Marloes Coenen is rebounding nicely from her TKO loss against Cris “Cyborg” Santos at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30, 2010. Coenen is scheduled to fight Sarah Kaufman for the women’s Strikeforce Welterweight Title at Strikeforce: San Jose on Oct. 9th at the HP Pavilion. This will be her second straight title fight in two different weight divisions.
It appears that Strikeforce is very fond of Coenen. Who can blame them? Coenen is exciting to watch because she’s always looking to finish a fight. Only four of her twenty-one fights have gone to a decision.
Coenen started training at Shooto Holland at the age of fourteen under coach and current manager Martijn De Jong. He is not surprised by Coenen’s success.
“When Marloes entered my academy 15 years ago, she was a little bit shy and was only training recreationally. Only after two years, she started really to enjoy the training and even started to be more competitive! Only a year later I asked her to fight in the first Amateur Shooto event ever to be held in Europe and she agreed (it was an event organized by myself). She fought and broke her opponent’s nose and armbarred her within one minute of the first round.. A star was born!!”
I hope you enjoy the interview.
Ben Cord: Marloes, you’re fighting for the belt on Oct. 9th against undefeated Sarah Kaufman. What are your thoughts on Kaufman
Marloes Coenen: She is very talented and a worthy champion.
Ben Cord: Although Kaufman has a purple belt in BJJ, I don’t see this one going to the ground. She is 12-0 with 9 KOs and no submissions. Do you see this as a stand up brawl?
Marloes Coenen:This is my second shot on a Strikeforce belt. And I will do what it takes to get it. So if it is on the ground or standing it won´t matter to me. My gameplan is top secret 
Ben Cord: You’ve never fought at 135. Will the weight cut be a challenge for you or do you feel that you will be stronger at this weight?
Marloes Coenen: Scott asked me to fight for the title, that is the reason why I dropped. I think I will be quite strong at 135 because I feel already strong at 145. Andrew and Rinus from Andrew´s Gym and Rhino Gym work with people like Alistair Overeem, Gohkan Saki and Siyar Bahadurzada. And now also with me and they know what they are doing. So I feel confident.
Ben Cord: The winner of this fight gets to defend the title against the current Welterweight tournament champ Miesha Tate. Miesha is getting better each time we see her fight. How do you feel you match up against Miesha?
Marloes Coenen: I think Sarah will be harder to fight than Miesha, to be honest. Her grappling is amazing (she wrestled with guys in high school right?) but her stand up is not.
Ben Cord: You’ve avenged your loss against Roxanne Modaferri. Would you like to do the same against Cris “Cyborg” Santos and Erin Toughhill? Erin might be a long shot because she doesn’t seem to ever make weight.
Marloes Coenen: That is nothing new. When I fought Erin she was at least 22lbs heavier than me. And that is years ago!
And yes I would like to fight both of them again, I think as a fighter you always want to make up for losses. And for the record I made Roxanne tap too in our first fight, we shook hands and she congratulated me with the win. And I was pretty sick too during the fight, all of a sudden we had to continue. Not too weird considering that the referee and the judges where from her gym. That was why I really wanted to fight her again. I’m now fine with it.
Ben Cord: Not too many people know that you had a contract with EliteXC. Why weren’t they able to set up a fight for you? Was there at least a rumored bout?
Marloes Coenen: Well my contract was signed and then the organisation went bankrupt. I cannot remember that I had a fight already..but that is something my trainer knows better than me as I always forget a lot of things. Not from all the blows to the head, I have been like this since little.
Ben Cord: Scott Coker has done amazing things for women’s MMA at Strikeforce. However, Dana White doesn’t believe women belong in the UFC. What would you say to him to change his mind?
Marloes Coenen: Strikeforce´s success will change his mind.
Ben Cord: Women’s MMA is definitely growing in the United States. Why hasn’t it been embraced in Europe?
Marloes Coenen: I can only speak for the Netherlands because there is a big cultural difference between the European countries.
In the US, Japan, Russia, Korea and so on fighting = culture. Like the wrestling teams in the US. In the Netherlands the number one sport is soccer, followed by field hockey and tennis. Fighting is considered low culture, people do not understand it. They do not have the ability, due a lack of knowledge, to see MMA for what it is..a sport played by athletes.
Add to that the fact that people like to see women as non violent, weak fuzzy/sexy creatures. That makes women in MMA a freak show for the general public who cannot understand MMA in the first place. Though, on a personal level I have only positive experiences. People who find out that I am a fighter are in shock and very enthusiastic. They want to know everything. I cannot go to a party or birthday with friends and family without them asking me about it.
Ben Cord: Your grandfather took up Jiu Jitsu many years ago. Did he inspire you to become a fighter?
Marloes Coenen: Yes, during the war he was in the underground and taught people to beat up the Dutch working for the occupier. I remember him always watching boxing on television when I was a little girl. And teaching me what I should do in a fight; how to protect my eyes. It wasn’t the best technique looking back on it.
But it are actually my brothers who inspired me. I have two older brothers and they were (my oldest brother mostly) always practicing their karate kicks, smashing stones through stuff like that. So when I wanted to learn who to defend myself it was my second brother who took me to my first class.
Ben Cord: Do you still plan on fighting on the Ultimate Glory card on Oct. 16th in Amsterdam? You realize that’s only a week after the Kaufman fight right? You must plan on ending it quick!
Marloes Coenen: Of course I realize that. I focus first on the Kaufman-fight and then I will think about the second fight. GLORY is very important to me as it is a really good card to be on it is broadcasted worldwide and it is the show of my trainer Martijn de Jong. Many of my Golden Glory-team mates have to fight there too, that is a cool feeling. Last year I had to cancel it because of the Modaferri-fight. This year I do not want to miss it. Besides, Gohkan Saki is fighting also the week before in Korea in the K1. I’m not an exception.
Ben Cord: Marloes, thanks for taking time out of training to do this interview. I appreciate it!
Marloes Coenen Thank you too Ben!
