MMA-URLS

Marloes Coenen Back on Track with Invicta Victory

In her first fight since losing her Strikeforce title, Marloes Coenen got back on track with a victory in the Invicta FC 1 main event on Saturday night. Retweet this Share on Facebook • Email • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Digg • Technorati • Instapaper • Tumblr • Google Reader • LinkedIn

Posted in: marloes coenen, track, bull, coenen, invicta victory

Invicta FC 1 Results Recap: Coenen Dominates, Penne Impresses and Classic Scrap Ends in Draw

The debut of the Invicta Fighting Championship yielded some memorable moments. All female fight cards aren't new to Mixed Martial Arts but Invicta FC looked like it could have real staying power. The event had an excellent pace that many other promoters could learn from as the fights came fast and furious. Marloes Coenen put on a dominating performance against French grappler Romy Ruyssen. Coenen dominated from bell to bell in this fight. Ruyssen struggled to get the fight to the ground, attempting to jump guard several times, but she could not any prolonged time to grapple with Coenen. The most promising instance was when Ruyssen successfully pulled guard and went for an armbar, but Coenen was able to lock up an arm triangle from inside the stacked armbar attempt. It was a very interesting position, but referee Greg Franklin inflicted an absolutely brutal stand up on that position. This came after Franklin deducting a point from Ruyssen for fence grabbing. Coenen took a sweep on the score cards, firmly reestablishing herself as one of WMMA's elite Bantamweights. SBN coverage of Invicta FC 1 - Coenen vs. Ruyssen more after the jump... Just before Coenen and Ruyssen took the cage Jessica Penne and Lisa Ellis treated fans to one heck of an Atomweight grappling match. Ellis showed excellent takedown ability, throwing Ellis to the mat on several occasions but once there Ellis showed off fantastic grappling skills. The fight was filled with exciting scrambles as Penne used amazing flexibility to her advantage. At one point Penne, on the bottom of side control, was able to bend herself in half to the point of transitioning to the back crucifix. Penne's TKO victory in the third round makes here emerge as an interesting front runner in the Atomweight division. Liz Carmouche handed down a one sided beating to Ashleigh Curry. The fight was as simple as Carmouche getting a takedown straight into mount and from there Curry seemed to have no idea how to escape. From there it Carmouche just brought down ground and pound until referee Greg Franklin felt compelled to stop fight. This was an excellent tune up fight for Carmouche, who is still young and looks to have fantastic potential at Bantamweight. The fight of the night was a wild brawl between Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith, that was back and forth all night. The fight ended in a draw, but both fighters received their win purses and a rematch is already in the works for Invitca FC 2. Other fights of note included veteran Sarah D'Alelio giving prospect Vanessa Mariscal a rude welcome to the big show. D'Alelio was the larger fighter and bullied Mariscal with superior ground work and ferocious strikes on the ground. Amy Davis and Sarah Schneider both notched submission victories. Schneider's was in a far more conventional fashion, locking up an armbar from the guard, while Davis used an odd crucifix off a sprawl position to find a mounted inverted triangle kimura. Ashley Cummins also impressed in her unanimous win over Sofia Bagherdai. The most disappointing performance of the night had to belong to Randi Miller, a highly decorated freestyle wrestler who came to MMA hot of a bronze medal run at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Miller has been attempting to make her debut fight in MMA since 2010 and it finally happened. Many expected the long time Miller has spent in the gym would benefit her and give her a fast start to her MMA career. This was not the case, Miller came in overweight and struggled to complete takedowns in the clinch. Miller's opponent Mollie Estes punished Miller in the clinch with knees and elbows, that Miller seemed unable to defend. Once on the ground Miller had very little in the way of technical positioning. If there is one positive takeaway from this fight it is once on the ground, Miller hits like a truck. The woman has amazing natural ground and pound power and if she can develop her other skills she could become a force to be reckoned with but as it stands she has a lot of work to do. All in all it was a widely entertaining night of fights that highlighted both the good and bad of the current state of WMMA. It is clear that there is talent in this side of the sport, but there is still a ways to go before it is caught up with the men's divisions in terms of depth. The match making was fantastic and resulted in interesting style clashes and good fights. As stated in the beginning of this article, all female fight leagues are not new to MMA but this one might have some staying power.

Posted in: fight, miller, ground, coenen, ruyssen

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Marloes Coenen is coming for Ronda Rousey after win at inaugural Invicta FC

Right after she claimed a dominant victory in the very first Invicta FC, Marloes Coenen wasted no time in calling out Strikeforce Women's champion Ronda Rousey, who owns the belt that Coenen once possessed. After putting on a ground-game clinic by utilizing short elbows and beating Romy Ruyssen handily, Coenen looks to be back on her winning ways. She had not fought since she lost a title bout to Miesha Tate in July of 2011. Coenen had the following to say, via mixedmartialarts.com: "It was a long hiatus

Posted in: title bout, marloes coenen, ronda rousey, miesha tate, coenen

Read the full article at Low Kick

Invicta FC 1 results recap from last night for 'Coenen vs Ruyssen 2' in Kansas City, Kansas

