Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen, will be competing for another world title, as she is scheduled to face off with Julia Budd at Bellator 174 for the inaugural women’s featherweight championship. Before her March 3rd date with destiny, Coenen caught up with Bloody Elbow to assess her upcoming opponent, discuss Cyborg vs. Germaine de Randamie, and to forecast the future landscape of MMA.
Funky sub of Annalisa Bucci at Bellator 141:
“That fight was awful. I wanted to finish that fight in the first round, but I was puking in the locker room. I was really afraid that I would puke in the cage, so I had to take my pace down. That choke, it just happens. Then I later realized, I do tap out people more on it. I think you have two types of fighters; you have the very analytical fighters, and you have the intuitive fighters. I’m the second, the intuitive fighter, and then things just happen in the moment. I’ve often had stuff like that. When I’m in the moment, I think I’m most dangerous, and that’s when the choke happened.”
Willing to give up top position in search of subs:
“It’s the way I’m trained because I think if you step into a cage, and you’re willing to win on points, you don’t have the right mindset. It’s KO or submission, nothing else. When I’m fighting, I always go for the submi-, okay I always go for the KO but I never do that, haha somehow. So then, second best is submission, so when I have to win on points, it to me feels like losing. You know Rumina Sato, of course, and I’m very much inspired by him and his Shooto style. I can remember when I was a young girl, we had video tapes, you know there was no internet. I was so impressed by him and very inspired, and I love the Japanese way of fighting because they always go for the kill.”
Alexis Dufresne missing weight at Bellator 155:
“I made the weight. I did the whole cutting process and everything. Then she comes to me very sheepish and she said, ‘yeah, I had a child. I didn’t make weight.’ But it was the third time in the row. I’m very happy for her; she became a mother, but that also tells me, she knew up front she wouldn’t make weight... If she had said it before like, ‘ok, I just had a baby. I cannot make 145; let’s do 150.’ Fine, no problem. Let’s do that... I think it’s very disrespectful, not only to me, but to Bellator.”
Takeaway from first round loss to Dufresne:
“The first time when Ronda lost, I was like, ‘well, she had it coming.’ The second time, I could feel her pain. I think I grew as a person from it. If you truly lose on a stage, it’s a vulnerable thing. Everybody’s tough, fighters this, fighters are so tough, but it’s a very vulnerable thing. If you lose in front of all those people, and then they can replay it and replay it and comment on it and everything. So, yeah, I hated that I lost. I know I’m a better fighter than Dufresne. It was my own fault... Good for her, she did a good job. I know why I lost, but I truly lost, and I learned a lot from it. I think as a human, I grew from it.”
Rematch?
“I wanted to fight her straight away and I told Bellator that as well. Then, she refused to fight me because she only wants to fight me for the belt. I’m like, ‘what kind of wanker are you?’ If you want to fight, you want to fight. You fight a person until they don’t want to fight you anymore. She has this lousy record, and she doesn’t make weight three times in a row, and thinks she can command people, organizations. She’s just not respectful. So no, I have no respect for her at all.”
You were to face Talita Nogueira at Bellator 163 before she failed to make weight. Did the Dufresne fight have anything to do with you not taking another impromptu catchweight tilt?
“Yeah because, you know, I have the feeling that a lot of girls are afraid of me in the cage so they want to bring in a lot of weight. They maybe have trainers that don’t realize that women don’t cut that much weight as easily as men do. I think that happened with Dufresne and I think that happened with Talita. I know Julia will make weight, she’s a professional...”
“The first thing that went through my mind, like instantly, was like, ‘f—k it, I’m not going to do it again.’ I think you have to send out a message. What if I would have taken the fight? I would have fought her; she would have been 15 pounds heavier. It’s the same thing that Alexis does. She’s like, ‘I won; I won.’ No, you were too fat, you didn’t make weight, and then you won... If you sign a contract two-months in advance, you know you have to make weight, you have to be on weight. It’s not my fault if you don’t make weight, so I wanted to send out a message.”
Assessing Bellator 174 opponent Julia Budd:
“I saw her fight with Arlene Blencowe, and it was completely different from my fight with Arlene Blencowe. I think Arlene also had a lot of injuries, and she didn’t have too good of a training camp, so that tells me enough about Julia. I think she’s very strong; she has good cardio. I don’t know if her mental game is that strong because she refused to fight Cyborg; I believe it was in Strikeforce or in Invicta. That tells me something. She pulled out twice for our fights, because I wanted to fight her in January. She said, ‘no no, I cannot make it until March...’
