Filed under: Fighting, News Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen has signed a new deal, and it’s not with her former promoter.
On Friday, the 30-year-old Coenen announced that she has signed a non-exclusive contract with Bla…
Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen has signed a new deal, and it’s not with her former promoter.
On Friday, the 30-year-old Coenen announced that she has signed a non-exclusive contract with Blackeye Promotions, a North Carolina-based upstart league that has been in existence for less than one year.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to be part of Blackeye Promotions, as they have an honest passion for the sport and are genuinely committed to building a platform for women in MMA,” Coenen said in a statement. “Equality for women in this sport is a cause close to my heart and important to the generations of women fighters that will compete after me. I am happy to be signed with a promotion that not only supports this quest for equality, but is dedicated and committed to making a difference.”
Blackeye will produce their next event on October 1 in Fletcher, North Carolina, a show that will feature several women’s matches, but Coenen is unlikely to debut until early 2012.
Coenen fought five times for Strikeforce over the last 18 months, going 3-2 during that time. She lost a featherweight title fight to Cris Cyborg in January 2010, but dropped down a division and captured the bantamweight belt by defeating Sarah Kaufman via armbar submission in October 2010. She then successfully defended the belt against Liz Carmouche before losing it to Miesha Tate on July 30.
Just days after that defeat, Coenen was cut after a rift developed between her Golden Glory management team and Strikeforce ownership group Zuffa over business practices.
Coenen is 19-5 overall.
Blackeye Promotions promoted its first show on November 19, 2010, and has produced a total of four events altogether, with its fifth event set for October 1. At least six women’s fights have already been announced for that card, which is being promoted as a breast cancer benefit show.
Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsFormer Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen holds no ill will towards Zuffa for releasing her following her title loss to Miesha Tate, stating Tuesday she would more than welcome a return to Strikeforce.
Former Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen holds no ill will towards Zuffa for releasing her following her title loss to Miesha Tate, stating Tuesday she would more than welcome a return to Strikeforce.
“I would love to fight for Strikeforce,” Coenen said on The MMA Hour. “They’ve always treated me well.”
And although she may disagree with her release, Coenen says she can understand it.
“I’ve been in this game since I was a teenager,” she said. “So I know how it works and it’s business. It really is a business and when we renegotiate, things can go hard.”
First, it was Alistair Overeem who was said to be released from Strikeforce. Shortly after, Coenen and her Golden Glory teammates Jon Olav Einemo and Valentijn Overeem were conveniently cut. It’s highly unusual for a fighter coming off a title loss like Coenen to be cut from the roster, but it’s believed to be because of her loyalty to Golden Glory management, a group currently in negotiations with Zuffa for Alistair Overeem’s services.
Even though Coenen can analyze the situation presently without taking it to heart, it’s not to say she wasn’t devastated with the news of her release. Coenen said it was “a little bit too much” for her when she was informed of her new free agent status.
Considered to hold the submission advantage against Tate, Coenen tapped out to an arm-triangle choke, a hold she routinely escapes from during training. Coenen took the loss hard, playing the fight over and over in her head and considering how she might not be in her current predicament had she retained her title.
“I just lost, I was very emotional about that,” she said. “I had been dieting for two months, I had been training and training my butt off and then I lose. If I had not lost, then I would not have been cut.”
UFC president Dana White explained the releases by saying the UFC does not follow Golden Glory’s alleged demand to have the promotion pay the management instead of the fighter. That was clearly not the case though, as Coenen sent out a photo of her check made out in her name.
“I think Dana was misinformed because he wasn’t running the day-to-day activities and I think somebody told him wrong,” Coenen said. “He’s the spokesperson of the UFC and I think that’s what happened.”
Coenen, who considers both the Golden Glory management and stable as family, had no issue with showing her check to the public and possibly ruffling a few feathers with Zuffa.
“It’s my family and if you diss my family, then I will stand up [for them],” she said with a chuckle.
Coenen will have to wait and see if Golden Glory and Zuffa can come to terms for a new deal with Overeem and what that means for her and her team. For now, Coenen is talking to several promotions for a possible fight before the end of the year.
The MMA Hour broadcasts live on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET this week due to the UFC on Versus 5 airing on Sunday night. We will be back on our regularly scheduled day and time next week. Joining us this week will be:
* UFC lightweight Ben Henderson will discuss his win at UFC on Versus 5 and what’s next for him.
* MMA agent Malki Kawa will discuss Jon Jones‘ upcoming title fight and the business side of MMA.