Invicta Fighting Championships held it's first ever event Invicta FC 1 last night (April 28, 2012) from Municipal Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. The goal of the all-female fight card was to prove to on-the-fence MMA fans that girls can kick ass. After a ferocious night of entertaining bouts, I'd say: mission success. The main event of the evening was a 145 pound rematch between former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen and upstart French submission specialist Romy Ruyssen. The bout wasn't as exciting as many expected, but Coenen was clearly in control throughout. Unlike the first time they fought, Ruyssen could not take Coenen down at all, instead being forced to jump guard on multiple occasions against the fence. Coenen, however, just blasted her with elbows whenever she attempted it. Coenen was in charge from start to finish and Ruyssen may have been flustered from a first round point deduction after grabbing the fence to stabilize some knee strikes in the clinch, and she was never really able to get off any serious offense. In the end, Coenen easily coasted to a unanimous decision with a 30-26 sweep across the boards on all three judges' scorecards and she then proceeded to call out Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Perhaps she could be next in line, or at worst one win away if the promotion is interested in signing her back. The rest of the night has some major highs, especially the later half of the card. Atomweights (105 pounds) Jessica Penne and Lisa Ellis really stepped up their games by putting on what likely would have been fight of the night on any other all-women fight card. Both ladies brought it both in the stand-up and on the ground, mixing in some nice punches on the feet and some terrific takedowns, sweeps and submission attempts on the ground. Ellis took control in the second round after taking some damage to her right eye in the first, working hard in top position on the ground while trying to avoid Penne's sweep attempts from her dangerous guard. In the third round, after a strong start, Ellis was cracked with a big punch which bloodied her nose. She would be busted wide open seconds later, bleeding so badly that it affected her ability to defend herself and the referee stopped the fight shortly after Penne passed to mount and was dropping punches. In one of the most lopsided fights of the night, former Strikeforce title challenger Liz Carmouche showcased her strength and technique against overmatched former boxer Ashleigh Curry. Carmouche scored an early takedown, passed to mount easily and pounded away until the referee finally stepped in to put a halt to the onslaught. The victory snapped Carmouche's two fight losing streak and likely sets her up for a big fight in Strikeforce later this year. The clear "Fight of the Night" winner was the bantamweight scrap between strikers Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith which featured a tremendous display of guts, endurance and some serious entertainment. Both Young and Smith bashed the hell out of each other for three straight rounds. Young had the better technique and power, landing some wicket leg and body kicks throughout the fight while Smith threw a huge volume of punches, so much so that commentator Muhammed Lawal nicknamed her "Lil' Diaz" for her Nick Diaz-esque offensive attack. The fight was so even and so entertaining that it was very difficult to decide a winner. The judges agreed, ruling the bout a draw which hardly anyone contested as neither lady deserved to win. Promoter Shannon Knapp announced that they would both get their win bonuses in what was the most entertaining women's fight of the year and one of the better fights overall thus far. In another bantamweight bout, Sarah D'Alelio bounced back from her recent submission defeat at the hands of Ronda Rousey by putting a hurting on Vanessa Mariscal. D'Alelio was simply too physically imposing, overpowering Mariscal on the ground and gaining dominant position quickly. After spending the majority of the first round glued to Mariscal's back and failing to secure a choke, she instead chose to pound her way to victory in the second, forcing Mariscal to tap out to strikes after crushing her with big blows from above. Highlights from the other preliminary fights were strawweight Amy Davis' Kimura against Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc, Olympian Randi Miller's late third round TKO of a very game Mollie Estes and Cassie Rodish's quick 36 second guillotine choke against Meghan Wright. For complete Invicta FC 1 results and detailed round-by-round commentary of all the streamed fights click here. So what did you think, Maniacs? Were you impressed by the ladies last night if you tuned in? Who stood out to you the most? Will you be watching the next event this upcoming July? Sound off!

Posted in: fight, night, bout, round, coenen

Coenen Tops Ruyssen Again, Olympic Medalist Miller Wins Debut at Invicta FC 1

Marloes Coenen couldn’t get another submission over France’s Romy Ruyssen, but the former Strikeforce champion was never in danger, cruising to a unanimous decision in the headliner of Invicta FC’s inaugural outing Saturday night at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.

Posted in: strikeforce champion, fc, memorial hall, coenen, ruyssen

Read the full article at Sherdog

Invicta FC Results: Coenen vs. Russey

MMA Fighting has Invicta FC Results for Saturday night's Invicta debut in Kansas City.In the main event, former Strikeforce bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen will face Romy Ruyssen for the second time in her career. Coenen defeated Ruyssen in in 2008 in Switzerland.Check out the Invicta FC results below. Complete CardMarloes Coenen vs. Romy RuyssenJessica Penne vs. Lisa EllisLiz Carmouche vs. Ashleigh CurryKaitlin Young vs. Leslie SmithSarah D'Alelio vs Vanessa MariscalSally Krumdiack vs. Sarah SchneiderNicdali Rivera-Calanoc vs. Amy DavisSarah Maloy vs. Michele GutierrezRandi Miller def. Mollie Estes via third-round TKOAshley Cummings def. Sofia Bagherdai via unanimous decisionCassie Rodish def. Meghan Wright via submission (guillotine)

Posted in: vs, invicta, coenen, romy ruyssen, meghan wright

Invicta: Coenen Vs. Ruyssen Live Stream Blog And Play By Play

Tonight at 8 PM ET, the free live stream of Invicta FC in Kansas City, Kansas will go out across the interwebs for us to revel in a fantastic night of women's MMA. The entire card is composed of women warriors and headlined by the exciting match-up between Marloes Coenen and Romy Ruyssen. Coenen defeated Ruyssen back in 2008 with a rear naked choke, but Romy has torn through her four opponents since - submitting them all within the first round. This is no mismatch and the matchmaking is of stellar quality throughout. Join us through the night in the comments and refresh your pages for the official Bloody Elbow play by play by Ben Thapa. We do ask that the commenters here hold off on posting GIFs or large images so those who refresh can do so quickly in order to get up-to-the-second updates. The commentating team will be composed of Mauro Ranallo, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Julie "Fireball" Kedzie. King Mo and Kedzie are likely going to be delights to listen to throughout the night and Ranallo should be able to control the pace and fill in the spaces around them smoothly by using his years of experience. Let's get this party started! Marloes Coenen vs. Romy Ruyssen - Featherweight (145 lbs) Jessica Penne vs. Lisa Ellis - Atomweight (105 lbs) Liz Carmouche vs. Ashleigh Curry - Bantamweight (135 lbs) Kaitlin Young vs. Leslie Smith - Bantamweight (135 lbs) Sarah D'Alelio vs. Vanessa Mariscal - Bantamweight (135 lbs) Sally Krumdiack vs. Sarah Schneider - Strawweight (115 lbs) Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc vs. Amy Davis - Atomweight (105 lbs) Sarah Maloy vs. Michele Gutierrez - Flyweight (125 lbs) Randi Miller vs. Mollie Estes - Featherweight (145 lbs) Ashley Cummins vs. Sofia Bagherdai - Strawweight (115 lbs) Cassie Rodish vs. Meghan Wright - Atomweight (105 lbs)

Posted in: vs, lb, coenen, ruyssen, romy

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Invicta FC 1: Coenen vs. Ruyssen Weigh-in Photos

Invicta FC 1: Coenen vs. Ruyssen Weigh-in Photo Gallery by Esther Lin. Retweet this Share on Facebook • Email • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Digg • Technorati • Instapaper • Tumblr • Google Reader • LinkedIn

Posted in: vs, photo, bull, coenen, ruyssen

Romy Ruyssen Over Weight, but Fight with Marloes Coenen at Inivcta FC 1 Still a Go

Marloes Coenen's Invicta FC 1 opponent, Romy Ruyssen, came in over weight on Friday, but she will be fined and the show will go on. Retweet this Share on Facebook • Email • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Digg • Technorati • Instapaper • Tumblr • Google Reader • LinkedIn

Posted in: weight, marloes coenen, bull, coenen, romy ruyssen

Marloes Coenen Cleared, Romy Ruyssen Heavy on First Attempt for Invicta FC 1 Headliner

Invicta Fighting Championships headliner Romy Ruyssen came in heavy at Friday’s weigh-ins ahead of her scheduled featherweight main event against Marloes Coenen.

