Marloes Coenen is a Dutch mixed martial artist. She has competed professionally since 2000 and is a former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion. Coenen is currently the #2-ranked 145-pound female MMA fighter in the world according to the Unified Women’s MMA Rankings.
Coenen’s brothers and grandfather were both involved in martial arts, with the latter having trained in jiu-jitsu, and this aided Coenen with her own transition into the sport. She began training with Pierre Drachman and Martijn de Jong at Shooto Holland while only 14, who recalls that, “I really had respect for that, because it didn’t matter if it rained or snowed. She still kept on coming.” She started martial arts training because she had to bicycle alone through a lonely part of the forest to and from school, and she had heard rumors that there were “dirty men in the forest” who preyed on girls. Along with her competitive career, Coenen is planning to study Communications Sciences in Amsterdam with a goal of future employment in that sector.
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. On October 27, 2009 Coenen competed on the card in a rematch against Roxanne Modafferi. She defeated Modafferi by armbar submission in the first round. Coenen faced Sarah Kaufman for the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship on October 9, 2010 in San Jose, California. Coenen won the fight by submission due to an armbar in the third round to become Women’s Bantamweight Champion (135 lbs).
Coenen was scheduled to defend her Strikeforce title against Miesha Tate at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson on March 5, 2011. Tate was forced off the card due to injury. Liz Carmouche stepped in on short notice to face Coenen for the title. Coenen defeated Carmouche via triangle choke in the fourth round.
She instead signed on as the first contracted athlete to Invicta Fighting Championships. Coenen returned to 145 pounds to headline the first all-female Invicta Fighting Championships card against Romy Ruyssen on April 28, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. She defeated Ruyssen by unanimous decision. Coenen faced Fiona Muxlow at Dream 18 on December 31, 2012. She defeated Muxlow by armbar submission in the first round. In August 2014, it was announced that Bellator had signed Marloes Coenen along with Julia Budd. Coenen made her debut against Annalisa Bucci on October 24, 2014 at Bellator 130. She won the fight via submission in the third round.
Achievements of Marloes Coenen
- Dutch Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion
- 2000 ReMix World Cup Champion
- Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion (October 9, 2010)
- 2007 ADCC Bronze – Women’s Under 67KG
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Marloes Coenen is a Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion. She is ranked No. 2 in 145-pound female MMA fighter in the world. She is in conversation with Namita Nayyar President Women Fitness.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Your brother and grandfather were both involved in martial arts, that led you to make your career in this sport. When you were 14 years of age you were trained with Martijn de Jong at Shooto Holland. You reached the pinnacle of success when you won the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion on October 9, 2010. Tell us about your journey that took you to where you are now in the world of being a women mixed martial art fighter? What factors you consider were responsible that made you
achieve that?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
As a young girl I had to bicycle to school at age 12. Because my friends had different schedules I often had to go by myself. It was partially through a ‘forest’. Quite scary at 7AM & dark, as a young girl. It is still scary today! I wanted to learn how to defend myself. Up to then I only did tennis and played volleyball. My brother Rob brought me to a karate school as kickboxing was too according my parents. I didn’t like it because they only did kata’s.
The class after I saw men training on the ground. Which was weird at first but I was sold after the first class. That was with Martijn who is still my head coach today (I never trained at Pierre Drachman, by the way.). After a few years he stared with MMA and also fought in Japan. The Shooto people asked him to launch Shooto Europe. So he did. At the first event, I was 18, I fought and broke the nose of the girl plus armbarred her under 30 seconds.
Someone in the public saw this and when he was asked for a replacement girl in Japan, he thought of me. I was 19 by the time and just started Arts- and Culture sciences at the University of Rotterdam. Well to cut a long story short, I won. Impressively. Hit her to the ground & armbarred her. Someone in the audience saw that and a week later I was invited to fight at the open weight world champion ships in Tokyo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0gapujbtLQ Surprisingly I won the tournament and became, as a teenager, world champion for the first time.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Elaborate on your spectacular achievement of winning the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship by defeating Sarah Kaufman on October 9, 2010 at San Jose, California, United States?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
It was 10 years after my first title. A lot has happened. The fight scene for women in Japan collapsed, America became an emerging MMA market and I had started working as a marketer when Gina Carano paved the way in Pro Elite. I signed with them and then they went bankrupt. Fortunately Strikeforce and Scott Cocker came along and they signed me.
I was actually a replacement for the Carano vs Cyborg fight in case one of the girls didn’t make weight. My second fight in Strikeforce was against Cyborg for the world title. The organization asked me to drop a weight class after this fight and offered me again a world title fight. against Sarah Kaufmann. After fighting Cyborg I didn’t cared who I would face next. Certainly not at a lower weight. But I didn’t realized what cutting weight would do to my exhausted body (I was overtrained for years but didn’t knew.). Let me say this, the fight was the easiest part of the journey.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
On October 24, 2014 in Mulvane, Kansas, United States you defeated Annalisa Bucci in the event Bellator 130. Tell us about this winning fight and how did you feel on the winning the bout?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
I didn’t fight for 15 year because Invicta wasn’t offering me a fight. So I was really eager to get into the cage. A bit too eager. I won, also on a submission, but it shouldn’t have gone out the 1st round. I was sloppy because I wanted to finish it so quickly and didn’t feel threatened in any way. So I took more risks, went to the guard (thinking I would finished it in seconds) and became more frustrated during the fight. In the end I choked her out with a single arm, weirdest choke ever. It is an honor to be the first main card fight for women in Bellator again. And with Scott Cocker as a CEO I see many great things happening in the near future.
