Tag: marloes coenen

Bellator 130 Fail-GIF: Bobby Lashley’s Opponent Flops to Mat, Loses

(Props: ZombieProphet)

We know that some of you think we’re die-hard Bellator haters, simply because we have no problem calling a garbage show a garbage show. But believe us, we don’t go out looking for ways to embarrass America’s #2 MMA promotion — this stuff just has a way of finding us.

Like tonight at Bellator 130, for example. We were prepared to give Bobby Lashley a respectful pat on the back for running through his fifth consecutive non-Wiki opponent. But it was the way Lashley won that made us shake our damn heads.

The former WWE star and current TNA attraction faced off against undefeated British heavyweight Karl Etherington, who had come into the fight with a 9-0 record, and all wins coming in the first round — seven of which were earned in under a minute. On paper, Etherington is no can. He was also billed as a judo black belt, which is kind of hard to believe when you watch the GIF of the finish, in which the Brit tries to pull Lashley to the mat, loses his grip, and flops onto his stomach where Lashley bashes him until Etherington taps to strikes. Not exactly Rousey-esque.

For God’s sake, Coker, it’s time to give Lashley one of your real heavyweights. Like…uh…um…Joey Beltran? I have no idea. This is about as good as heavyweight MMA gets in Bellator, unfortunately. Full Bellator 130 results are after the jump, with links to GIFs of the finishes courtesy of the Zombie. Short version: Emanuel Newton defended his title against that guy, and Marloes Coenen won her Bellator debut against some lady.


(Props: ZombieProphet)

We know that some of you think we’re die-hard Bellator haters, simply because we have no problem calling a garbage show a garbage show. But believe us, we don’t go out looking for ways to embarrass America’s #2 MMA promotion — this stuff just has a way of finding us.

Like tonight at Bellator 130, for example. We were prepared to give Bobby Lashley a respectful pat on the back for running through his fifth consecutive non-Wiki opponent. But it was the way Lashley won that made us shake our damn heads.

The former WWE star and current TNA attraction faced off against undefeated British heavyweight Karl Etherington, who had come into the fight with a 9-0 record, and all wins coming in the first round — seven of which were earned in under a minute. On paper, Etherington is no can. He was also billed as a judo black belt, which is kind of hard to believe when you watch the GIF of the finish, in which the Brit tries to pull Lashley to the mat, loses his grip, and flops onto his stomach where Lashley bashes him until Etherington taps to strikes. Not exactly Rousey-esque.

For God’s sake, Coker, it’s time to give Lashley one of your real heavyweights. Like…uh…um…Joey Beltran? I have no idea. This is about as good as heavyweight MMA gets in Bellator, unfortunately. Full Bellator 130 results are after the jump, with links to GIFs of the finishes courtesy of the Zombie. Short version: Emanuel Newton defended his title against that guy, and Marloes Coenen won her Bellator debut against some lady.

MAIN CARD
– Emanuel Newton def. Linton Vassell via submission (rear-naked choke), 0:47 of round 5
– Bobby Lashley def. Karl Etherington via submission (punches), 1:31 of round 1
– Marloes Coenen def. Annalisa Bucci via submission (rear-naked choke), 0:57 of round 3
– Dave Jansen def. Rick Hawn via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x 2)

PRELIMINARY CARD
– David Rickels vs. Davi Ramos
– Ricky Musgrave def. Joe Wilk via TKO, 2:45 of round 1
– Marcio Navarro def. Cody Carillo via submission (strikes), 2:09 of round 3
– Daniel Gallemore def. Gzim Selmani via TKO, 4:33 of round 2 …when Gallemore slugs Selmani in his fat belly, it’s just mean.
– Sam Oropeza def. Gary Tapusoa via TKO, 2:31 of round 1
– Darrion Caldwell def. Anthony Dizy via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Aaron Derrow def. Nate Jolly via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Alex Huddleston def. Derek Bohi via TKO, 4:04 of round 1


(The Hardcore Kid’s hardcore victory dance.)

Bellator Re-Launches Women’s Division, Announces Signing of Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd


(Photos by Esther Lin)

The rumors of Bellator signing Gina Carano may have been premature — or totally invented — but the promotion will indeed begin holding women’s fights again, as part of a brand-new featherweight division. According to a press release distributed today, Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd have signed contracts with Bellator, and will fight on a live Spike TV broadcast later this year.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring in two of the best athletes competing in our sport today,” said Bellator President Scott Coker. “We are making a commitment to bring back the female division to Bellator, and feature some of the world’s best in the Bellator cage.”

