She began training with Pierre Drachman and Martijn de Jong at Shooto Holland while only 14, who recalls that, "I really had respect for that, because it didn't matter if it rained or snowed.

[1] Along with her competitive career, Coenen is planning to study Communications Sciences in Amsterdam with a goal of future employment in that sector.

[2] Coenen debuted in mixed martial arts in November 2000 and scored eight consecutive victories, winning the 2000 ReMix World Cup along the way.

[5] Coenen signed a contract with Elite XC shortly before the promotion folded in 2008,[6] but did not receive a chance to compete before its closure.

[4] However, Cyborg suffered an injury and Coenen was then set to compete in a rematch with Toughill at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers to determine the first title challenger.

[7][8] On October 27, 2009, Toughill withdrew from the fight due to an undisclosed medical condition, but Coenen still competed on the card in a rematch against Roxanne Modafferi.

[15] Coenen was invited to take part in the August 2010 Strikeforce women's tournament at 135 pounds[16] and verbally agreed to participate.

[21] Coenen faced Sarah Kaufman for the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship on October 9, 2010, in San Jose, California.

[22] Coenen won the fight by submission due to an armbar in the third round to become Women's Bantamweight Champion (135 lbs).

[28] Coenen defended her title against Miesha Tate at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30, 2011, and lost via submission due to an arm-triangle choke in the fourth round.

Prior to the bout, Zuffa management changed the name of Coenen's title from Welterweight to Bantamweight in order to keep all weight classes the same.

[30] On August 26, 2011, Coenen announced that she had signed a three-fight, non-exclusive deal with North Carolina–based organization BlackEye Promotions for a February 2012 debut.