Posted in: marloes coenen, marloe, invicta, coenen, romy ruyssen

Read the full article at Sherdog

Marloes Coenen Cleared, Romy Ruyssen Heavy for Invicta FC 1 Headliner

Invicta Fighting Championships headliner Romy Ruyssen came in heavy at Friday’s weigh-ins ahead of her scheduled featherweight main event against Marloes Coenen.

Posted in: marloes coenen, marloe, invicta, coenen, romy ruyssen

Read the full article at Sherdog

Friday Link Club: WMMA on Display: Invicta FC, Marloes Coenen, Ronda Rousey

In her first fight back since her loss to Miesha Tate and her subsequent Strikeforce release, Marloes Coenen headlines the inaugural Invicta FC 1. Invicta FC preview and predictions for ‘Coenen vs Ruyssen’ on April 28 in Kansas City | MMA Mania Marloes Coenen talks Alistair Overeem and Golden Glory | LowKick Ronda Rousey Taught [...]

Posted in: fc, miesha tate, marloe, invicta, coenen

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Invicta FC preview and predictions for 'Coenen vs Ruyssen' on April 28 in Kansas City

Invicta Fighting Championships will make its promotional debut this Saturday night (April 28, 2012) at Municipal Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. The entire all-female mixed martial arts (MMA) event will be streamed for free live from the Invicta FC home page on fight night, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Headlining the main event will be a terrific rematch between former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen and French ground specialist Romy Ruyssen at 145 pounds. Also on the card, former Bellator tournament participants Jessica Penne and Lisa Ellis-Ward will duke it out at 105 pounds, which is their more natural and competitive weight class. Other stand out female combatants competing at the event are former Strikeforce title challenger Liz Carmouche, knockout artist Kaitlin Young and Olympic wrestler Randi Miller. Check out our Invicta Fighting Championships preview and predictions after the jump: 145 lbs.: Marloes Coenen (19-5) vs. Romy Ruyssen (5-1) This main event is very interesting as Coenen and Ruyssen have actually squared off before. It was a very entertaining back-and-forth bout where Coenen handed Ruyssen the only loss of her career back in 2008. Ruyssen has responded tremendously since that defeat, winning four straight all via first round submission and at just 22 years old, she's one of the best young prospects in the women's game today. Coenen, of course, went on to challenge Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos for the Strikeforce 145 pound title and after failing, she dropped to 135 to capture the championship from then-undefeated Sarah Kaufman. "The Golden Girl of Golden Glory" defended her strap once but would lose her title to Miesha Tate this past summer. She was then released from Strikeforce during a managerial dispute and has now signed with with Invicta. Coenen will have a strong striking edge in this bout, but to utilize it, she'll have to keep the bout standing. While she's worked on her wrestling significantly since her last loss to Tate, it's still most likely the weakest part of her game and she's been taken down repeatedly in the past, including her bout against Ruyssen. Expect to see Coenen try to keep her distance and work some kicks and straight punches at the beginning of each round. If the fight goes to the ground, it'll be Ruyssen on top almost certainly. Coenen is very adept on the canvas as well so Ruyssen can't toy around inside her guard, but instead keep her elbows tight and drop short strikes to stay active and at least win rounds, if not go for the submission if the opportunity presents itself. Final prediction: Marloes Coenen via TKO in round two 105 lbs.: Jessica Penne (8-1) vs. Lisa Ellis-Ward (14-7) Both Jessica Penne and Lisa Ellis-Ward were participants in the Bellator season three women's 115 pound tournament. Penne was simply too small for his quarterfinal opponent, Zoila Frausto (now Gurgel) and while Ward would defeat Aisling Daly in the quarterfinals, she would be outmatched by Megumi Fujii in the semis. Since that loss, Penne has not been the most active, only fighting one more time in 2010, earning a first round submission, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been working. Penne puts in a large amount of time at Reign Training Center with Mark Munoz and the boys so she's one of the gold standards for toughness. Ward-Ellis got married and has only fought once since the Fujii loss, dropping an entertaining unanimous decision to Jessica Aguilar this past November. I expect Penne to try to utilize her length in the stand-up, where she's developed some respectable technique while Ward will try to get into the pocket and land short punches with her boxing. On the ground, both women are talented, with Ellis-Ward likely having a wrestling edge but I'll give the submission advantage to Penne. If this fight gets stopped, it will likely be a Penne submission or TKO. Final Prediction: Jessica Penne via submission in round three 135 lbs.: Liz Carmouche (5-2) vs. Ashleigh Curry (1-0) Liz Carmouche is an absolute gamer. She stepped up on short notice to challenge Marloes Coenen for the Strikeforce 135 pound title despite only having fought professionally for a year....and she nearly captured the crown. "Girl-Rilla" had trouble dealing with elite opponent Sarah Kaufman in her next fight, but she's taking a breather this time around. Ashleigh Curry is dangerous, no doubt, with her boxing experience, but it's not nearly as much so as Carmouche is used to. Curry does have knockout power and some solid striking skills, but as long as Carmouche fights smart, the ex-marine should have no problem taking her down and pounding her into oblivion. Final Prediction: Liz Carmouche via TKO in round one 135 lbs.: Kaitlin Young (6-5) vs. Leslie Smith (5-2) Both of these ladies are very exciting strikers. Kaitlin Young may be best remembered for her highlight reel knockout of Miesha Tate back in 2007. Don't let her 6-5 record fool you, Young has stepped in there against some of the best and most dangerous women in the world. Her losses are to the likes of Gina Carano, Shana Nelson and Julie Kedzie all in a row. She's recently bounced back with two straight knockouts. Leslie Smith also has the ability to stop fights with her fists. While she doesn't have the experience of Young, she has stepped into the ring against Brandon Vera's wife, Kerry Vera in Bellator a few years back. Smith is very durable and has never been stopped. If the fight stays standing, I think Young should take it for sure. Her kickboxing is terrific and she's capable of knockout out opponents with knees, head kicks and punches. If she's put on her back, that's where her problems arise as she's prone to getting TKO'd via ground and pound or submitted. I think she can keep it standing though. Final Prediction: Kaitlin Young via TKO in round two 115 lbs.: Ashley Cummins (2-0) vs. Sofia Bagherdai (4-1) This is a very interesting bout featuring Cummins, who's one of the best up-and-coming female fighters at 115 pounds and Bagherdai, a former face of the Fatal Femmes Fighting promotion, who hasn't fought in three and a half years. To put Bagherdai's time away from fighting into perspective, Cummins has had 10 amateur fights (all of which she won) and her two professional fights in the time since Bagherdai last fought professionally. Ring rust is definitely a potential issue here. Cummins is very well rounded and she's extremely aggressive. Expect to see her come forward the entire bout whether on the feet or on the ground. She's got solid transitions and good scrambles so if things aren't going her way, she can take it the canvas and work ground strikes or for submissions. Bagherdai should have a striking edge on the feet and potentially a power advantage overall, but she could be in trouble if she's put on her back. She's got to work extra hard to either keep this fight standing or somehow get in top position on the ground as she has some pretty effective ground and pound. Cage rust could be a serious factor in her performance tomorrow night. Final Prediction: Ashley Cummins via decision So what do you think, Maniacs? Will you be checking out the debut of Invicta Fighting Championships this Saturday night? If so, who are you most excited about seeing? Sound off!

