Women's MMA pioneer Marloes Coenen retires after 16-year career

Following her loss to Julia Budd in the main event of Bellator 174 on Friday, women's MMA pioneer Marloes Coenen announced in her postfight interview that she competed for the last time.

The 35-year-old Dutchwoman made her professional MMA debut in November 2000, defeating Yuuki Kondo with a first-round armbar submission. Coenen would go on to win her first eight fights before being knocked out by Erin Toughill.

After that loss, she continued to fight primarily in Japan, with the occasional stop in her native Holland, before making her American debut for the Strikeforce promotion in 2009. She would fail in a bid to unseat featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, but later win the Strikeforce bantamweight title by submitting Sarah Kaufman.

Coenen's reign as the world's top 135-pound female fighter ended at the hands of Miesha Tate in July 2011, and she would make a permanent move up to featherweight, where she would unsuccessfully challenge for titles in both Invicta FC and Bellator.

Throughout her ups and downs, she has been widely recognized as one of the most important figures in women's MMA, having represented female fighters in every major promotion before they were recognized as more than a sideshow to their male counterparts.

She retires with a 23-8 record.