Marloes Coenen (born March 31, 1981) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

. She competed professionally from 2000 to 2017 and is a former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion.

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 Martijn may refer to: * Martijn (given name), a Dutch given name (including a list of people with the name) * Vereniging Martijn Vereniging Martijn (; "Martijn Association"; stylized as MARTIJN) was a Dutch association that advocated the societ ...

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. She was appointed to the municipal advisory council

Sportraad Amsterdam The Sports Council Amsterdam (Dutch: Sportraad Amsterdam) is an independent advisory body created by the city council in 1952. Its 1952 report "''De Amsterdamse Sportbevolking''" is reportedly the first sociological research report on sports in th ...

and is the city´s ambassador for martial arts.

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 Roxanne Vincenta Modafferi (born September 24, 1982) is an American retired mixed martial artist, who most recently fought for the UFC. Though she last fought in the flyweight division, she has fought in multiple weight classes in her career. A p ...

by split decision. Coenen signed a contract with

Elite XC Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decembe ...

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 Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

Women's Featherweight Champion

Cris Cyborg Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally by her ring name Cris Cyborg (and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos), is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist who as of January 2021 competes in Bellator MMA, ...

. Coenen, who was in attendance at the post-fight press conference, later addressed the proposed fight with Cyborg and other potential fights under the Strikeforce banner. However, Cyborg 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

. She defeated Modafferi by armbar submission in the first round. Coenen challenged for Cyborg'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 Sarah Elizabeth Kaufman (born September 20, 1985) is a retired Canadian mixed martial artist (MMA). She competed in the women's bantamweight division where she is a former Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship. Kaufman was the inaugural Strike ...

for the

Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship Strikeforce was an American mixed martial arts organization. It crowned male champions in the lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, and female champions in featherweight and bantamweight. World ...

. Coenen was named the number one contender for the title, while the winner of the Strikeforce 135-pound one-night tournament,

Miesha Tate Miesha Theresa Tate ( ; born August 18, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champions ...

, 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

for the

on October 9, 2010 in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. Coenen won the fight by submission due to an armbar in the third round to become Women's Bantamweight Champion (135 lbs). 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

at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson on March 5, 2011. Tate was forced off the card due to injury.

Liz Carmouche Liz Carmouche (born February 19, 1984) is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently signed to Bellator MMA, where she is the current Bellator Women's Flyweight World Champion. Carmouche competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC ...

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

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 Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is currentl ...

. Coenen returned to 145 pounds to headline the first all-female

card against Romy Ruyssen on April 28, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. She defeated Ruyssen by unanimous decision. Coenen faced

Fiona Muxlow Fiona is a feminine given name. The name is associated with the Gaelic traditions of Ireland and Scotland (through the poetry of James Macpherson), but has also become popular in England.. It can be considered either a Latinised form of the Gael ...

Dream 18 2012 is the first year in the history of the Glory, an international kickboxing event. 2012 starts with Glory 1: Stockholm, and ends with Dream 18 & Glory 4: Tokyo. The events are broadcasts through television agreements with regional channels a ...

on December 31, 2012. She defeated Muxlow by armbar submission in the first round. Coenen faced

in a rematch for the inaugural Invicta FC Featherweight Championship at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg on July 13, 2013. Cyborg 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 Annalisa Bucci (born ) is an Italian female kickboxer and mixed martial artist, based in Rimini. She has competed professionally since 2005 and is the currently competing in the Bellator Featherweight division and in the SUPERKOMBAT Lightweight ...

on October 24, 2014 at

Bellator 130 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

. She won the fight via submission in the third round. She was set to face

Julia Budd Julia Olivia Budd (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadians, Canadian kickboxer and mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist competing in the Women's Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). She has fought in M ...

for the inaugural Bellator Woman's Featherweight Championship at

Bellator 155 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickboxi ...

, however Budd pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Alexis Dufresne, making the bout no longer for the title. Coenen lost the bout via submission in the first round. Coenen was scheduled to face Talita Nogueira at Bellator 163 but the bout was cancelled the day before the event when Talita failed to make weight. Coenen faced

for Bellator's inaugural women's featherweight championship, at Bellator 174 on March 3, 2017. Coenen lost the fight via TKO in the fourth round and subsequently announced her retirement from MMA after the fight.