Bellator began running women’s matches early in its history, with fighters like Jessica Penne, Leslie Smith, Kerry Vera, and Rosi Sexton featured during the promotion’s first season in 2009. The next year, Bellator hosted a women’s strawweight tournament, which saw Zoila Gurgel outpoint Penne, Jessica Aguilar, and WMMA legend Megumi Fujii. But in light of increasing competition from Invicta FC and the UFC, Bellator formally shut down its women’s divisions in August 2013.

Of course, that was during the Bjorn Rebney era. Now that Scott Coker is runnin’ thangs, Bellator will attempt to re-capture some of the success that Strikeforce previously had in promoting female stars Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg. (By the way, the fact that Coker is pushing a new 145-pound division theoretically makes Bellator a more attractive environment for Carano and Cyborg than the UFC, as they wouldn’t have to squeeze into the bantamweight division to compete.)

But back to Coenen and Budd…


(Photos by Esther Lin)

The rumors of Bellator signing Gina Carano may have been premature — or totally invented — but the promotion will indeed begin holding women’s fights again, as part of a brand-new featherweight division. According to a press release distributed today, Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd have signed contracts with Bellator, and will fight on a live Spike TV broadcast later this year.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring in two of the best athletes competing in our sport today,” said Bellator President Scott Coker. “We are making a commitment to bring back the female division to Bellator, and feature some of the world’s best in the Bellator cage.”

Bellator began running women’s matches early in its history, with fighters like Jessica Penne, Leslie Smith, Kerry Vera, and Rosi Sexton featured during the promotion’s first season in 2009. The next year, Bellator hosted a women’s strawweight tournament, which saw Zoila Gurgel outpoint Penne, Jessica Aguilar, and WMMA legend Megumi Fujii. But in light of increasing competition from Invicta FC and the UFC, Bellator formally shut down its women’s divisions in August 2013.

Of course, that was during the Bjorn Rebney era. Now that Scott Coker is runnin’ thangs, Bellator will attempt to re-capture some of the success that Strikeforce previously had in promoting female stars Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg. (By the way, the fact that Coker is pushing a new 145-pound division theoretically makes Bellator a more attractive environment for Carano and Cyborg than the UFC, as they wouldn’t have to squeeze into the bantamweight division to compete.)

But back to Coenen and Budd…

“After fighting professionally for over 15 years, I am honored to be invited into the Bellator cage,” Coenen said in today’s press release. “Fighting for Bellator brings my spirit back for fighting! It is great to be working together with Scott Coker again as we both have the same vision on fighting. My style is fighting with the objective to knock my opponent out or to submit her. That is exactly what I am planning to do the very first second I step into the Bellator cage.”

Coenen (21-6) hasn’t competed since her TKO loss to Cris Cyborg in their rematch at Invicta FC 6, in July 2013. By comparison, Budd (6-2) is a somewhat unseasoned competitor, but she’s coming off a 4-0 run in Invicta in 2012-2013.

“I’m ecstatic about the opportunity that Bellator is giving the 145 female division and I’m especially excited to be one of the first females to fight for Scott Coker under the Bellator banner,” Budd added in the press release. “This gives me the opportunity to showcase my skills as one of the best fighters in the world on one of the biggest stages in the world.”

More to come…

[VIDEO] The Behind the Scenes Footage of “Cyborg” Santos at Invicta 6 Is as Horrifying as You Would Expect It to Be

Oh, you thought Cris “Cyborg” Santos was a terrifying killing machine simply based on her destruction of every woman put before her over the years? Well if you haven’t witnessed her backstage ritual before one such destruction, you don’t yet know true fear.

Watching “Cyborg” punch, knee and slam opponents in the cage is scary enough but seeing her gleefully prance and atonally sing to psych herself up for it is downright eerie. It’s like watching Fedor play cards backstage before knocking someone out or watching Wanderlei Silva smile and bounce to techno music before disemboweling an opponent.

There are killers and then there are natural-born killers. Watch the behind-the-scenes video we’ve placed above to see a natural-born killer flip that switch on and off and, in between, brutalize the game Marloes Coenen at Invicta 6. Then plug in your Dutch Schaefer night light and pray to your God that you never cross this woman in a dark alleyway. Or at a Curves. Or at an Old Country Buffet when there is only one piece of fried chicken left.