Posted in: fight, she, coenen, ruyssen, penne

MMAWeekly Radio Thursday: Jason Ellis, Marloes Coenen and Adam Lynn

MMAWeekly Radio returns with a big show to close out the week including Sirius/XM radio host Jason Ellis, Invicta FC's Marloes Coenen and MFC fighter Adam Lynn joining the show. Retweet this Share on Facebook • Email • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Digg • Technorati • Instapaper • Tumblr • Google Reader • LinkedIn

Posted in: show, radio, jason, coenen, show retweet

Marloes Coenen talks Alistair Overeem and Golden Glory

This Saturday, Marloes Coenen will headline the inaugural Invicta FC 1 in Kansas City. She recently had some things to say concerning her former Golden Glory teammate Alistair Overeem, who was just denied his license to fight by the NSAC. Having been cut by Zuffa following their fallout with Golden Glory last summer, Coenen pulled no punches in her comments, saying the following via mmaweekly.com: “I’m with Golden Glory; so when he calls them bad he indirectly talks bad about me. It makes me

Posted in: glory, alistair, kansas city, coenen, summer coenen

Read the full article at Low Kick

Marloes Coenen believes Ronda Rousey fights with 'fear in her heart' and implies she ducked Cris Cyborg

Number of household items destroyed since I purchased a pair of nunchucks last week: 11. Number of limbs broken since Ronda Rousey has been breaking limbs: 9. Number of fanboy Sherdoggers' hearts broken by Ronda Rousey and Marloes Coenen: 782,096. When we interviewed Marloes Coenen from Amsterdam, our Skype phone ran out of credit. We rushed to throw some money in the account, but we were idiots. Apparently there is a mandatory 15-minute wait before the Skype account is reactivated. We sat there, smacking our foreheads on the verge of a completely failed interview. When the account was reactivated, we called Marloes back and she apologized to us. By some weird, screwed-up universal coincidence, her phone died seconds after our Skype ran out of credit. It was something you would see off a romantic comedy -- except Marloes doesn't like us in that way. When she met us in Chicago prior to her fight against Roxanne Modafferi back in 2009, she actually patted one of our old interviewers on the head, like a Chia pet. In this interview with MMAMania, it's unclear if she there was any head patting involved, but it appears that Marloes Coenen has some choice words for Strikeforce bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey. What it is with Ronda, she's a great judo fighter but what I see with her is the same thing I had in the beginning of my career. I had so much fear in my body that I fought really aggressive and that's the same as with her. Everybody is all "Ohh" and "Ahh" about her and her techniques are really good but I see she's fighting with fear in her heart and she will probably not admit it and won't admit it to herself but I really see the panic. What Ronda does, if I'm correct she has like 50k followers on Twitter and I don't even have 9000 so she has the attention. People want to know stuff about her, want to follow her and that alone will bring a lot of attention to the game. The same goes for Miesha. They have a lot of followers. I'm a different person. They really work with the sexuality and it's not my thing. I know I'm a fighter because the first time I fought Cyborg I didn't give up. The referee stopped it and I really wanted to continue and Cyborg said I was the one that hit the hardest out of all of the girls. Ronda, she dropped and volunteered to go down to 135 because she didn't want to face Cyborg and that says something about your mentality. We're just a couple days away from Marloes Coenen's debut with the all-female promotion, Invicta FC. It's all going to be streamed live on April 28th, so make sure your calendars are cleared and your Palm Pilots are free. Also, if you still have a Palm Pilot then you're definitely on a complex vintage kick that I can't fully comprehend.

Posted in: marloes coenen, cyborg, ronda, marloe, coenen

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Invicta FC's Marloes Coenen Disses Alistair Overeem, Defends Golden Glory

Former Strikeforce women's 135-pound champion Marloes Coenen is in the main event of the first Invicta FC card this weekend (BE will have live coverage), and she's doing the media rounds to promote the card. In an interview with Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Hour, she was asked about UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem and his recent suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. And she didn't hold back at all when talking about the former Golden Glory fighter (transcript via MMA Weekly): "When Alistair got the deal (with the UFC), he abandoned (Golden Glory)," declared Coenen. "He said he wants to surround himself with smart people, but you know what happened yesterday (the NSAC suspension), I don’t know how smart those people are. He said a lot of lies and it was really hurtful for me because I know what happened. "And it makes me look bad because I’m with (Golden Glory). He said they weren’t a good management team, but I know what they did for him. When he lost five fights in a row a long while ago, Martijn de Jong stuck with him and believed in him, and the same goes with the management." The rest of her statement is after the jump, and she even makes reference to a court case Overeem had to deal with in the Netherlands. "When Alistair had a big fight in the Netherlands because he didn’t want to pay 50 cents to the woman that sits at the toilet, it was the Golden Glory team that kept him out of jail. I know so many things they did for him, so when he calls them criminals, it’s not true. "I’m with Golden Glory; so when he calls them bad he indirectly talks bad about me. It makes me look like a person who can’t make good decisions. "If he wants to leave the team, I’m fine with that, he’s a grown man and can make his own decisions. But don’t stab them in the back and make them look bad when they’ve worked so hard for you." Coenen (19-5) meets French fighter Romy Ruyssen (5-1) in the Invicta FC 1 main event. The whole card will be streamed live for free on Invicta's website.

Posted in: overeem, glory, alistair, invicta, coenen

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

With women's game in transition, Invicta FC's Marloes Coenen ready to claim the throne

The landscape of women's MMA has flipped upside down in the last year since Marloes Coenen lost her bantamweight title to Miesha Tate at a Strikeforce show in Illinois. After a dispute between her Golden Glory team and Strikeforce officials, Coenen was cut from the top women's promotion. Tate relinquished the title in her first defense to rising MMA star Ronda Rousey, in arguably the biggest female bout ever in March. But sitting somewhat in the shadows was Coenen, waiting for the right opportunity to return to the spotlight. Now she has that chance.

