Eighteen months after their first meeting, Marloes “Rumina” Coenen and Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois may square off for a second time this Fall inside the confines of a Strikeforce cage. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed with MMARising.com that preliminary talks have begun and the 145-pound rematch may take place in September or October.

Dandois defeated Coenen by Unanimous Decision on January 24, 2009 in what was Dandois’s professional debut, but the upset win sparked a lengthy debate with some observers believing that Coenen deserved the win.

Coenen (17-4-0) made a name for herself competing in Japan, where she picked up notable victories over Yuuki Kondo (twice) and Megumi Yabushita before advancing to the finals of the one-night K-GRACE tournament on March 27, 2007. Coenen was defeated by Split Decision in the final bout against Roxanne Modafferi, but avenged the loss last November and went on to challenge Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight (145-Pound) Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos in January. Coenen came up short in the fight and speculation began that suggested that Coenen would drop to 135 pounds.

After consulting again with her trainers, it was decided that it would not be healthy or safe for Coenen to cut down to 135, even though she had come in under the 145-pound weight limit for the title fight with Santos. Golden Glory trainer Martijn de Jong had previously stated that Coenen could compete at both 135 and 145, but that has now been ruled out as an option. Should a rematch with Dandois materialise, Coenen will finally have a chance to avenge a loss that has followed her for well over a year; a loss in a fight that Coenen feels that she won.

Dandois (4-0-0) has remained in Europe since the first fight with Coenen, competing exclusively on M-1 Selection cards in Western Europe. She followed up on the shocking win over Coenen by stopping Maria Hougaard Nielsen with first-round punches this February, then submitted Daria Ibragimova with a triangle choke in March. Her most recent fight, a May battle with four-year veteran Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff, was not Dandois’s best performance and she may have been down on the scorecards heading into the final round.

Fortunately – or unfortunately, as the case may be – Dandois emerged victorious after Gaff struck her with an illegal knee early in the third round that opened a bad cut beside Dandois’s right eye. The fight was waved off and Gaff was disqualified. Dandois had hoped to make her Strikeforce debut on June 26th and the cut had healed sufficiently for her to fight, but a visa could not be secured in time and Dandois, as well as other M-1 fighters, was pulled from the card. She may now have a second opportunity in the coming months should plans for the rematch move forward.

Strikeforce is currently working to finalise events in both September and October, and Coker stated that the potential Coenen-Dandois rematch could happen in either month. Golden Glory representatives spoke with Coker last night about arranging the fight and further dialogue will follow. MMARising.com will provide additional updates as they become available.

In addition, another rival of Coenen’s, Erin Toughill, may also compete on a September or October card in a planned bout with undefeated Minnesota native Shana “Rock Solid” Olsen. The fight was originally set to take place on August 21st in Houston, Texas, but a scheduling conflict may result in a changing of the bout’s date. Both Toughill and Olsen have verbally agreed to the fight and it is expected to proceed as planned once a timetable can be confirmed.

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(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)