlackEye Promotions for a February 2012 debut.
However, Coenen remained under a verbal agreement with the promotion only and
did not in fact sign a contract. She instead signed on as the first
contracted athlete to Invicta Fighting Championships. Coenen returned to 145
pounds to headline the first all-female Invicta Fighting Championships card
against Romy Ruyssen on April 28, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. She defeated
Ruyssen by unanimous decision. Coenen faced Fiona Muxlow at Dream 18 on
December 31, 2012. She defeated Muxlow by armbar submission in the first round.
Coenen faced Cristiane Justino in a rematch for the inaugural Invicta FC
Featherweight Championship at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg on July 13, 2013.
Justino defeated Coenen again via TKO in the fourth round to become the first
Invicta FC Featherweight Champion. = Bellator MMA=
In August 2014, it was announced that Bellator had signed Marloes Coenen.
Coenen made her debut against Annalisa Bucci on October 24, 2014 at Bellator
130. She won the fight via submission in the third round.
Coenen returned to Bellator cage on August 28, 2015 at Bellator 141 against
Arlene Blencowe. She won the fight by submission in the second round.
Mixed martial arts record Championships
Dutch Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion 2000 ReMix World Cup Champion
Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion
2007 ADCC Bronze - Women's Under 67KG References
External links Marloes Coenen Awakening Profile
Professional MMA record for Marloes Coenen from Sherdog
Fightergirls.com Profile Marloes Coenen at the Internet Movie
Database See also
List of female mixed martial artists