Posted in: women, bantamweight title, strikeforce show, coenen, womens game

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

Marloes Coenen Takes Former Teammate Alistair Overeem to Task Over Golden Glory

Former Strikeforce bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen is also former teammates with current UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem, and she's not exactly happy with him at the moment. Retweet this Share on Facebook • Email • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Digg • Technorati • Instapaper • Tumblr • Google Reader • LinkedIn

Posted in: alistair, marloes coenen, bull, coenen, moment retweet

Golden girl: Invicta headliner Marloes Coenen interview exclusive with MMAmania.com

Marloes Coenen is hoping to become a trendsetter. The former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion has a long history as one of the most talented and dangerous female fighters on the planet, and she's always been able to back up her talk in the cage. "The Golden Girl of Golden Glory" hasn't fought ever since dropping her title to Miesha Tate last July primarily because of bad luck. First she got caught up in a managerial dispute which led to her release from Strikeforce and by the time it had all been sorted out and Golden Glory fighters were invited back, she was already in discussion with a new promotion. Strikeforce's loss was Invicta Fighting Championships' gain, however, and the all-female promotion scooped Coenen up and signed her to headline the main event of its inaugural show, which takes place this Saturday (April 28, 2012). Coenen will be battling French ground tactician Romy Ruyssen in a rematch from 2008 in which Ruyssen suffered her lone career defeat. The Golden Glory fighter spoke with MMAmania.com about hopefully inspiring more women to fight, leading by example and even why she believes Ronda Rousey still has fear in her heart in this exclusive interview. Check it out: Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You moved to 145 pounds after losing the title. Do you plan to stay at this weight for good? Marloes Coenen: No, no, no. I'm a fighter. I fight with Invicta now and I'm exclusive to them but I'm open to any fight. When I started out, when I became Rings champion, it was open weight and I fought at ~70 which if I'm correct is 155 (pounds), I fought at 145, 135 and if you give me a good fight, I'll take it and make the weight. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You've said that at 145 you feel much more powerful with your strikes, so can you talk about the difference that you feel your fighting style has between the two weights of 145 and 135? Marloes Coenen: It's pretty simple. If you look at Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, Liz Carmouche, Sarah Kaufman, they're all like a head smaller than I was so if I have to make the weight, it's not only fat I have to diet, it's some of my muscle and if you lose muscle, you're less powerful. It's pretty simple. I've really noticed the difference now fighting at 145 and I'm way stronger than they are now. It's a big difference to me, that's how I know it. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Was there any other way that dropping down affected your performance? Like did it affect your conditioning or anything else? Marloes Coenen: Yeah, oh definitely. Every time I made the weight and then fought, I could tell that my body had issues with it especially the last time, but it was also because if I look back at 2011, I fought two times at the weight and in between I traveled a lot. Like really, really a lot. I fought in the beginning of March in 2011 in Ohio and then in the end of March I was in Thailand and from Thailand I went to San Diego and then from San Diego back to The Netherlands and then I had to be less than a month later for UFC Fighter Summit and then I came back and I already had to diet for another fight with Miesha. I didn't take care of my body good enough and I really think it affected me. I didn't realize it at the time but if I look back on it and I see what it has done to my body after the fight then yeah, I should have taken better care of my body. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): After the loss to Miesha Tate, you actually went out to Kansas to train with Eric Akin and Jason High. I want to know a little bit about your time there. How long did you work there and what was the experience like? How much do you feel like you were able to improve? Marloes Coenen: Well, I trained a lot with Eric Akin. Actually, I hardly didn't do any MMA out there because I felt it was way different to what I do in The Netherlands but the wrestling was so amazing. I was like, "Okay, I can do wrestling here and MMA in The Netherlands." Eric Akin is an amazing coach and he really trained with me one on one and taught me stuff. When I go back to The Netherlands, the guys don't move like the guys in the wrestling in Kansas. It's hard to keep up that level what you've learned but I do notice a difference in my game now. My pressure is better and I stay lower, stuff like that. The stuff Eric told me, the basic stuff is still with me. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Do you feel like this added wrestling to your game, is that going to be a big help against your upcoming opponent Romy Ruyssen because she was able to take you down. Marloes Coenen: Yeah, yeah definitely. I always felt like my wrestling was okay but now I know it wasn't. (laughs) I knew the throws and everything like that but wrestling is not just the techniques of throwing, there's so much more to wrestling and I didn't know that. Thanks to Eric, I do know that now and I would love to go to Kansas, stay there for a while again and train there for a long time especially since that's the home of Invicta now. I love wrestling and I think it really benefits me in my fights now. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Ruyssen, she's very good and she's only ever lost to you. Since that loss, she's gone 4-0 and finished all four of her opponents in the first round. How much do you think she's grown since the last time you fought her? Marloes Coenen: Oh, I think she's grown a lot. She's very young also when she fought me so she had a lot of time to progress. I know she's very good in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and gi, she goes to Brazil to compete in fights and I've seen a lot of her fights from after she fought me and I was really impressed with her. She's a dangerous opponent, I know that. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I know that you love striking, so do you feel like with this added wrestling to your game, it will give you a chance to showcase your striking more? You were doing very well in the stand-up against her, it just wasn't for very long. Marloes Coenen: Yeah and she tricked me with it going to the ground and fighting there but I think this time, I really want to beat her standing and then she'll have less energy to take it to the ground. You know, I made her tap out on the ground in the end anyways so I know my ground game is okay and I've made a lot of girls tap on the ground already so really the missing link was wrestling. It isn't good enough yet, I'm not a wrestler, but it's way better than it was. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Can you tell me of the importance of fighting in an all-female event for Invicta Fighting Championships? Marloes Coenen: If there's only two girls on a fight card, people think, "Oh, they're probably freaks of nature," but if you have a full card of girls and also a wide variety of girls, like Liz Carmouche who talks and is a lot different than me, a lot of girls can relate to that and that really helps them to be fans of the sports. I honestly think there are moments in time that define the sport like when Kimura went to Gracie and what I think is Invicta is the next step. My logic works like that but if you want to have mainstream audience, you should give the audience something they can relate to and if you only have very aggressive alpha male dudes, it's hard for girls to relate. If you have a card full of girls, maybe the girls watching can think, "Hey, maybe this is something for me." Maybe she doesn't start training but she can develop a love for the game. That's why I'm so happy with Invicta, that they have the guts to start an all-female card. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Earlier in your career, you competed with Smackgirl in Japan which was also all female fights. What do you think Invicta's done that has built on what those Japanese all-female promotions are doing? Marloes Coenen: I fought for a variety of Japanese promoters but the thing is it's all about timing. When I started out, I thought the market would be better there but in Japan, if a girl is 26 and you're not married, it's almost like you'll never be married. You have to be married before you're 26 so the span of their careers are very short and then they become moms and once you become moms you will not come back to the game anymore. So now, with America and the UFC blowing up really big with the FOX deal and Bully Beatdown on MTV, it's creating this momentum where everybody is more open to it. I also see in my own country. MMA has always been viewed as for people who are insane but now I'm being asked to be in a reality show with celebrities and the mayor of Amsterdam came to my gym to open it. It says something about that the general public is more open to it and our message well. This is what we need if we want to become an accepted sport. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I have a question here from a friend about developing talent in MMA. Men have sports like wrestling which are creating a ton of fighters. What sports do you think women will come from in the future, judo, soccer, what do you see?* Marloes Coenen: Like soccer kicks to the head? (laughs) There are a lot of female wrestlers but what I also see now at my own gym is people are not starting as much from the judo background, muay thai, wrestling or karate, they're starting in MMA. That's what I think will happen with the females. They'll see us fighting, they'll hear about the sport of MMA and they start in the sport of MMA and what I think is the most important thing is gyms open to females. I think gyms should be mixed, not all female gyms because there's a real good synergy with men if they train together. I think the next stuff will come from there. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You've had nearly half your wins come by armbar. How do you stay ahead of your opponent when they're adjusting they're game to beat your submission attempt. Are you forcing them to make bad choices or are you trying to attack at unexpected times?* Marloes Coenen: You know what it is? When people ask me what I'm so good about in fighting, it's my flow. I can strike hard and I know how to throw people and how to put an armbar on the ground but people tell me when they roll with me that they do not notice I put on an armbar until I have it. Everybody knows I'm doing the armbar but they fall for it. Look at Sarah Kaufman. She slammed Roxanne Modafferi for a knockout but from the same position, why could I make her tap? It's kind of natural for me to do it. I'm not like a Nick Diaz who has tons of techniques but the techniques that I do have, I really know how to do them good and I have a really good natural feeling. I think you should drill it a lot and the future will tell me if the girls can defend it or not. It's the same with Ronday [Rousey], you know what she's gonna do, run you into the cage and take you down and she will do that armbar. She even made Miesha Tate tap. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I actually had a question about Ronda, you kind of segued it for me. Ronda has that amazing armbar and she's so good with it even if you know it's coming. Do you feel like that will be an issue for Kaufman because obviously, you were able to hand her her only career loss with an armba? Marloes Coenen: What it is with Ronda, she's a great judo fighter but what I see with her is the same thing I had in the beginning of my career. I had so much fear in my body that I fought really aggressive and that's the same as with her. Everybody is all "Ohh" and "Ahh" about her and her techniques are really good but I see she's fighting with fear in her heart and she will probably not admit it and won't admit it to herself but I really see the panic. I'm very curious what will happen if Sarah can create the distance and make it to the third round because Ronda isn't used to fighting long rounds like that and it's different when you're fighting five minutes in the dojo and when you're fighting in the cage where everybody is looking at you and you have a lot of pressure on you and you have to back up the big mouth and everything. If Sarah can make it to the third round, I'm really curious about what will happen. She just has to punch her hard in the face because Ronda isn't used to that as well. I don't want to take anything away from Ronda. She put on a hell of a fight and she has great techniques but yeah, I want to know what happens if somebody punches her hard in the face and can make it to the third round. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You've said that one of the things that will help women's MMA make it to the mainstream is to have great role models. Do you think that Ronda Rousey is a good role model for women fighters? Marloes Coenen: What Ronda does, if I'm correct she has like 50k followers on Twitter and I don't even have 9000 so she has the attention. People want to know stuff about her, want to follow her and that alone will bring a lot of attention to the game. The same goes for Miesha. They have a lot of followers. I'm a different person. They really work with the sexuality and it's not my thing. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You've talked about how you want one of the last fights of your career to be a rematch against Cyborg. Why do you want that fight again so badly? Is it just to get a bad taste out of your mouth? Marloes Coenen: No, no, no. When I was fighting my first fight in Japan, I was fighting Yuuki Kondo and I broke her arm and gave her a concussion and then in the last fight of her career, she wanted to fight me again. I was like, "Are you crazy?" but now many years later, I understand why. The last fight of my career, I don't care if I win or lose. I just want to have a hell of a fight so I can really close my career as a true fighter. That's what I am. I know I'm a fighter because the first time I fought Cyborg I didn't give up. The referee stopped it and I really wanted to continue and Cyborg said I was the one that hit the hardest out of all of the girls. Ronda, she dropped and volunteered to go down to 135 because she didn't want to face Cyborg and that says something about your mentality. With me and fighting and this is why I like Nick Diaz so much. He's a true fighter. He really backs it up and he can take a punch, he dishes it out and he can do it all. That's the fighter I want to be as well and that's why I want to take on that last fight and go through hell one more time and then I can close my career. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): When you picture victory against Ruyssen in your upcoming main event fight for Invicta, what do you see? In my dream, I will knock her out in the first round. Preferably with a knee. Marloes would like to thank Invicta, her Golden Glory Team (who she says she's still loyal to unlike some "others" and she'll stay there until the end of her career). You can follow her on Twitter @MarloesCoenen. So what do you think, Maniacs? Will Coenen inspire more female fighters? Do you think she has a point about Ronda Rousey? Sound off! *question submitted by Ben Thapa

