Australian Arlene Blencowe put up a brave performance against Marloes Coenen today however Coenen proved too much as she submitted Blencowe with an overextended armbar in the second round of their contest at Bellator 141.
The bout, which was Blencowe’s second in the promotion, was held at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California.
A women’s MMA pioneer since 2000, Marloes Coenen came into the fight as a large betting favourite and it showed early with the 34-year-old taking the fight to the ground early in the opening round where she was able to quickly secure the back of the Australian. There Coenen peppered the mid-secton while controlling the position before hopping off the back momentarily to land knees to the mid-section. Blencowe unsuccessfully attempted to stand and had her back retaken where she ended the round in control.
Blencowe started the second-round aggressive, landing some crisp short strikes. A former women’s world boxing champion, Blencowe wanted to keep it standing however her experienced Dutch opponent closed the distance and took the fight to the cancas. Blencowe survived one armbar attempt but later in the round got caught in an belly-down armbar. The arm overextended and Blencowe had no choice but to tap.
The official time came at 3:23 of the second round as Coenen moved her professional record to 23-6. The Dutch veteran has lost three times in her last 10 outings however two of those were to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino and the other to Miesha Tate. Wins have come against Sarah Kaufman and Liz Carmouche among others. Blencowe drops her first fight in her last five outings to go to 6-5 as a MMA professional.
Melvin Guillard’s debut proved to be a disappointing one with the former UFC lightweight losing to unheraled Brandon Girtz. Girtz dominated the opening two rounds with Guillard finally coming alive in the last round but it would be too little too late as Girtz won the split-points decision. In the co-main event, Patricky Freire won a unanimous decision over Saad Awad.
Main Card Results:
- Brandon Girtz def Melvin Guillard via Decision (Split)
- Patricky Freire def Saad Awad via Decision (Unanimous)
- Justin Wren def Josh Burns via Decision (Unanimous)
- Marloes Coenen def Arlene Blencowe via Submission (Armbar), Rd 2, 3:23
Preliminary Card Results:
- Johnny Cisneros def Gabriel Miglioli via Decision (Unanimous)
- Luc Vondole def Ray Sloan via Decision (Unanimous)
- Adrienna Jenkins def Lissette Neri via TKO, Rd 1, 2:38
- Curtis Millender def Steven Ciaccio via Decision (Unanimous)
- A.J. McKee def James Barnes via KO, Rd 1, 1:42
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane def Maria Rios via Decision (Split)
- Brent Primus def Derek Anderson via Decision (Split)
- A.J. Matthews def Emiliano Sordi via TKO, Rd 1, 5:00