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Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You possess an exceptional fighter physique. What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine you shall like to share?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
I co-own R-Grip gym in Amsterdam where we design our own schedule. That is awesome. My partner is an old Taekwondo fighter and MMA-veteran who was a gymnastic teacher before. Twice a week we offer a circuit training (15×1 minute 3 rounds) which focuses on strength and endurance for fighters. Core stability, coordination are also included. They are basic fitness exercises combined with kicking a bag for a minute or lift the knees and punch with weights in your hands for a minute. But also squats and pull ups are included. He changes the regime every few weeks. Also I do padwork, train with the group in MMA, grappling, boxing and thaiboxing and also work the big muscle groups (squatting with the Olympic halter for instance.).
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Do you take some special diet or have a strict menu that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
Yes. I get fat easily. Lots of veggies is key. I have read a lot; books from why no wheat, raw food bibles, to ‘nourishing traditions’. It’s all so contradicting! The China Study says no meat but gets slammed for by other ‘professors’. I have had a, in the Netherlands well known, nutritionist (mr. van der Zeijden) so I learned the basics from him.
Now I do my own thing. I do eat meat, also eggs (yolk too and only liquid) but am hooked on veggies and love fermented things (I make my own water kefir, for instance.). I eat cheese (which is sooo not allowed by many) but only from raw milk. After having dieted so hardcore and found out the side effects I know one thing and that is to care good for your body. No sugar but sometimes you need it, so take it. Better to use organice raw honey than a snicker. In general I skip everything cooked in a fabric except for tomato sauce. 😉
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Advice and motivational words to the inspiring and budding mixed martial artist girls who all are your fans, they shall like to know from you, what they should do for their climb to ladder of success in field of women mixed martial art professional fighting?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
- Find a gym where they treat each other and you with respect.
- Start training for 2-3 months 2-3x a week. Never skip a class.
- After this period, evaluate. Did you become better? Was it fun? Lost some weight? What are goals you can set?
- If the outcome of point 3 is positive, continue. Have fun and success will come.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You must had your share of injuries during professional fights. How you were able to overcome such a physical injury/setback and what advice you can give to fellow fighter person in a similar situation?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
I had some cuts and broke a finger during fights. But the most injuries are from training. As long as ou enjoy the workout, injuries are no bottleneck. When I overstretched my arm big time, we taped it so I couldn’t used it during boxing with one arm. That one arm got trained well. With inventive thinking a set back can be transformed into a benefit somehow.
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Ms. Namita Nayyar:
On December 5, 2000 in Nippon Budokan, Japan you defeated Becky Levi and Mika Harigai to win the 2000 ReMix World Cup Championship Title. Tell us about this achievement of yours?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
..and Megumi Fuji too. It was crazy. No weight classes form little Megumi (50kg) to Gundarenko (150kg) it was the Wild West in MMA. But it was fun. Those days will never come back. For a good reason. I was 19 years old, just started University had my first fight in Japan 1-2 weeks prior. I felt ;iek Alice in Wonderland. After Becky I thought I would walk over the little Megumi. Boy, I was in for a treat! At a certain point I could kick her in the face after I had punched her and she was suffering from it. But felt sorry for her and let her recover. Big mistake. I was exhausted and she kept throwing me around the ring for 15 minutes! The lesson I learned was to never pity anyone in the cage ever again.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Who has been your greatest influencer and motivator in your success in the field of your career in competitive women mixed martial art professional fighting?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
Ramon Dekkers. Killer in the ring and outside humble and kind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSn_6ISLxBI
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
What you wish to say about the website Womenfitness.net and message for its visitors?
Ms. Marloes Coenen:
We women are taught to be fragile, non conflicting and must think of an other before helping ourselves. As a fighter I do a ‘man’s job’. There are two things that I have learned over the years.
1. Women are way more stronger in physique and mind, than they think. We are lionesses thought to be sheeps! MMA, kickboxing are perfect tools to discover your inner strength.
NO need for sparring if that scares you. Working the pads can be enough. It’s about learning to release and energy that you are not taught to release. It’s liberating, trust me.
Empower yourself by martial arts.
2. Men and women are both humans. Think or yourself as a human first and then you find out that we are way more alike than different than men. We are raised differently. On the other hand, you can learn a lot of the ‘masculine behavioural’. For instance, woman talk – men do, right? But there is actually a lot of power and know how in ‘doing’ things together. Working out, going to the hammam, preparing dinner. Try it and enjoy.
At last: “Things you focus on, become bigger. So make them positive.”
Women Fitness Team thanks Marloes Coenen for giving her valuable time for this interview and quenching the thirst of her fans to know more about her and made this interview happen.
To know more about Marloes Coenen, check out at: http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Marloes-Coenen-4232
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All content on this site is copyright of Women Finess and no part of any article found on this site may be reproduced without an express permission and highlighted, do follow link crediting http://www.womenfitness.net/ or preferably the original page as the source. This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.