As kickboxing looks to establish itself from both boxing and MMA with promotions like 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)
- Benjamin Adegbuyi (2)
- Ismael Londt (3)
- Jahfarr Wilnis (4)
- Errol Zimmerman (5)
- Zabit Samedov (6)
- Hesdy Gerges (7)
- Andrey Gerasimchuk (8)
- Jamal Ben Saddik (9)
- Badr Hari (10)
Only two fighters in the top 10 were in the ring in July. No. 2-ranked Benjamin Adegbuyi defeated Colin George of Suriname by decision at Respect World Series 2 in England to maintain his spot in the rankings. Eighth-ranked Andrey Gerasimchuk was also in action at Kunlun Fight 48, where he took a decision win over Bruno Susano in the opening round of the promotion’s 100-kilogram tournament.
- Gokhan Saki (1)
- Artem Vakhitov (2)
- Saulo Cavalari (3)
- Zack Mwekassa (4)
- Mourad Bouzidi (5)
- Zinedine Hameur-Lain (-)
- Ariel Machado (-)
- Pavel Zhuravlev (6)
- Danyo Ilunga (7)
- Michael Duut (8)
Dropped from the rankings: Mladen Kujundžić (9), Luis Tavares (10)
July introduced some fresh blood into the light heavyweight ranks, primarily due to the GLORY 32 contender tournament. French-Algerian fighter Zinedine Hameur-Lain scored back-to-back knockouts to capture the crown and earn a future title shot. The pair of victories moved Hameur-Lain into the No. 6 spot in the rankings. Another tournament participant, Ariel Machado, also enters the rankings based on his performance in the tournament. The Brazilian outclassed tournament favorite and eighth-ranked Pavel Zhuravlev to jump into the seventh spot in our rankings. With the new additions, both Mladen Kujundžić and Luis Tavares now find themselves outside the top 10.
- Simon Marcus (1)
- Artem Levin (2)
- Jason Wilnis (3)
- Alex Pereira (4)
- Joe Schilling (5)
- Dustin Jacoby (6)
- Israel Adesanya (7)
- Sahak Parparyan (9)
- Fang Bian (10)
- Bogdan Stoica (8)
It was a relatively quiet month for the middleweight division. Fourth-ranked Alex Pereira dropped down to 81 kilograms to take on Artur Kyshenko at Kunlun Fight 48 and lost by second-round TKO. Since the fight took place outside the middleweight division, Pereira maintains his place in the rankings. The Respect World Series 2 event in London featured a number of Romanian fighters, including Bogdan Stoica, who suffered a second-round TKO loss to Antonio Plazibat after injuring his ankle.
- Nieky Holzken (1)
- Artur Kyshenko (2)
- Murthel Groenhart (3)
- Cedric Doumbe (4)
- Karim Ghajji (5)
- Raymond Daniels (6)
- Yoann Kongolo (7)
- Hicham El Gaoui (8)
- Yohan Lidon (9)
- Paul Daley (10)
There were no welterweight bouts involving the top 10 in July. Second-ranked Artur Kyshenko continued his path of destruction in the Kunlun ring, stopping usual middleweight Alex Pereira in an 81-kilogram match-up at Kunlun Fight 48. Tenth-ranked Paul Daley was in MMA action at Bellator 159 in his native England, but lost a unanimous decision to Douglas Lima.
- Sittichai Sitsongpeenong (1)
- Robin van Roosmalen (2)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (3)
- Andy Ristie (4)
- Yodsanklai Fairtex (5)
- Marat Grigorian (6)
- Buakaw Banchamek (7)
- Anatoly Moiseev (8)
- Enriko Gogokhia (9)
- Josh Jauncey (10)
After a very busy month in June, the top 10 of the lightweight division was relatively quiet in July. Only sixth-ranked Marat Grigorian was in the ring, knocking out Mohamed El-Mir by head kick at The Legend of Emei 10 in China.
- Kaew Weerasakreck (Fairtex) (1)
- Ilias Bulaid (3)
- Hideaki Yamazaki (4)
- Masaaki Noiri (5)
- Gabriel Varga (7)
- Minoru Kimura (6)
- Serhiy Adamchuk (2)
- Mosab Amrani (8)
- Yasuomi Soda (9)
- Qiu Jianliang (10)
The featherweight division continued to shuffle in July as Gabriel Varga recaptured the GLORY title with a decision win over Serhiy Adamchuk at GLORY 32. The Canadian moves back into the top five, while Adamchuk slides all the way down to No. 7.
- Sittichai Sitsongpeenong (1)
- Nieky Holzken (2)
- Robin van Roosmalen (3)
- Kaew Weerasakreck (Fairtex) (4)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (5)
- Simon Marcus (6)
- Artem Levin (7)
- Rico Verhoeven (8)
- Takeru (9)
- Artur Kyshenko (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Gokhan Saki (10)
Although the entire top 10 from last month was inactive in July, a new face has worked his way into the top 10. Ukrainian Artur Kyshenko has now amassed 13 straight wins while competing at 77, 80 and 81 kilograms. His finish of top-10 middleweight Alex Pereira at Kunlun Fight 48 has pushed him into the pound-for-pound top 10 for the first time.
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.