* MMA Fighting’s Ben Fowlkes will discuss the passing of MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins and Sunday night’s UFC Live on Versus 5 event.
And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193, 212-254-0237 or 212-254-0714.
*** You can also stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.
The MMA Hour broadcasts live on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET this week due to the UFC on Versus 5 airing on Sunday night. We will be back on our regularly scheduled day and time next week. Joining us this week will be:
* UFC lightweight Ben Henderson will discuss his win at UFC on Versus 5 and what’s next for him.
* MMA agent Malki Kawa will discuss Jon Jones‘ upcoming title fight and the business side of MMA.
* MMA Fighting’s Ben Fowlkes will discuss the passing of MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins and Sunday night’s UFC Live on Versus 5 event.
And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193, 212-254-0237 or 212-254-0714.
*** You can also stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.
Dana White broke Ariel Helwani off a few minutes of his precious time to talk about a myriad of subjects, most interesting of which was his reaction to Golden Glory manager Bas Boon‘s public desire to meet all of Zuffa’s concerns, including direct payments to fighters and an exclusive contract with Alistair Overeem: “Well that’s awesome. If that’s the true story and that’s what he said, sounds like we can make a deal then…If Bas Boon is saying that this is the way we can do it, then we can absolutely, positively make a deal and we can get this ball rolling again.”
Though he appeared willing to move beyond whatever was behind the mass-firing, Dana didn’t relent from his position that the cuts were simply a matter of different business practices between the parties and nothing more: “I don’t give a shit what they tweet, what they take pictures of, or what they say, they fucking know exactly how it worked and we would not do it that way.”
After the jump, it turns out that Overeem has not been officially released by Strikeforce after all.
Dana White broke Ariel Helwani off a few minutes of his precious time to talk about a myriad of subjects, most interesting of which was his reaction to Golden Glory manager Bas Boon‘s public desire to meet all of Zuffa’s concerns, including direct payments to fighters and an exclusive contract with Alistair Overeem: “Well that’s awesome. If that’s the true story and that’s what he said, sounds like we can make a deal then…If Bas Boon is saying that this is the way we can do it, then we can absolutely, positively make a deal and we can get this ball rolling again.”
Though he appeared willing to move beyond whatever was behind the mass-firing, Dana didn’t relent from his position that the cuts were simply a matter of different business practices between the parties and nothing more: “I don’t give a shit what they tweet, what they take pictures of, or what they say, they fucking know exactly how it worked and we would not do it that way.”
Dana does come across as candid in this interview, but he strains credulity by stating that “one thing that I don’t do, I wouldn’t go [out] there and lie to all you guys.” In case you’ve forgotten his fondness for fibs, historical revisions, and stretches of the truth, keep watching the video. Not a minute later White responds to Ariel’s question about his having been in contact with Bas Boon since the termination with a pause, a gulp, and a barely audible “Yup”, similar to how you answer your girlfriend when she asks if any of your exes were at Steve’s party last night. You want to say, “No, I hate those skanks”, but the way she asks the question it almost seems like she already knows the answer, so you can’t risk the lie. I know that “Yup”; I’ve given that “Yup”; it’s the “Yup” of a man reluctant to tell the truth.
In other Golden Glory news, ESPN’s Josh Gross reports that Alistair is technically still very much the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion. Rather than cut Overeem directly, Zuffa exercised a clause in in his contract which essentially allowed them to deduct the last fight from his deal for turning down a September fight in the Grand Prix Tournament semi finals. The two parties have entered into a 120 day exclusive negotiation period; if they fail to come to terms, Zuffa will have another 120 days to match any potential offers from outside promotions. A “Champion’s Clause” will prevent the Dutch fighter’s participation in a bout scheduled for October. Even if Overeem stays within the Zuffa umbrella, it’s not entirely clear which organization he’d end up fighting for. Dana asked, “To be in a position where Alistar can come over and fight in the UFC- why would I not do it?” It’s a good question. Let’s hope we get the answer soon.
(Imagine getting into a bar fight with these guys?)
The head of Golden Glory, Bas Boon released a press release Thursday that further explained some of the behind the scenes happenings that may have led to the recent sudden firings of Team Golden Glory fighters Alistair Overeem, Marloes Coenen, John Olav Einemo.