Posted in: fight, im, mmamaniacom, marloe, coenen

Invicta FC making debut in style with free live stream on April 28

Fans outside of the Kansas City area wondering how to take in next month’s Invicta FC debut now have an answer, at it appears the all-female promotion will stream their much-anticipated first event live through their website with the added bonus of being free! Invicta FC 1 features many of MMA’s top women in action including Marloes Coenen, Jessica Penne, Sarah D’Alelio, Lisa Ellis-Ward, and Liz Carmouche. Things start on InvictaFC.com this April 28 at 8:00 PM EST with twelve total bouts planned for the evening’s action. “The live stream is the best way to give fans, no matter where they are located, the opportunity to participate and take in the action as it unfolds and, at the same time, establish the forthcoming Invicta website as an online destination for women’s MMA content,” explained promotional President Shannon Knapp in a press release. Coenen, a former Strikeforce bantamweight champ, will face 5-1 French submission specialist Romy Ruyssen in the evening’s main event. The 19-5 Coenen is also extremely familiar with high-level groundwork, racking up fourteen of her overall victories by way of tap-out. Read below for the Invicta FC 1 lineup as it stands right now: Jessica Philippus vs. Meghan Wright Ashley Cummins vs. Sofia Bagherdai Mollie Estes vs. Randi Miller Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc vs. Amy Davis Sally Krumdiack vs. Sarah Schneider Sarah Maloy vs. Michele Gutierrez Kaitlin Young vs. Leslie Smith Sarah D’Alelio vs. Shana Nelson Cat Zingano vs. Anita Rodriguez Jessica Penne vs. Lisa Ellis-Ward Liz Carmouche vs. Ashleigh Curry Marloes Coenen vs. Romy Ruyssen PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: vs, fc, sarah, invicta, coenen

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

You know you want to watch this video of Marloes Coenen talking in front of a camera

Whenever I see Marloes Coenen I can’t help but assume she has a royal lineage. Maybe it’s in the cheekbones, I’m not sure. Being against the allegedly god-given or hereditary ruling powers of a monarchy, you would think I’d never root for Marloes but you’d be wrong, how can anyone root against a fighter nicknamed 'he female Rickson?' This article is far too uncertain so far, so I’ll give you something concrete; female MMA bouts will always be the most exciting fights on any card. I’m willing to bet my UFC 138 fight program that Invicta FC 1 will be one of the best collection of fights you will see this year in any promotion because it is an all-female promotion. Pressing play on the video below will allow you to watch Marloes Coenen talk about how she feels about female mixed martial arts, how she got involved with Invicta FC and her next opponent, Romy Ruyssen.

