It has not been a good week for Golden Glory members in the UFC and Strikeforce. Days after the surprising release of Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, teammates Marloes Coenen and Valentijn have been released by Strikeforce and Jon Olav Einemo has been cut from the UFC.
After Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem was surprisingly released from the organization on Friday, teammates Marloes Coenen and Valentijn Overeem have been released by Strikeforce and John Olav Einemo has been cut from the UFC.
Golden Glory coach Martijn de Jong wrote Wednesday on Twitter “I am very dissapointed to let you know that Marloes Coenen John Einemo and Valentijn Overeem have been cut from Strikeforce ufc…..”
Coenen (19-5) fought this past Saturday at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson where she lost the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight belt with a fourth-round submission to Miesha Tate. Prior to that, Coenen’s only defeat under the Strikeforce banner was to arguably the top female fighter in the world, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, in January 2010.
Einemo (6-2) was expected to be make his UFC debut against Shane Carwin at UFC 131, but instead fought fellow UFC newcomer Dave Herman after Carwin was called up to headline the June event. Herman would defeat Einemo via TKO in the second round, but the bout did earn “Fight of the Night” honors for the pair.
Valentijn Overeem (31-29) is the older brother of Alistair Overeem and holds notable wins over Randy Couture and Renato “Babalu” Sobral, but has not shared the same success as his younger brother. Valentijn fought twice for Strikeforce, defeating Ray Sefo in the opening round for alternates in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix before fighting Chad Griggs on the same card as his brother in June. He would go on to lose in the first round against Griggs via TKO, the thirteenth fight in a row for Overeem that has ended in the first round. He has gone 6-7 in that span.
The cuts leave just Gegard Mousasi and Sergei Kharitonov amongst Golden Glory members currently signed with Zuffa organizations. Mousasi has not fought for Strikeforce since a draw with Keith Jardine in April. Kharitonov is set to face Josh Barnett in the semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix on September 10 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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