According to Boon, he was working hand-in-hand with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker to form strategic partnerships with a number of organizations like K-1 and DREAM and had been involved in meetings with television networks with Coker in an effort to make the promotion a viable competitor to the UFC. Unbeknownst to Boon, while he was making connections and setting up these meetings, Coker was already in talks with Zuffa about selling the struggling promotion.
It’s not unforeseeable that when Coker informed the UFC that Boon had been instrumental in Strikeforce making a full-court press at competing with them, that they took umbrage with his effort to aid the competition.
Another interesting tidbit Boon dropped in the statement was that Golden Glory had made arrangements, with the help of the UFC, for its fighters to be paid directly by Zuffa/Forza and for them to cash their checks in the U.S. prior to returning back to Holland, where it takes between six and eight business days for their money to clear. According to UFC president Dana White, Golden Glory refused to allow its fighters to be paid directly, which was the reason he says they cut ties with the likes of Alistair Overeem, John Olav Einemo and Marloes Coenen.
Check out the full release after the jump.
(Imagine getting into a bar fight with these guys?)
The head of Golden Glory, Bas Boon released a press release Thursday that further explained some of the behind the scenes happenings that may have led to the recent sudden firings of Team Golden Glory fighters Alistair Overeem, Marloes Coenen, John Olav Einemo.
According to Boon, he was working hand-in-hand with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker to form strategic partnerships with a number of organizations like K-1 and DREAM and had been involved in meetings with television networks with Coker in an effort to make the promotion a viable competitor to the UFC. Unbeknownst to Boon, while he was making connections and setting up these meetings, Coker was already in talks with Zuffa about selling the struggling promotion.
It’s not unforeseeable that when Coker informed the UFC that Boon had been instrumental in Strikeforce making a full-court press at competing with them, that they took umbrage with his effort to aid the competition.
Another interesting tidbit Boon dropped in the statement was that Golden Glory had made arrangements, with the help of the UFC, for its fighters to be paid directly by Zuffa/Forza and for them to cash their checks in the U.S. prior to returning back to Holland, where it takes between six and eight business days for their money to clear. According to UFC president Dana White, Golden Glory refused to allow its fighters to be paid directly, which was the reason he says they cut ties with the likes of Alistair Overeem, John Olav Einemo and Marloes Coenen.
Check out the full release below.
———-
First of all we would like to thank all the support of the fans.
The Golden Glory management discussed before coming to the US about the payment situation and it was agreed to speak with a Zuffa lawyer about this in Vancouver, to find a solution.
There was a contract in place and Golden Glory and Einemo honored the UFC rules including getting the check [in] the fighter’s name (Einemo showed his check in the gym as well which was [in] his name and Alistair and Valentijn also confirmed their payment was done by check in their name. The Zuffa lawyer explained that the fighters could open an account at a bank [where] the UFC did their banking and the check would clear in only two days instead of 6 weeks [to] 8 weeks (that’s how long it takes to clear a check in a foreign country, which was also an issue for some of the fighters) and they could then transfer the amount to the final destination [of] their choice. They were thankful and did this.
The reason that the Golden Glory management company is doing this business for the GG fighters for over 12 years with payment directly to the management company is for the benefit of the fighters, coaches and trainers are paid on time and the management company will take care of [bookkeeping] and taxes and exchange rates and legal help for the fighters.
We have many fighters from many different parts of the world and also have gyms in Berlin, Germany, Liverpool, England, Pattaya, Thailand, California, USA, Bucharest, Romania, Moscow, Russia and three gyms in Holland. Golden Glory is growing on an international level and we are working with one management company to coordinate these businesses.
Fighters only sign agreements with promoters if coaches, trainers, management and the fighter agree with the terms, regardless to whom the payment will be done.
The Strikeforce situation was different.
Behind the scenes I was preparing a great deal for corporation between Strikeforce, DREAM, K-1 and Glory to do something great together with Scott [Coker] (this included a TV channel and footage deal). I introduced Scott [through] a partner of mine in LA to some powerful people in the US (Scott was very surprised after this meeting and [texted] and [emailed] me after his meeting with these people how impressed he was). I never could have guessed that at the same moment I was talking to Scott to make a massive move for becoming a real competitor to the UFC, Scott was already talking with the same UFC for selling Strikeforce.
Scott told me that he had partners and that there were financial difficulties with Strikeforce and any new TV or other deal they would welcome. As I am a producer as well (produced more then 1000 hour of fighting content and also made tons of other deals for promoters like the K-1 live broadcasting on the Dutch TV Channel SBS6) I trusted Scott with some business plans as I knew Scott from the time he was a promoter for K-1 and we all wanted to move forward in the fight business.
