Evolved and Educated, Marloes Coenen Ready for Cris Cyborg Rematch at Invicta FC 6

While it’s been seven months since her last fight, former Strikeforce women’s 145-pound champion Marloes “Rumina” Coenen is not worried about the layoff.

“My entire career has been time off over and over again. It was always hard for me to get fights, so for me it’s no problem,” Coenen told MMAWeekly.com.

“I’ve been setting up my own gym in Amsterdam and then training in the East Netherlands. In preparation for this fight, I stayed with my parents for weeks so I could be focused and train a lot with my time.”

Since signing with Invicta FC, Coenen (21-5) has won back-to-back fights, including getting a finish in her last fight against Fiona Muxlow at Dream 18 on New Year’s Eve in Japan. That bout was her first after coming off an injury sustained in her successful Invicta debut in April 2012, against Romy Ruyssen.

“What happened in the fight with Romy is that I broke my finger and didn’t know about it until after the fight,” said Coenen. “I thought it was dislocated, but it was broken and had ligaments torn off. That happened in the fight and I couldn’t use my hand so good anymore, so I had to adjust my game plan.

“It was really nice to be back in Japan (for Dream 18) because I started my career there. The fight (against Muxlow) went very smoothly for me. I always say I want to win on a knockout and then I somehow win on a boring arm bar.”

Coenen’s next fight comes at Invicta FC 6 this Saturday – live on PPV from Kansas City – in a rematch of her 2010 bout with Cris “Cyborg” Justino (11-1, 1 NC), in a 145-pound title fight.

Having been three years since they initially met, Coenen told MMAWeekly.com that things will be much different this time, as she learned from their first bout and has made the necessary changes to make a difference this time around.

“I’ve evolved,” said Coenen. “The first time she came in way heavier than I did and much stronger than I did and I completely underestimated how hard she’d hit me. This time I had a good strength and conditioning program. I’m good with my weight, too, and I know what’s coming.

“I believe I’m more technical than she is and I was three years ago, too, but she completely out-powered me and everything I did had no impact. I hit her as hard as I could and my hand hurt for a half a year after that, but she didn’t drop or anything. That was the big difference (in the first fight).”

Not only would a win on Saturday help Coenen get back one of her losses, it would also determine who is the top featherweight female fighter in MMA, but she’s not letting any talk of that take away her focus from July 13.

“I’m really only focusing on this fight and I don’t really care what happens after that,” said Coenen.

“I was doing interviews where they were talking about who will be the No. 1 ranked fighter after this and that, but actually I don’t care. I want to win this fight and take the belt back to my gym in Amsterdam.”