Marloes Coenen

Marloes Coenen
Marloes Coenen
Born	March 31, 1981 (age 45); Olst, Netherlands
Occupation	Former professional mixed martial artist
Years active	2000–2017
Known for	Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion

Marloes Coenen (born March 31, 1981) is a former professional mixed martial artist from the Netherlands who competed from 2000 until her retirement in 2017. She previously held the title of Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion.

Early life

Coenen’s introduction to martial arts was heavily shaped by her family's involvement, particularly her grandfather’s practice of jiu-jitsu. Beginning her training at age 14, she studied under Pierre Drachman and Martijn de Jong at Shooto Holland, showing unwavering dedication regardless of circumstances. Her initial drive was fueled by concerns for personal safety while cycling alone through remote areas.

In addition to her sports career, Coenen pursued an academic path in Communications Sciences in Amsterdam, preparing for a professional future beyond athletics. She also contributes to the municipal advisory board Sportraad Amsterdam and serves as an official ambassador promoting martial arts within the city.

Mixed martial arts career

Coenen started her professional MMA journey in November 2000, securing eight straight wins and capturing the 2000 ReMix World Cup, thereby becoming the inaugural female MMA champion.

Before facing Erin Toughill in 2004, there were claims that Coenen had labeled Toughill as arrogant; however, she later refuted this and spoke favorably about her opponent.

In 2007, Coenen advanced to the finals of the K-GRACE tournament but was defeated by Roxanne Modafferi via split decision.

Although Coenen signed with Elite XC prior to its closure in 2008, she never competed under its banner.

Strikeforce

Following Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg in August 2009, Coenen was identified as the probable first contender for Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg. After Cyborg sustained an injury, a rematch with Toughill was arranged at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers to determine the leading challenger; however, Toughill withdrew due to health issues. Consequently, Coenen faced Modafferi instead and secured victory through a first-round armbar submission.

In January 2010 at Strikeforce: Miami, Coenen challenged Cyborg for the championship but was defeated by TKO in the third round. Although interested in continuing with Strikeforce, she was not booked for subsequent events.

Coenen initially accepted participation in the August 2010 Strikeforce women's tournament at 135 pounds but later pulled out. In July 2010, Strikeforce announced that Coenen would move down to 135 pounds to challenge Sarah Kaufman for the Women's Bantamweight title, designating her as the top contender. She was also expected to compete at 145 pounds and had a planned rematch with Cindy Dandois that was ultimately canceled.

On October 9, 2010, Coenen captured the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship by defeating Kaufman with a third-round armbar submission. She was scheduled to fight Lena Buytendijk at Ultimate Glory 12 soon after; however, this match did not take place.

Coenen was slated to defend her title against Miesha Tate at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson in March 2011; Tate withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Liz Carmouche. Coenen successfully retained her championship with a fourth-round triangle choke submission.

At Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson in July 2011, Coenen lost her title to Tate via arm-triangle choke submission in the fourth round—marking her first submission loss in MMA. Prior to this fight, Zuffa reclassified her championship from Welterweight to Bantamweight to align weight divisions consistently.

On August 3, 2011, Golden Glory announced that Coenen had been released from her contract with Strikeforce.

Invicta FC and Dream

On August 26, 2011, Coenen revealed a three-fight, non-exclusive agreement with BlackEye Promotions, based in North Carolina, aiming for a debut in February 2012. Nevertheless, she did not finalize a contract with them and instead became the inaugural signed athlete for Invicta Fighting Championships. Moving back to the 145-pound division, she headlined Invicta's inaugural all-women event against Romy Ruyssen on April 28, 2012, in Kansas City, emerging victorious by unanimous decision.

At Dream 18 on December 31, 2012, Coenen competed against Fiona Muxlow, winning via armbar submission in the first round.

Coenen challenged Cris Cyborg on July 13, 2013, in a rematch for the first-ever Invicta FC Featherweight Championship at Invicta FC 6. Cyborg captured the title with a TKO victory in the fourth round.

Bellator MMA

In August 2014, Bellator signed Marloes Coenen to help inaugurate their women's featherweight (145-pound) division. Her Bellator debut came against Annalisa Bucci at Bellator 130 on October 24, 2014, where she secured a submission win in the third round.

She was slated to compete against Julia Budd for the first Bellator Women's Featherweight Championship at Bellator 155; however, Budd withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Alexis Dufresne. Consequently, the match was no longer contested for the title. Coenen suffered a first-round submission loss in this bout.

A scheduled fight versus Talita Nogueira at Bellator 163 was canceled after Nogueira missed weight.

Coenen had a rematch with Julia Budd for the featherweight championship at Bellator 174 on March 3, 2017, but was defeated by TKO in the fourth round. Following this contest, she announced her retirement from mixed martial arts competition.

Grappling career

In May 2005, Coenen took part in the inaugural women's divisions at the ADCC World Championships. She won her first match against Yuki Kondo Kubota but then lost to Stacy Cartwright in the over-60kg category. In the absolute division, she avenged that loss by defeating Cartwright before being bested by Tara LaRosa.

Mixed martial arts

Strikeforce
- Held the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship once
  - Successfully defended the title one time

Smackgirl
- Champion of the 2000 ReMix World Cup Openweight division

Submission grappling

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship
- Winner of the +60 kg category at the 2007 ADCC European Trials

Mixed martial arts record

Kickboxing and Muay Thai Record

|- style="background:#fbb;" | 2006-02-04 || Defeat ||align="left" | Orinta van der Zee || Rumble Of Amsterdam 2 || Amsterdam, Netherlands || Decision || 5 || 2:00

|- | colspan=9 | Key:

External links

Marloes Coenen profile at Invicta FC
Marloes Coenen on AwakeningFighters.com