– Elias Cepeda

Oh, you thought Cris “Cyborg” Santos was a terrifying killing machine simply based on her destruction of every woman put before her over the years? Well if you haven’t witnessed her backstage ritual before one such destruction, you don’t yet know true fear.

Watching “Cyborg” punch, knee and slam opponents in the cage is scary enough but seeing her gleefully prance and atonally sing to psych herself up for it is downright eerie. It’s like watching Fedor play cards backstage before knocking someone out or watching Wanderlei Silva smile and bounce to techno music before disemboweling an opponent.

There are killers and then there are natural-born killers. Watch the behind-the-scenes video we’ve placed above to see a natural-born killer flip that switch on and off and, in between, brutalize the game Marloes Coenen at Invicta 6. Then plug in your Dutch Schaefer night light and pray to your God that you never cross this woman in a dark alleyway. Or at a Curves. Or at an Old Country Buffet when there is only one piece of fried chicken left.

– Elias Cepeda

In Case You Missed It: “Cyborg” Smashes Coenen, Torres Edges Out “Thug” Rose at Invicta FC 6 [VIDEOS]

(Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen II. Video via FancyMojo420)

As was written so aptly this past weekend on these pages, the women folk on Saturday’s Invicta FC 6 card were some bad mofo’s. Most of the attention was given to the main event title fight (above) rematch between “Cris Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen but we’ve got much love for everyone else on the card as well, especially our very own “Thug” Rose Namajunas.

For the second time in her career, Coenen showed that she can last longer than most women against Santos, but once again, she took a bad beating and a loss at the hands of the “Cyborg.” Namajunas faced the tough Tecia Torres and lost a hard-fought decision that got the main card off to an explosive start.

Both bouts were entertaining and give enough argument on their own that women’s MMA deserves our collective attention. Check out the main event above and Namajunas vs. Torres after the jump and see what we mean.


(Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen II. Video via FancyMojo420)

As was written so aptly this past weekend on these pages, the women folk on Saturday’s Invicta FC 6 card were some bad mofo’s. Most of the attention was given to the main event title fight (above) rematch between “Cris Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen but we’ve got much love for everyone else on the card as well, especially our very own “Thug” Rose Namajunas.

For the second time in her career, Coenen showed that she can last longer than most women against Santos, but once again, she took a bad beating and a loss at the hands of the “Cyborg.” Namajunas faced the tough Tecia Torres and lost a hard-fought decision that got the main card off to an explosive start.

Both bouts were entertaining and give enough argument on their own that women’s MMA deserves our collective attention. Check out the main event above and Namajunas vs. Torres after the jump and see what we mean.

Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres:


(Video via FancyMojo420)

– Elias Cepeda

Cris Cyborg Reclaims Title as “World’s Scariest Woman” (Also, a Belt. ADORBZ)

“It’s like they sized it just for me!”  PicProps:  Ester Lin / InvictFC 

Cris Cyborg reclaimed her place on the throne as #1 Woman in the World You Definitely Do Not Want to Fuck With (plus Invicta’s featherweight championship or whatever) with a methodical four-round thrashing of Forever #2 Marloes Coenen.  Coenen was seen as the most legitimate challenger for Cyborg at 145 (in fairness, 145 is a division that could charitably be compared to a blasted desert), and Cyborg goes and does this shit:

Jesus Christ man, Cyborg is throwing Coenen around like she’s Lexington Steele FFS.

“It’s like they sized it just for me!”  PicProps:  Ester Lin / InvictFC 


Cris Cyborg reclaimed her place on the throne as #1 Woman in the World You Definitely Do Not Want to Fuck With (plus Invicta’s featherweight championship or whatever) with a methodical four-round thrashing of Forever #2 Marloes Coenen.  Coenen was seen as the most legitimate challenger for Cyborg at 145 (in fairness, 145 is a division that could charitably be compared to a blasted desert), and Cyborg goes and does this shit:

Jesus Christ man, Cyborg is throwing Coenen around like she’s Lexington Steele FFS.  Coenen is stunned and barely gets her defense up after that slam, and it wasn’t the only ride Cyborg took her on, either.  And that’s not another hack attempt at a sexual joke!  I mean literally:  Cyborg turned simple takedowns into explosive interpretive dances of Anger, Social Anxiety, and Bitch I Will Cut You, pressing a full option of punches, knees, elbows, and throws, and it’s fucking terrifying.  She’s like the real-world women’s equivalent of Tong Po.

