As kickboxing looks to establish itself from both boxing and MMA with GLORY, K-1 and Lion Fight, fighters are constantly jockeying for position in the eyes (and rankings) of the media.
Every month, Combat Press will rank each weight class from heavyweight to featherweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings.
The numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from last month.
- Rico Verhoeven (1)
- Daniel Ghita (2)
- Errol Zimmerman (3)
- Benjamin Adegbuyi (4)
- Hesdy Gerges (5)
- Andrei Herasimchuk (6)
- Zabit Samedov (7)
- Jahfarr Wilnis (9)
- Jamal Ben Saddik (-)
- Anderson Silva (8)
Dropped from the rankings: Ben Edwards (10)
There was plenty of action in the heavyweight ranks in August, with the bottom half of the top 10 jockeying for position. Seventh-ranked Zabit Samedov continued his red-hot run with a decision win over Dževad Poturak at Akhmat Fight Show in Russia. The Azerbaijani hasn’t loss since 2013 while floating between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Jahfarr Wilnis claimed the eighth spot in the rankings with another win under the Kunlun Fight banner, besting Valentin Slavikovski on the scorecards in Russia. There’s a new face in the rankings this month. “Goliath” Jamal Ben Saddik picked up his second straight win in 2015 with a come-from-behind TKO of Anderson Silva at GLORY 23. Silva had dominated the first two rounds, but once Ben Saddik found his range in the final round, he battered Silva.
- Gokhan Saki (1)
- Tyrone Spong (2)
- Saulo Cavalari (3)
- Artem Vakhitov (4)
- Nathan Corbett (5)
- Danyo Ilunga (6)
- Mourad Bouzidi (7)
- Andrei Stoica (8)
- Zack Mwekassa (9)
- Igor Jurković (10)
The fact that there were no changes in the rankings doesn’t mean there wasn’t any action at light heavyweight. Although the top half of the division was dormant in August, sixth-ranked Danyo Ilunga was stunned by Russia’s Alexei Papin at Fight Night Saint-Tropez. Ilunga now rides the first losing streak of his career, having fallen to Zabit Samedov in the GFC tournament earlier this year. One of the men that Ilunga has defeated continued his winning ways in August, as Romania’s Andrei Stoica scored a violent, first-round knockout of Fred Sikking at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix IV 2015.
- Artem Levin (1)
- Simon Marcus (2)
- Joe Schilling (3)
- Jason Wilnis (4)
- Alex Pereira (5)
- Wayne Barrett (6)
- Sahak Parparyan (7)
- Fang Bian (8)
- Israel Adesanya (9)
- Bogdan Stoica (10)
August was largely a quiet month for the middleweight division. The lone top-10 fighter in action with 10th-ranked Bogdan Stoica, who earned a controversial split decision win over Fabio Kwasi at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix IV 2015.
- Nieky Holzken (1)
- Joseph Valtellini (2)
- Marc de Bonte (3)
- Artur Kyshenko (4)
- Raymond Daniels (5)
- Karapet Karapetyan (6)
- Karim Ghajji (7)
- Alexander Stetsurenko (8)
- Paul Daley (9)
- Hicham El Gaoui (10)
The king still reigns, and now it’s official. Dutchman Nieky Holzken once again beat American Raymond Daniels at GLORY 23 to capture the promotion’s welterweight title after former champ Joseph Valtellini vacated the belt. Holzken weathered an early storm, much like he did in his first meeting with Daniels, before earning the win via TKO after Daniels suffered a nasty cut on his eyelid.
- Robin van Roosmalen (1)
- Sittichai Sitsongpeenong (2)
- Andy Ristie (3)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (4)
- Yodsanklai Fairtex (5)
- Davit Kiria (6)
- Marat Grigorian (7)
- Andy Souwer (9)
- Buakaw Banchamek (10)
- Dzhabar Askerov (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Murthel Groenhart (8)
“The Doctor” is returning to form. Fourth-ranked Giorgio Petrosyan earned his third straight win of 2015 with a third-round knockout of Xu Yan at Hero Legends in China. Also in action, the always-busy Yodsanklai Fairtex cruised past Australia’s Marco Tentori at Origins 7. Previously ranked Murthel Groenhart fell out of the rankings after moving back to welterweight and dropping a decision to Chad Sugden at GLORY 23. That opened the door for Russia’s Dzhabar Askerov to slide into the top 10. Askerov had an impressive August, knocking out both Enriko Kehl and Liu Mingzhi to capture the one-night tournament at Kunlun 29 in Sochi.
- Gabriel Varga (1)
- Kaew Fairtex (2)
- Mosab Amrani (3)
- Minoru Kimura (4)
- Yasuomi Soda (5)
- Masaaki Noiri (6)
- Yuta Kubo (7)
- Pakorn PKSaenchaimuaythaigym (8)
- Tetsuya Yamato (9)
- Sagetdao Petpayathai (10)
The featherweight ranks were quiet in August, so there are no changes to the rankings.
- Nieky Holzken (1)
- Gokhan Saki (2)
- Robin van Roosmalen (3)
- Artem Levin (4)
- Rico Verhoeven (5)
- Sittichai Sitsongpeenong (6)
- Andy Ristie (7)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (8)
- Gabriel Varga (9)
- Simon Marcus (10)
If there was any doubt whether Nieky Holzken deserved the title of best pound-for-pound kickboxer, it was erased at GLORY 23. He once again overcame an unorthodox opponent and poured it on when it mattered most. Italy’s Giorgio Petrosyan continued to work back toward the form that put him atop the pound-for-pound rankings in the past.