Mixed martial arts record

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Thackerville, Oklahoma Thackerville is a town in Love County, Oklahoma. It is located in South Central Oklahoma. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Thackerville is located at (33. ...

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Arlene Blencowe Arlene Blencowe (born 11 April 1983) is a mixed martial artist and boxer, currently competing in the Women's Featherweight division of Bellator MMA, where she is the first Australian female fighter in the promotion's history. As of June 28, ...

, Submission (armbar) ,

Bellator 141 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

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Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

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, TKO (punches and elbows) , Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:02 ,

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

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, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:29 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 20–5 , Romy Ruyssen , Decision (unanimous) , Invicta FC 1: Coenen vs. Ruyssen , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 3:03 ,

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Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

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, Submission (armbar) , Strikeforce: San Jose , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:59 ,

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, TKO (punches) , Strikeforce: Miami , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:40 ,

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 97,335. Sunrise was incorporated in 1961 and founded ...

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Cindy Dandois Cindy Dandois (born 26 October 1984) is a Belgian female mixed martial artist. She formerly competed in the Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions in Invicta and the Ultimate Fighting Championship and also the Lightweight division in the Prof ...

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Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 1 ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 16–2 , Asci Kubra , TKO (punches) , KOE: Tough Is Not Enough , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:51 ,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 15–2 , Romy Ruyssen , Submission (rear-naked choke) , SLV 3: Thaibox Gala Night , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:45 ,

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland , , - , Win , align=center, 14–2 , Asci Kubra , Submission (armbar) , Beast of the East , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Netherlands , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–2 ,

, Decision (split) , K-Grace 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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Keiko Tamai Keiko Tamai (born January 6, 1982) is a Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. She is known for her flamboyant ring attire and personality. Mixed martial arts record , - , Loss , align=center, 14-14 , Shayna Baszler , Submission (neck cra ...

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Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 ,

Yoko Takahashi is a Japanese singer, who is best known for her work throughout the 1990s, most particularly for her singles which were performed for and featured in anime, most notably the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise. Career Takahashi began her ...

, Submission (armbar) , G-Shooto: G-Shooto 04 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:39 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 ,

Yuuki Kondo , née , is a retired Japanese female mixed martial artist and judoka. She is nicknamed in reference to her calm appearance when fighting. Background Kondo was born on in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Martial arts training Kondo pra ...

, KO (punch) , Smackgirl: Cool Fighter's Last Stand , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:50 ,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

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, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , Smackgirl: World ReMix 2004 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:30 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Miwako Ishihara , Decision (majority) , Shooto: Wanna Shooto 2002 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Megumi Yabushita is a retired Japanese female mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and judoka. She has participated in several Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotions. She is a Japanese national judo champion and a for ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , Jd': No Holds Barred , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:27 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 ,

, Submission (armbar) , ReMix: Golden Gate 2001 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:11 , Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 ,

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Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

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Becky Levi Becky Levi is an American female mixed martial artist. Biography Levi was born in Coldwater, Michigan. She began her training in Tucson, Arizona, training submissions and judo with Steve Owen, a 7th degree black belt in Judo. She also continued ...

, Submission (flying armbar) , ReMix: World Cup 2000 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:25 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Mika Harigai , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ReMix: World Cup 2000 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:31 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 ,

, Submission (armbar) , LLPW – L-1 2000: The Strongest Lady , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:37 ,

, Japan ,

Championships

(One time) ***One successful title defense *Grappling ** Dutch Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion ** 2000 ReMix World Cup Champion ** 2007 ADCC Bronze - Women's Under 67 kg

References

External links

Marloes Coenen
at

Invicta FC Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is currentl ...

*
Marloes Coenen
at AwakeningFighters.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coenen, Marloes 1981 births Living people People from Olst Dutch female mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Strikeforce (mixed martial arts) champions Dutch Muay Thai practitioners Female Muay Thai practitioners Dutch female sport wrestlers Dutch practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Sportspeople from Overijssel