As kickboxing looks to establish itself from both boxing and MMA with GLORY, K-1, Lion Fight and Kunlun Fighting Championship, 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)
- Benjamin Adegbuyi (4)
- Errol Zimmerman (3)
- Jahfarr Wilnis (6)
- Hesdy Gerges (5)
- Andrey Gerasimchuk (7)
- Jamal Ben Saddik (8)
- Zabit Samedov (9)
- Anderson Silva (10)
In October, two fighters moved up the rankings based on their performances in the GLORY 24 four-man heavyweight contender tournament. Former title challenger Benjamin Adegbuyi earned another crack at champion Rico Verhoeven by narrowly edging Jahfarr Wilnis in the tournament final. Adegbuyi, who also defeated Mladen Brestovac at the event, moves up to the third spot in our rankings, while Wilnis, despite falling short, climbs into the fifth spot.
- Gokhan Saki (1)
- Saulo Cavalari (3)
- Artem Vakhitov (4)
- Danyo Ilunga (5)
- Mourad Bouzidi (7)
- Zack Mwekassa (8)
- Andrei Stoica (9)
- Pavel Zhuravlev (10)
- Igor Jurković (-)
- Michael Duut (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Tyrone Spong (2), Nathan Corbett (6)
The biggest shift in the light heavyweight rankings comes not from action in the ring, but rather, the lack thereof. Both second-ranked Tyrone Spong and sixth-ranked Nathan Corbett have fallen from the rankings due to inactivity. As a result, Igor Jurković and Michael Duut have re-entered the rankings. As for fighters who were competing, seventh-ranked Andrei Stoica topped Pavel Voronin by decision at SuperKombat World Grand Prix Final Elimination in Italy.
- Artem Levin (1)
- Simon Marcus (2)
- Joe Schilling (3)
- Jason Wilnis (4)
- Alex Pereira (5)
- Sahak Parparyan (7)
- Fang Bian (8)
- Israel Adesanya (9)
- Bogdan Stoica (10)
- Dustin Jacoby (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Wayne Barrett (6)
October was supposed to feature the rubber match between GLORY middleweight champion Artem Levin and Joe Schilling, but Levin was forced out of the bout. However, the third-ranked Schilling still competed at GLORY 24, battering fourth-ranked Jason Wilnis for two rounds before Wilnis succumbed to a foot injury. Two other ranked fighters were in action. Bogdan Stoica competed on the same card as his brother in Italy, picking up a decision win over Dutchman Patrick Veenstra. Previously ranked Wayne Barrett had the biggest fall this month, suffering his fourth straight loss inside the GLORY ring. The New York-based fighter dropped out of the top 10, while the man who defeated him, Dustin Jacoby, enters the rankings for the first time.
- Nieky Holzken (1)
- Joseph Valtellini (2)
- Artur Kyshenko (3)
- Marc de Bonte (4)
- Raymond Daniels (5)
- Karapet Karapetyan (6)
- Karim Ghajji (7)
- Hicham El Gaoui (8)
- Paul Daley (9)
- Bai Jinbin (10)
The welterweights were largely quiet in October, with only third-ranked Artur Kyshenko in the ring. The Ukrainian edged Spain’s Rubén Lee at IFC 3 by decision.
- Robin van Roosmalen (1)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (2)
- Andy Ristie (3)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (4)
- Yodsanklai Fairtex (5)
- Davit Kiria (6)
- Marat Grigorian (7)
- Buakaw Banchamek (8)
- Dzhabar Askerov (9)
- Josh Jauncey (10)
November will be a very busy month in the lightweight ranks, as nearly half of the top 10 will be in action at GLORY 25, but only two ranked fighters saw action this past month. Sixth-ranked Davit Kiria advanced in the Kunlun Fight Middleweight World Championship Tournament, edging David Calvo at Kunlun Fight 32. Also in action in China was legend Buakaw Banchamek, who stopped Gu Hui by knees in round two.
- Kaew Fairtex (1)
- Gabriel Varga (2)
- Minoru Kimura (3)
- Yasuomi Soda (4)
- Mosab Amrani (5)
- Masaaki Noiri (7)
- Pakorn PKSaenchaimuaythaigym (8)
- Yuta Kubo (9)
- Massaro Glunder (6)
- Sagetdao Petpayathai (10)
There wasn’t much action in the featherweight ranks in October, except for Massaro Glunder, who had a rough month. After defeating William Diender in the semifinals of the WFL 2015 tournament, Glunder fell to countryman Cedric Manhoef in the tournament final. Then, just one week later, Glunder dropped a decision to legend Saenchai PKSaenchaimuaythaigym at Yokkao 14. As such, Glunder tumbles to the ninth spot in the rankings.
- Nieky Holzken (1)
- Robin van Roosmalen (2)
- Gokhan Saki (3)
- Sittihchai Sitsongpeenong (4)
- Artem Levin (5)
- Kaew Fairtex (6)
- Andy Ristie (7)
- Rico Verhoeven (8)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (9)
- Takeru (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in October, so the rankings remain unchanged.
Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last 18 months. Any fighter that chooses to switch weight classes will be ranked in their previous weight class until they have competed twice in their new division.