Coenen appeared to be going into the fight with Gameplan #39 (The Bob Sapp Trapp) in play: avoid an early bull-rush, weather the sloppy offense, and wait for the brute to tire out.  Finish with ankle lock, season to taste.

But Cyborg never bull rushed.  Cyborg was  patient: she waited for openings and picked her shots, using her energy wisely. This is a noticeable improvement over previous fights, when Cyborg was prone to berserker rages that ate into her cardio reserves.  She would still rip off a violent series of hooks, just not twelve of them.

More ominously, Cyborg looked to be refocused on cardio, probably a result of her work with Tito Ortiz.  With her new found efficiency of movement, she seemed capable of sustaining her new pace for five rounds, or more if she needed.

She needed not. Her offense ramped up as the match went on, as Coenen’s ability to absorb Cyborg’s onslaught declined.  By the fourth round, Coenen had taken enough punishment for Matt freakin Lindland to want to call it. Big John called it.  Cyborg was a verr heppy for her chance for to be a women’s champion again, and thanks verr much for to God and Invicta.  Meanwhile, Coenen looked dazed, with a faraway gaze into the distance, perhaps contemplating her next move, or perhaps merely still struggling to wrap her head around what she had gotten herself into.

Or I guess that glassy-eyed look could have been all the blunt force trauma.  Hard to tell sometimes.

 

[RX]

Must-See Video: ‘Road to Coenen vs. Cyborg’ Traces the History, Rivalry of Two WMMA Legends

(Props: YouTube.com/InvictaFC)

Rose Namajunas isn’t the only reason to stay home and watch Invicta FC 6 on Saturday night. The 13-fight card features a generous lineup of entertaining scrappers, and will be headlined by the biggest women’s MMA matchup you’ll find outside of the UFC — Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen, throwing down for Invicta’s inaugural featherweight title.

The ladies have some history, to put it mildly. In January 2010, Cyborg and Coenen faced off for the Strikeforce women’s featherweight title, with Cyborg winning by third-round TKO. Despite getting bombed out for the majority of the fight, Coenen maintains that the match was stopped early; Cyborg credits the Dutchwoman’s “balls” for wanting a rematch, considering all the abuse she took. And of course, both fighters carry the weight of their pasts into the cage, from Coenen’s status as a living legend, to Cyborg’s rise (and temporary fall) as one of the best-known stars in WMMA.

If you need further convincing that this match is worth your time, check out this new “Road to Coenen vs. Cyborg” preview video from Invicta FC, directed and edited by E. Casey Leydon — who you may know as the genius auteur behind that War MMA behind-the-scenes video — and co-produced by AllElbows*, which manages to cram all these themes (along with some very badass training footage) into a highly watchable 13 minutes. Special appearance by Ben Fowlkes!

* AE photographer Esther Lin also gets a music credit at the end. Goodness, this lady can do it all.


(Props: YouTube.com/InvictaFC)

Rose Namajunas isn’t the only reason to stay home and watch Invicta FC 6 on Saturday night. The 13-fight card features a generous lineup of entertaining scrappers, and will be headlined by the biggest women’s MMA matchup you’ll find outside of the UFC — Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen, throwing down for Invicta’s inaugural featherweight title.

The ladies have some history, to put it mildly. In January 2010, Cyborg and Coenen faced off for the Strikeforce women’s featherweight title, with Cyborg winning by third-round TKO. Despite getting bombed out for the majority of the fight, Coenen maintains that the match was stopped early; Cyborg credits the Dutchwoman’s “balls” for wanting a rematch, considering all the abuse she took. And of course, both fighters carry the weight of their pasts into the cage, from Coenen’s status as a living legend, to Cyborg’s rise (and temporary fall) as one of the best-known stars in WMMA.

If you need further convincing that this match is worth your time, check out this new “Road to Coenen vs. Cyborg” preview video from Invicta FC, directed and edited by E. Casey Leydon — who you may know as the genius auteur behind that War MMA behind-the-scenes video — and co-produced by AllElbows*, which manages to cram all these themes (along with some very badass training footage) into a highly watchable 13 minutes. Special appearance by Ben Fowlkes!

* AE photographer Esther Lin also gets a music credit at the end. Goodness, this lady can do it all.