Strikeforce: Marloes Coenen Vs. Meisha Tate

Big John McCarthy is the referee for this bantamweight championship fight.

Round 1: They both come out pawing jabs, Coenen smiling. Tate presses Coenen into the fence and looks for the takedown. Tate takes a page out of Chris Leben's book and starts in with some foot stomps. Tate gets reversed but doesn't let her back stay on the cage for long, turning Coenen around quickly. They break. Coenen wings a nice left hook. Tate drives for the takedown again and eats a knee. Coenen working for a choke while Tate tries to get her to the mat. Tate gets her down, but Coenen is hanging onto her neck like a bulldog. Tate outlasts her though and breaks free, working from side control. Tate in North-South briefly. Tate is transitioning with ease and goes back to work from side control. Not much damage being done by Tate, but she's absolutely controlling the position right now. Tate ends the round in North-South.

FightLine.com scores the round 10-9 for Tate

Round 2: They lock horns immediately and Tate bulls Coenen into the fence. Coenen lands a few nice knees from the clinch. Tate goes for the takedown and gets reversed. Coenen takes her back immediately and gets one hook in. She locks up the body triangle and starts in with some elbows and punches. She loses the body triangle but retains both hooks with over two minutes to go. She locks up the body triangle again and switches back and forth from looking for the choke to landing strikes both to Tate's midsection and head. Coenen flattens her out and tees off with some ground and pound. Coenen rides out the round on Tate's back.

FightLine.com scores the round 10-9 for Coenen

Round 3: Tate lands a good one-two, then eats a leg kick. Coenen doing well landing leg kicks, but Tate wises up and grabs hold of one, planting Coenen on er back. Tate working from Coenen's guard, but having a hard time getting off much offense against the wily champ. The two are fighting a technical battle for position, with neither able to mount any significant attack. Big John stands them up. After a brief striking exchange, Tate gets the takedown again, pressing Coenen against the fence. More of the same, with Tate holding top position dominantly, but doing little more. Coenen sweeps Tate right before the bell.

FightLine.com scores the round 10-9 for Tate

Round 4: They remain on their first for the first minute, with Tate pressing forward and landing a bit more than the champ. Tate drives in for the takedown and gets it in short order. Coenen threatens with the guillotine briefly, but Tate avoids. Tate moves into side control. Coenen lands a couple of short elbows from her back. In a very slick move, Tate threatens to mount but crosses over Coenen's body and goes for the arm triangle instead. It isn't long before the champ is forced to tap.

Meisha Tate defeated Marloes Coenen via submission (arm triangle) at 3:03 of round 4 to claim the Strikeforce women's bantamweight championship.