Coenen Vs. Kaufman: Does Marloes Coenen Deserve This Title Shot?

Marloes Coenen will be facing Sarah Kaufman for the 135-lb. title this Saturday during Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons. Since Coenen just came off of a loss to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, many are asking why she is getting a second title shot, albeit in a different weight class.

It's a reasonable question. Having a fighter coming off of a loss immediately getting a title shot is not a common occurrence. Still, this matchup makes sense for the following reasons.

First of all, Marloes Coenen defeated Roxanne Modafferi by 1st round armbar, and it was Modafferi who stepped in for a title shot vs. Sarah Kaufman. If Roxy gets a title shot and Coenen defeated Roxy, it makes sense to give the Dutch submission specialist a shot. (For the record, Modafferi did rack up two wins before her title shot, but they were outside of Strikeforce.)

Second, Coenen is the #2 IWMMAR fighter in the 145-lb. weight class and just lost to Cyborg, who is obviously #1. There are not a whole lot of other people for Coenen to fight in that weight class, so switching to 135 makes a lot of sense for her. Although Coenen isn't yet ranked at 135, suffice it to say that she will be very soon.

Lastly, I'd argue that Coenen is far more skilled than the women who competed in Strikeforce's 135-lb 4-woman tournament. The winner of the tournament, Meisha Tate, has already fought Kaufman and lost. Giving Coenen a chance to get the title could potentially lead to more exciting fights--I'd rather watch Coenen vs. Tate (to see how Coenen's jiu jitsu and Tate's wrestling stack up) than another battle between Kaufman and Tate. Although Tate is skilled on the ground, there's little evidence that her ground game has improved enough to defeat Kaufman should they face each other again.

Kaufman vs. Coenen is a very intriguing matchup; the classic stand-up vs. ground fighter equation. It'll be interesting to see who pulls out ahead this Saturday night.

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