Scott convinced me to start working with Strikeforce, we always had a better deal in Japan and Europe, but as K-1 was having a lot of difficulties and Scott giving us all the terms we wanted, we started taking steps to do more and more business with Strikeforce.
The problem with Strikeforce was that we made some agreements with Scott, which was creating headaches now [that] Zuffa took over.
The fighters were paid in the previous Strikeforce bouts to an account of the management without any problems, yet UFC claimed this was impossible. Then the fighters were [losing] sponsors as the UFC took over Strikeforce as they implemented their new rules. [Their view was that] if you can sponsor the fighter you should sponsor the organization first. I understand this from a business point of few, but some companies can’t [afford] to pay 100K or more to an organization. And some fighters getting 5 or 10K in sponsorship is [where] they actually can make some good money. We just wanted the things as they were before, but it was far from what it was before. The payment was done how the UFC wanted and again we agreed and did the same as in Vancouver, so that matter was solved so I do not understand why Danna claims we did not agree? We did not have a choice and never said we would not fight in the future or that we would refuse to work like this in the future (we worked out that problem with the Zuffa lawyer in the Vancouver and even agreed with their new sponsor policies). Maybe there is a miscommunication and [Dana] was not well informed that the direct payment issue was solved and no longer an issue as I myself have been in and out hospital for two weeks because of heath issues (the reason why this press release is so late).
Anyway we regret the response from Zuffa and the releases, but it is their company and they can do what they want. We would like to keep working in the future with the UFC and with this statement I [clearly] say that direct payment to any of our fighter was not a problem and will not be a problem in the future. We just want to be able to produce great fighters and create great fights for the fans. We have no intention for co-promotion deals and are even willing to make an exclusive deal for Alistair Overeem to fight in the UFC, if the terms are right.
Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceDespite the rancor between Golden Glory and the UFC, which resulted in several of the Dutch promotion’s fighters being released from their Zuffa contracts, top Golden Glory star Alistair Overeem is still interested in signi…
Despite the rancor between Golden Glory and the UFC, which resulted in several of the Dutch promotion’s fighters being released from their Zuffa contracts, top Golden Glory star Alistair Overeem is still interested in signing an exclusive deal with the UFC.
That is one of the revelations in a statement that Golden Glory co-owner Bas Boon released on Thursday.
“We just want to be able to produce great fighters and create great fights for the fans,” Boon said in the statement. “We have no intention for co-promotion deals and are even willing to make an exclusive deal for Alistair Overeem to fight in the UFC, if the terms are right.”
What exactly the right terms would be is not clear, but one thing Boon did make clear is that he takes issue with UFC President Dana White’s statements about Golden Glory’s payment policies. White said the UFC wanted to pay fighters directly and was uncomfortable with Golden Glory’s policy of serving as a middleman for fighter payment, but Boon said Golden Glory is fine with Zuffa paying Overeem, Marloes Coenen, John Olav Einemo and any of its other fighters directly.
“The payment was done how the UFC wanted,” Boon said in the statement. “I do not understand why Danna [sic] claims we did not agree? We did not have a choice and never said we would not fight in the future or that we would refuse to work like this in the future (we worked out that problem with the Zuffa lawyer in the Vancouver and even agreed with their new sponsor policies). Maybe there is a miscommunication and Danna [sic] was not well informed that the direct payment issue was solved and no longer an issue.”
Boon also placed some of the blame for the problems between Golden Glory and Zuffa on Strikeforce‘s Scott Coker.
“I introduced Scott through a partner of mine in L.A. to some powerful people in the U.S. (Scott was very surprised after this meeting and exited and mailed me after his meeting with these people how impressed he was). I never could have guessed that at the same moment I was talking to Scott to make a massive move for becoming a real competitor to the UFC, Scott was already talking with the same UFC for selling Strikeforce,” Boon said in the statement. “I trusted Scott with some business plans. … The problems with Strikeforce was that we made some agreements with Scott which were creating headaches now Zuffa took over.”
Those headaches, according to Boon, are a major reason that Golden Glory’s fighters are having problems with the UFC. But Boon is still hoping those problems will be resolved. And a resolution could result in Overeem inside the Octagon.
Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen has signed a new deal, and it’s not with her former promoter.
The MMA Hour
Despite the rancor between Golden Glory and the