Posted in: fight, marloes coenen, mma bouts, marloe, coenen

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Marloes Coenen Was 'Really, Deeply Hurt' After Loss to Miesha Tate

Former Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen has been through a lot in the last year and a half. First she won the women’s 135-pound title, then lost it to Miesha Tate after defending it once. She was released from her Strikeforce contract during a time of frosty relations between Zuffa and her Golden Glory management team, then verbally committed to BlackEye Promotions, only to later sign an exclusive North American deal with the upstart all-female organization Invicta.Through it all, Coenen told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, she had her mettle thoroughly tested yet again, and now believes she’s emerged stronger for the experience."It never really crossed my mind to quit MMA [after the loss to Tate], but I was hurt," Coenen told Helwani. "I was really, deeply hurt. I really needed some time to be away from my family, from my friends, from my training camp, from the Netherlands. I really recovered in Kansas." Kansas, oddly enough, is where Coenen stayed for three months in the aftermath of the Tate loss and the Strikeforce release. While there, she said, she worked on her wrestling a great deal, but also got a chance to reflect on a career that’s spanned more than a decade, with plenty of ups and downs along the way.At 19, she won the ReMix: World Cup 2000 championship in Japan, fighting three times in one night. She’d come into the event with only one pro MMA fight to her credit, and returned to her home in the Netherlands with a title she wasn’t sure what to do with."I had just started studying at the university," she said. "...It wasn’t that interesting. [MMA] wasn’t my world at the time. Then all of a sudden I became a champion in Japan and I said, well, I’ll quit university and focus on fighting."Shortly thereafter, the women’s MMA scene in Japan began to decline, and Coenen’s family pressured her to go back to school. They also encouraged her to give up fighting and focus on something resembling a more normal career for a Dutch woman."There were so many points in my life where my parents told me I had to quit. Come on, Marloes, focus on something else, because it will not work out with fighting. At a certain point I started to believe that as well, then Strikeforce came and my world changed again."After splitting her first two fights in Strikeforce -- a submission win over Roxanne Modafferi in her debut, followed by a TKO loss to 145-pound champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in her next fight -- she became the 135-pound champion with a submission win over the previously unbeaten Sarah Kaufman. Coenen couldn’t have known then that she’d be out of a job after just two more fights."I made a lot of sacrifices in my life, prior to when I went to Strikeforce," Coenen said. "Those things really helped build who I am."Women’s MMA is in a very different place now than it was when she found it, Coenen admitted, but she thinks the time is right for Invicta’s all-female approach, and expects that she’ll be proven right when the organization rolls out its debut event in Kansas City on April 28 -- a card that Coenen will headline in a rematch with Romy Ruyssen.Though Coenen said she’s always tried to be a role model for young girls in and out of the cage, a recent run-in with a different type of fan convinced her that the demographic for women’s MMA might be bigger than many realize."In the supermarket this woman came up to me, like a mom with three kids. ...She said to me, ‘Oh, I saw your TV show, and you really inspired me.’ I was like, huh? I inspired you? That proves to me that there’s this audience we do not hear of, they don’t go onto the forums, but they do want watch female fighting because it’s a big empowerment for women."For now, the 30-year-old Coenen will only say that she has "a few more years" left in MMA, but before she goes she has one specific goal in mind."I want to end my career fighting Cyborg," she said. "All my fights up to that will lead up to that."And even after news of Santos’ positive steroid test and subsequent suspension, Coenen refused to pile on the criticism of the recently stripped champion, explaining "that when an opponent is down, you don’t kick them."Then again, after feeling Santos’ strength, it’s not as if she was surprised to hear the news, Coenen added."I was in the cage with her, and believe me, I couldn’t understand that she really could hit that hard. I always thought that I really hit hard and I’m tough, but when I was in the cage with her, it was on another level."While many people might be upset to learn that the hard blows they took might have been the result of a juiced up physique, Coenen offered another, somewhat surprising take."I really like Cyborg, and I deeply respect her as well. Even after she got caught, it tells also that she really wants to do everything she can to win. That says something about her mindset, and that sort of mindset I can respect."

Posted in: mma, time, strikeforce, loss, coenen

Invicta FC 1 - Marloes Coenen Vs Romy Ruyssen - Main Card Picks and Predictions: A Fan's View (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

The long-awaited rematch between featherweight standouts Marloes Coenen (19-5) and Romy Ruyssen (5-1) headlines the first ever I nvicta Fighting Championships card on April 28 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS. "The time has come for a platform dedicated exclusively to...

Posted in: memorial hall, longawaited rematch, coenen, championships card, i nvicta

