Zuffa LLC officials have purged former Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen, Strikeforce's Valentijn Overeem and the UFC's Jon Olav Einemo from its stable of fighters.
That's the word from Martijn de Jong, the fighters' head coach at Golden Glory, who today tweeted the news.
The trio of fighters joins fellow Golden Glory fighter and Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, who was released this past week.
Zuffa officials haven't publicly announced the newest releases. And though Coenen, Valentijn Overeem and Einemo all are coming off losses, their releases appear tied to Alistair Overeem's.
Alistair Overeem, of course, was slated to fight at the semifinals of Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix, which takes place Sept. 10 in September. Overeem, though, said he was told the event would take place in October, and he ultimately pulled out of the September show due to a toe injury. Overeem, though, had a single fight remaining on his deal, and behind the scenes, sources told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that talks about the fighter's future in the organization weren't productive.
The subsequent announcement of his participation in an upcoming United Glory World Series event probably didn't help matters.
Ultimately, official severed ties with Overeem (35-11 MMA, 3-0 SF), the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 kickboxing champion who's also undefeated over his past 11 pro MMA fights.
Coenen (19-5 MMA, 3-2 SF), meanwhile, recently lost her Strikeforce women's bantamweight title to Miesha Tate at this past weekend's "Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Henderson" event. Coenen had won the title from Sarah Kaufman and then made her first successful title defense with a victory over Liz Carmouche in March. She has become one of the most recognizable fighters in women's MMA during a critical time for female fighters.
Valentijn Overeem (31-29 MMA, 1-1 SF), the older brother to Alistair Overeem, is a former PRIDE fighter who went 1-1 in Strikeforce. He made a successful promotional debut in February with a submission victory over Ray Sefo in a heavyweight-grand-prix reserve bout. But in June, he suffered a submission loss (due to punches) to Chad Griggs.
Einemo (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), meanwhile, recently returned from a five-year layoff and suffered a TKO loss to Dave Herman at UFC 131.
That's the word from Martijn de Jong, the fighters' head coach at Golden Glory, who today tweeted the news.
The trio of fighters joins fellow Golden Glory fighter and Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, who was released this past week.
Zuffa officials haven't publicly announced the newest releases. And though Coenen, Valentijn Overeem and Einemo all are coming off losses, their releases appear tied to Alistair Overeem's.
Alistair Overeem, of course, was slated to fight at the semifinals of Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix, which takes place Sept. 10 in September. Overeem, though, said he was told the event would take place in October, and he ultimately pulled out of the September show due to a toe injury. Overeem, though, had a single fight remaining on his deal, and behind the scenes, sources told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that talks about the fighter's future in the organization weren't productive.
The subsequent announcement of his participation in an upcoming United Glory World Series event probably didn't help matters.
Ultimately, official severed ties with Overeem (35-11 MMA, 3-0 SF), the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 kickboxing champion who's also undefeated over his past 11 pro MMA fights.
Coenen (19-5 MMA, 3-2 SF), meanwhile, recently lost her Strikeforce women's bantamweight title to Miesha Tate at this past weekend's "Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Henderson" event. Coenen had won the title from Sarah Kaufman and then made her first successful title defense with a victory over Liz Carmouche in March. She has become one of the most recognizable fighters in women's MMA during a critical time for female fighters.
Valentijn Overeem (31-29 MMA, 1-1 SF), the older brother to Alistair Overeem, is a former PRIDE fighter who went 1-1 in Strikeforce. He made a successful promotional debut in February with a submission victory over Ray Sefo in a heavyweight-grand-prix reserve bout. But in June, he suffered a submission loss (due to punches) to Chad Griggs.
Einemo (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), meanwhile, recently returned from a five-year layoff and suffered a TKO loss to Dave Herman at UFC 131.