“So that tells me a little about her mental game, but she’s tough. I know I’m in for a very tough fight, and I’m prepared. I don’t think her standup is as good as mine. I don’t think her ground is as good as mine. The wrestling, it will be very interesting. She has a really good wrestling game, especially against the cage.
You have fought names like Miesha Tate, Liz Carmouche, Sarah Kauffman, and Cyborg twice. Does Budd bring anything to the table that you haven’t seen before?
“That’s a good question. No actually. No.”
Budd has fought Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey, and Germaine de Randamie, but that was early on in her career. Is this the right time for Budd to face Marloes Coenen?
“It’s never the right time, haha. I really want the belt. you have no idea.”
Why does Budd seem to shy away from the standup?
“Well, she’s a Thai Boxer from origins, so you would expect her to stand and trade. I have no idea, maybe it’s a lack of confidence. I really have no idea. I saw her fighting against another girl in Bellator, and then in between rounds, her coach told her, ‘keep it standing. Keep it on the feet,’ and she didn’t do it. So, you should ask her that question, haha.”
Training camp in Amsterdam:
“This training camp, and the previous training camp, I’ve been training with Roemer [Trompert] at my own gym, R-Grip in Amsterdam. It’s going fantastic. A few weeks ahead of schedule. I have so much energy and I’m feeling really confident, but I won’t be too cocky, haha. I will not make that mistake again. You will see a Marloes who is very very focused. I will not underestimate Julia. She is a really dangerous fighter. It will be a tough a fight, but I also know I will win.
Do you have any relationship with the UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie?
“No because she was always a Thai Boxer in the Netherlands, and I was always an MMA fighter. A few years ago, she transferred to MMA. We wanted to train together, but my then coach didn’t want me to do it, because he wanted me to fight her first. He told me that her training center, or she didn’t want to fight me or something, and it never happened. There was a point around 2009 when I really wanted to train with her because she’s such an amazing standup fighter. So, I’m really happy she won the belt.”
Who wins in a fight between Germaine de Randamie and Marloes Coenen?
“It’s me. To me, that’s a no brainer because she’s not well rounded like I am. I’ve seen her other fights in the UFC; she cannot grapple like I can. She is a more experienced Thai Boxer, but there’s a difference in MMA standup fighting and Thai Boxing fighting. So, to me thats a no brainer. But still, I’m happy for her because she’s a really good ambassador role here in the Netherlands for MMA. So, it’s fantastic.”
Why do so many fighters seem to duck Cyborg?
“I don’t think Germaine is afraid of Cyborg at all. I don’t think that. I think she’s the better standup fighter, too. Cyborg fought a Thai boxing fight against Jorina Baars, Dutch Thai Boxing champion, and she lost. The first time I fought Cyborg, I think she was in her prime. I like Cyborg a lot by the way. I think she’s a nice woman. It really felt like someone was throwing bricks at me... All the women see her beat up other women within one round, and I just think they’re afraid for the pain. I noticed this featherweight champion in Invicta, I forgot her name [Megan Anderson], and I want to see her fight a few more fights, and then I want to see her fight Cyborg. I think she will be the new champion in a few years.”
Would you pick Cyborg to beat GDR?
“Yeah, I think Germaine is not an MMA fighter like Cyborg is. Cyborg, her ground game and grappling is way better, but I don’t think Germaine is afraid of her standup, at all. Germaine is a really really really good standup fighter, and she hits really really hard. Don’t underestimate her.”
You have been in the game since 2000, what does the future hold for MMA?
“What’s happening now, I expected it five years ago. With the women and so on. I think it will be way more mainstream. I see it happening here in the Netherlands. All of the sudden, fighters are interesting. Just like “Dancing With the Stars” with Paige VanZant, stuff like that is happening in the Netherlands now, too. I think the fighters will make more money. I think there will be a fighter union. I think we will be just more professional like the other American sports are... I see a very very bright future with a lot stars, and also a lot of female stars in the game, and it makes my heart very happy.”
Check out Bellator 174 to catch MMA pioneer Marloes Coenen take on Julia Budd for the promotion’s inaugural women’s featherweight title on March 3, 2017. The event will be taking place at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma, and will air live on Spike TV. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for all of your UFC event coverage including interviews, play-by-play, highlights, and more!