Read the full article at Yahoo! Sports

The MMA Hour - Episode 122 - Marloes Coenen

Posted in: mma, hour, episode, marloe, coenen

Strikeforce Results: Tate vs. Rousey

Let's just say this up front: picking Ronda Rousey to beat Miesha Tate is a leap of faith. After all, what exactly do we know about Rousey the mixed martial artist? Sure, she is 4-0, but her fights combined have lasted little over two minutes. She's spent next to no time standing up and little time on the ground for that matter, her lighting quick arm bar transitions causing frantic taps. Rousey herself has even played up the mystery, acknowledging that the less Tate knows about her skills, the better. What we do know is that she is a killer, a fearless assassin who has shown no fear inside or outside of the cage. On the other hand, she's never faced anyone with the experience level of Strikeforce bantamweight champ Tate. That makes their Saturday night main event fight more of a guessing game than usual when it comes to predicting a winner. Rousey (4-0) comes in as a nearly 3-to-1 favorite to unseat Tate and that's based solely off of her ability to put the fight where she wants it and finish. Unlike some of her other opponents, Tate (12-2) has a wrestling background, and according to FightMetric, has never been taken down in her six Strikeforce fights.That's a stat that will be tested on Saturday. Will Rousey be able to pull off the trick? She's done it in every other fight, either with brute force or through judo technique. Given her background as an international judo competitor, you have to believe that anytime the fight gets in close quarters, Tate is going to be in danger of finding herself on the mat.In her most recent fight against Julia Budd for example, Rousey jabbed her way in close, got a hold of Budd and tried a hip throw. Budd was ready for it and kept her weight back. From years in judo, Rousey has a perfect understanding of leverage, and simply readjusted, using Budd's backwards force to push her down to the mat. Within seconds, it was game over. It's been the same sort of plan for every fight, Rousey quickly jabbing her opponent backwards as a means of getting a grip on them. She shows no fear of return fire from the woman standing across from her, but she hasn't show any polish as a striker, either. She certainly excels in the clinch, and that's going to be an area of concern for Tate. Given Tate's background as a wrestler, it will be interesting to see if she is more interested in keeping the fight standing up or has faith in her submission defense. Tate historically has good ground and pound, but as we've seen from Rousey, she has no problem working from the bottom and attacking there.The matchup problem for Tate comes in the fact that she's proven to be a fighter who likes to work her opponent against the fence, put them on their back and work from the top. Does that sound like a matchup tailor-made for Rousey? So it becomes a question of whether Tate willl adjust and choose to jab, use footwork and look to keep Rousey at distance, or fight her normal fight.Against Marloes Coenen, Tate showed a decent jab and a straight right hand behind it, but spent most of the fight using those to walk into a clinch. One thing that must be noted is that Tate found herself in a series of troubling spots on the ground against Coenen. In the first round, she worked her way out of a first-round anaconda. In the second, Coenen took her back, hooked on a body triangle and worked for a rear naked choke. She also used the position to mount her from the back and land strikes from the top. That Tate escaped the positions is a testament to her toughness, but Rousey is a bigger and stronger opponent than Coenen, and if she gets those positions, the possibilities of escaping will be slimmer.Because this could potentially be a five-round fight, the conditioning edge must go to Tate. Against Coenen, she looked strong into the championship rounds, sinking in a fourth-round arm triangle choke to win. It's also Rousey's debut at the lower 135-pound weight class, and we don't know how the cut will effect her conditioning.Of course, even that is speculative. So much of Rousey's game is still a mystery that it's impossible to know how good she really is. We do know that many of Tate's best qualities play into what Rousey does best. And so that's enough to guess that Rousey will get the fight to the ground and again win by submission. Given Tate's experience and toughness, it's not going to take her less than one minute, like all of her other fights. She will be tested, and maybe we'll learn something more about her. But a trend is a trend, so Rousey by arm bar.

Posted in: fight, ground, tate, rousey, coenen

History in the Making: Miesha Tate wins Strikeforce gold with rare submission of Marloes Coenen

Since signing with Strikeforce in 2008, Miesha Tate has only tasted defeat once. Five times she has had her hand raised at the end of the bout with two of those wins coming in the same evening. Amidst the cool Arizona summer night, "Takedown" bested two fighters in Aug. 2010 to earn a shot at the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion's 135-pound title. It would be nearly a year before she stepped inside the cage to make the challenge, but when she finally did, she made it count. Over the course of four rounds, she used her wrestling abilities to take control of the bout before ending the fight with an impressive submission. We'll take a closer look at the bout, a fantastic back and forth with Marloes Coenen that saw "Rumina" get submitted for the first time in her 24 fight career, as we prepare for tonight's (Mar. 3, 2012) Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" card. "Takedown" is set to make her first title defense against a rocketing prospect in "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey. Many are predicting the end of Tate's reign tonight. Many also incorrectly predicted there wouldn't be a reign to begin with. Let's dive right into Tate's incredible performance against "Rumina." Tate opens up with a leg kick before clinching up and bullying the champion against the cage. Coenen defends against the takedown attempt and Tate busts out some old school Marco Ruas foot stomps. "Rumina" desperately tries to create distance but "Takedown" more than lives up to her moniker as she is relentless in trying to get the fight to the mat. Coenen is the champ for a reason and soon works her way off the chain-link. A hook from "Rumina" catches the challenger who responds with a nice straight. They clinch for a second time and Coenen makes use of her Golden Glory training by latching onto a Thai clinch and delivering a knee to Tate's face. "Takedown" grabs the leg and drives the champion against the cage and finally onto the mat. From there, Coenen sinks in what appears to be a pretty deep modified guillotine choke. Tate avoids being submitted and pops her head out, transitioning quickly to sidemount. Not much action aside from the dominant grappling display from Tate. While some would decry her lack of offense, a five-round championship fight is often a marathon, not a sprint. Rather than expend her own energy in the opening round, "Takedown" seems content to make the champion get tired by trying to get back to her feet. A quick exchange to start the second round and Tate once again immediately clinches her opponent. While "Takedown" struggles to get the champion to the canvas, Coenen delivers solid knees to the challenger's body and thighs. Latched onto a single leg, Tate spins Coenen around but the balance of the champion is strong enough to turn the takedown around in her favor. "Rumina" takes her opponent's back and begins snaking her arm around Tate's neck. "Takedown" defends against the submission but is unable to keep Coenen from raining down punches from behind. With a minute left to go, the Golden Glory fighter flattens Tate out and drops huge punches. The horn sounds with "Rumina" still glued to her opponent's back as she had been nearly the entire five minute period. The champion begins to pepper Tate with leg kicks as the third round opens. "Takedown" times one perfectly and drops Coenen to her back. From there, Tate uses her wrestling prowess to smother her opponent, barely allowing even an inch of space between them. Unfortunately for the challenger, her offense is lacking enough the referee calls for a stand-up. It barely matters as the Team Alpha Male product secures a second takedown, dropping Coenen against the cage to pretty much end the round. The champion is able to sweep her challenger at the last second but the horn sounds before anything can come of the reversal of position. The first of two scheduled championship rounds begins unlike any of the others as the two combatants stay standing and opt to engage in striking exchanges. For the first minute, Coenen and Tate trade punches and kicks before "Takedown" does exactly that and once again gets the champion to the mat. "Rumina" threatens with a guillotine choke but Tate's position on top makes it basically impossible to fully sink in the submission. Tate transitions to sidemount and begins dropping short elbows while jockeying for position. She works towards controlling her opponent's head and arm but in a brilliant display of diversion, puts her knee on Coenen's stomach to make the champion think Tate is working towards getting full mount. Instead, she slides over and locks in a tight arm triangle choke. With three quick taps, "Rumina" loses the fight and her belt. It's been over six months since Tate's incredible victory that night. And while she won the title from a soft-spoken experienced veteran, she makes her first defense against a brash, outspoken newcomer in Rousey. The judoka has four victories to her name with each coming via armbar. Will "Rowdy" add a fifth arm -- and a title -- to her collection tonight in Columbus? Or will "Takedown" derail Rousey's hype train?

Posted in: takedown, champion, tate, coenen, rumina

Main Event Breakdown: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey

Posted in: fight, ground, tate, rousey, coenen