Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: November 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)

There were no fighters in action during the month of October, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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

The light-heavyweight division featured a number of changes in the month of October. Felipe Micheletti drops three spots in the rankings following his extra-round decision loss to Stéphane Susperregui, who re-enters the rankings in the 10th spot. Luis Tavares moves up two notches to fifth with a unanimous-decision victory over Michael Duut at GLORY 69. Sergej Maslobojev continued his winning ways with a decision nod over Bahram Rajabzadeh at GLORY 69. He slides up to seventh with the win.

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

Donovan Wisse continues his climb up the rankings following a unanimous decision over former GLORY middleweight champ Jason Wilnis, who remains in the seventh spot. Fifth-ranked middleweight Yousri Belgaroui maintains his spot in the rankings with a unanimous-decision victory over Ulrik Bokeme at GLORY 69. Bokeme remains in the ninth spot following the loss.

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. Dmitry Menshikov (-)
9. Endy Semeleer (-)
10. Mohamed “Hamicha” Mezouari (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Raymond Daniels (8), Yoann Kongolo (9)

Former GLORY welterweight champion Murthel Groenhart won the interim belt with a second-round knockout of short-notice opponent Troy Jones. Regian Eersel defeated former GLORY champ Nieky Holzken for the second time when the pair met at ONE Championship: Dawn of Valor. Dmitry Menshikov makes his rankings debut following a second-round TKO victory over Yoann Kongolo, who drops out of the top 10. Endy Semeleer debuts in the welterweight rankings following his second consecutive fight at 75 kilograms. Semeleer stopped Davide Armanini in the third round at Enfusion 89.

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

Dropped from the rankings: Endy Semeleer (7)

Top-ranked lightweight Marat Grigorian defended his GLORY world title for the first time when he went up against Tyjani Beztati at GLORY 69. Third-ranked Giorgio Petrosyan bested Samy Sana to win the ONE Championship featherweight world grand prix at ONE Century: Part 2. Chingiz Allazov recorded a one-sided decision victory over Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee at Bellator Kickboxing 12. Tayfun Ozcan continued his lengthy winning streak with a unanimous decision over Edye Ruiz in a non-title affair at Enfusion 89. Following the departure of Endy Semeleer to welterweight, Buakaw Banchamek rejoins the top-10. Buakaw knocked out Chris Ngimbi in a mixed-rules, knockout-only contest at MAS Fight.

1. Qiu Jianliang (1)
2. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (2)
3. Jordann Pikeur (3)
4. Masaaki Noiri (4)
5. Petchtanong Banchamek (6)
6. Rukiya Anpo (5)
7. Kaew Weerasakreck (7)
8. Jia Aoqi (10)
9. Tie Yinghua (9)
10. Zakaria Zouggary (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Abdellah Ezbiri (8)

Petchtanong Banchamek and Jia Aoqi advanced in the WLF 67-kilogram World Cup by scoring wins over Yuya Yamato and Wei Ninghui, respectively. Petchtanong moves up to fifth with his win, while Aoqi climbs up to eighth after defeating the formerly ranked Ninghui. Zakaria Zouggary makes his rankings debut following a dominant first-round knockout against Abdellah Ezbiri at GLORY 70.

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

There was only one ranked bantamweight fighter in action during the month of October. Third-ranked Taiju Shiratori took out former K-1 champion Taiga by decision at Rizin 19. Following the victory, he moves up one spot in the rankings.

1. Takeru (1)
2. Tenshin Nasukawa (2)
3. Leona Pettas (3)
4. Kosuke Komiyama (4)
5. Kouzi (5)
6. Asahisa Hirotaka (6)
7. Yuma Saikyo (7)
8. Zhao Chongyang (8)
9. Suarek Rukkukamui (9)
10. Kotaro Shimano (10)

There were no fighters in action during the month of October, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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. Wang Junguang (7)
8. Astemir Borsov (8)
9. Masahiko Suzuki (9)
10. Gunji Taito (10)

Seventh-ranked Wang Junguang knocked out Federico Roma in the first round at ONE Championship: Dawn of Valor.

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

Two of the world’s best fighters picked up wins in the month of October. Marat Grigorian and Giorgio Petrosyan maintain their pound-for-pound rankings following championship victories in their respective organizations.

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)

Iman Barlow beat Cindy Silvestre via doctor’s stoppage during a Muay Thai bout in the United Kingdom. Her position in the rankings remains 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.