Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: August 2019

As kickboxing continues to grow on a global scale with promotions like GLORY, K-1, Kunlun Fight, and more, 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 strawweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings for both men and women. This month in particular, we are opening two new weight divisions. Instead of encompassing all of the fighters under 65-kilograms into one weight class, we have opened up the rankings in the lower weight classes.

The numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from last month.

1. Rico Verhoeven (1)
2. Roman Kryklia (2)
3. Jamal Ben Saddik (3)
4. Benjamin Adegbuyi (4)
5. Mladen Brestovac (5)
6. Zabit Samedov (6)
7. Guto Inocente (7)
8. Murat Aygun (8)
9. D’Angelo Marshall (9)
10. Roel Mannaart (10)

Ninth-ranked D’Angelo Marshall firmly cemented himself inside of the top 10 with a unanimous decision over Jahfarr Wilnis at GLORY 67.

1. Artem Vakhitov (1)
2. Pavel Zhuravlev (2)
3. Igor Bugaenko (3)
4. Donegi Abena (4)
5. Felipe Micheletti (5)
6. Luis Tavares (6)
7. Tarik Khbabez (7)
8. Zinedine Hameur-Lain (8)
9. Sergej Maslobojev (9)
10. Danyo Ilunga (10)

No fighters were in action during the month of July, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Alex Pereira (1)
2. Simon Marcus (2)
3. Loren Javier Jorge (3)
4. Donovan Wisse (4)
5. Yousri Belgaroui (5)
6. Jason Wilnis (6)
7. Artem Levin (7)
8. Hicham El Gaoui (8)
9. Ulrik Bokeme (9)
10. Ertuğrul Bayrak (10)

No fighters were in action during the month of July, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Artur Kyshenko (1)
2. Cédric Doumbé (2)
3. Harut Grigorian (3)
4. Alim Nabiyev (4)
5. Regian Eersel (5)
6. Murthel Groenhart (6)
7. Nieky Holzken (7)
8. Raymond Daniels (8)
9. Yoann Kongolo (9)
10. Mohamed “Hamicha” Mezouari (10)

No fighters were in action during the month of July, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Marat Grigorian (1)
2. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (2)
3. Superbon Banchamek (3)
4. Giorgio Petrosyan (4)
5. Chingiz Allazov (5)
6. Tayfun Ozcan (6)
7. Endy Semeleer (7)
8. Jonay Risco (8)
9. Samy Sana (9)
10. Yodsanklai Fairtex (10)

Fourth-ranked lightweight Giorgio Petrosyan bested Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy in a hard-fought battle at ONE Championship: Masters of Destiny. Petrosyan came out on top in the rematch of their controversial first meeting, which took place at ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon, where Petrosyan initially lost via decision only to have Chatri Sityodtong, the CEO and founder of ONE, overturn the bout in a controversial manner.

1. Qiu Jianliang (1)
2. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (2)
3. Jordann Pikeur (3)
4. Masaaki Noiri (4)
5. Rukiya Anpo (5)
6. Kaew Weerasakreck (6)
7. Ilias Bulaid (7)
8. Petchtanong Banchamek (8)
9. Abdellah Ezbiri (9)
10. Tie Yinghua (10)

Second-ranked Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao put on a clinic to defend his GLORY featherweight title against experienced Uzbek Anvar Boynazarov at GLORY 67. It was his second title defense and seventh consecutive win.

1. Kenta Hayashi (1)
2. Wei Rui (3)
3. Taiju Shiratori (-)
4. Koya Urabe (2)
5. Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang (4)
6. Wang Wenfeng (5)
7. Yuto Shinohara (6)
8. Gonnapar Weerasakreck (7)
9. Petchdam Petchyindee Academy (8)
10. Zhu Shuai (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Yannick Reine (9), Lin Qiangbang (10)

The bantamweight division was the most active weight class in the month of July. Koya Urabe, formerly ranked second in the division, was knocked out by unheralded Chinese opponent Zhu Shuai at IK-1 Krush Fight Night 103. With the loss, Urabe drops two spots in the rankings. Meanwhile, Shuai makes his debut at No. 10. Taiju Shiratori also debuts in the bantamweight rankings after advancing to the finals of the RISE World Series 2019 61-kilogram tournament with a decision victory over Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang at RISE World Series 2019 Second Round. The entrances of Shiratori and Shuai cause Yannick Reine and Lin Qiangbang to fall out of the top 10.

1. Takeru (1)
2. Tenshin Nasukawa (2)
3. Leona Pettas (3)
4. Kosuke Komiyama (4)
5. Koji (5)
6. Asahisa Hirotaka (6)
7. Yuma Saikyo (7)
8. Ilias Ennahachi (8)
9. Suraek Rukkukami (9)
10. Kotaro Shimano (10)

Second-ranked Tenshin Nasukawa advanced to the RISE World Series 2019 58-kilogram tournament final with his second career victory over Serkim PK Saenchaimuaythaigym.

1. Yoshiki Takei (1)
2. Akihiro Kaneko (2)
3. Yuta Murakoshi (3)
4. Masashi Kumura (4)
5. Yuki Egawa (5)
6. Haruma Saikyo (6)
7. Gunji Taito (7)
8. Alex Rivas (8)
9. Astemir Borsov (9)
10. Wang Junguang (10)

No fighters were in action during the month of July, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Takeru (1)
2. Marat Grigorian (2)
3. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (3)
4. Giorgio Petrosyan (5)
5. Artur Kyshenko (4)
6. Tenshin Nasukawa (10)
7. Cédric Doumbé (6)
8. Rico Verhoeven (7)
9. Alex Pereira (8)
10. Qiu Jianliang (9)/Yoshiki Takei (10)

Giorgio Petrosyan moves up one spot in the pound-for-pound rankings with his victory over Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy. Tenshin Nasukawa is the biggest mover, though. The 20-year-old phenom moves up four spots with his one-sided victory over Serkim PK Saenchaimuaythaigym.

1. Anissa Meksen (1)
2. Jorina Baars (2)
3. Tiffany van Soest (3)
4. Iman Barlow (4)
5. Wang Kehan (5)
6. Gong Yanli (6)
7. Wang Cong (7)
8. Anissa Haddaoui (8)
9. Sofia Olofsson (9)
10. Sarel de Jong (10)

No fighters were in action during the month of July, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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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.