Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: September 2020

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 minimumweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings for both men and women.

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. Guto Inocente (5)
6. Mladen Brestovac (6)
7. Zabit Samedov (7)
8. Roel Mannaart (8)
9. D’Angelo Marshall (9)
10. Ismael Londt (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Alex Pereira (1)
2. Donovan Wisse (2)
3. Simon Marcus (3)
4. Yousri Belgaroui (5)
5. Artem Levin (6)
6. Igor Bugaenko (7)
7. Hicham El Gaoui (8)
8. Ulrik Bokeme (9)
9. Jason Wilnis (10)
10. Ertugrul Bayrak (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Loren Javier Jorge (4)

Loren Javier Jorge officially announced his retirement in April. Due to the outstanding situation with the kickboxing scene around the world, we were reluctant to drop inactive fighters from the rankings at the typical 18-month cutoff. However, now that events are starting to take place again with more regularity, Jorge falls from our poll. The formerly fourth-ranked middleweight’s departure makes way for Ertugrul Bayrak to return to the top 10.

1. Cédric Doumbé (1)
2. Alim Nabiyev (2)
3. Regian Eersel (3)
4. Murthel Groenhart (4)
5. Jamie Bates (5)
6. Harut Grigorian (6)
7. Nieky Holzken (7)
8. Dmitry Menshikov (8)
9. Endy Semeleer (9)
10. Mohamed “Hamicha” Mezouari (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Qiu Jianliang (1)
2. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (2)
3. Jordann Pikeur (3)
4. Masaaki Noiri (4)
5. Petchtanong Banchamek (5)
6. Rukiya Anpo (6)
7. Kaew Weerasakreck (7)
8. Wei Rui (8)
9. Liu Xiangming (9)
10. Jia Aoqi (10)

Former K-1 and GOH world champion Wei Rui earned his second victory in the Wu Lin Feng King’s Cup 66-kilogram tournament with a unanimous decision over Liu Xiangming. The eighth-ranked featherweight has extended his unbeaten streak to 10 straight following back-to-back wins in the weight division.

1. Taiju Shiratori (1)
2. Ilias Ennahachi (2)
3. Taio Asahisa (3)
4. Kenta Hayashi (4)
5. Dennis Wosik (5)
6. Wang Wenfeng (6)
7. Jin Ying (7)
8. Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang (8)
9. Koya Urabe (9)
10. Gonnapar Weerasakreck (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Takeru (1)
2. Leona Pettas (3)
3. Kosuke Komiyama (4)
4. Koji (5)
5. Asahisa Hirotaka (6)
6. Yuma Saikyo (7)
7. Kotaro Shimano (9)
8. Tatsuya Oiwa (-)
9. Suarek Rukkukamui (8)
10. Djany Fiorenti (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Tenshin Nasukawa (2)

With the former strawweight division now split into two weight classes for the purpose of our rankings, Tenshin Nasukawa exits the bantamweight rankings to join the super-flyweight top 10. In his place, former Krush title challenger Tatsuya Oiwa slides into the bantamweight poll.

1. Tenshin Nasukawa (-)
2. Yuuki Egawa (2)
3. Haruma Saikyo (9)
4. Astemir Borsov (5)
5. Sam-A Gaiyanghadao (6)
6. Wang Junguang (7)
7. Jawsuayai Sor.Dechaphan (10)
8. Hirotaka Urabe (-)
9. Shiro (-)
10. Jorge Varela (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Yoshiki Takei (1), Masashi Kumura (3), Akihiro Kaneko (4), Masahiko Suzuki (8)

The former strawweight division (57.5-kilograms and under) has been separated into two new weight categories to provide more accuracy in the rankings. The decision to add a new weight division caused some major changes in the rankings, including the departure of four formerly ranked fighters who moved to the newly formed flyweight division. Tenshin Nasukawa debuts at the top of the rankings following a 90-second destruction of Shoot Boxing ace Yuki Kasahara at Rise on Abema. His 36th consecutive victory firmly places him atop of his new divisional home despite the impressive record of 2019 “Fighter of the Year” candidate Yuuki Egawa, who remains at No. 2. The three other fighters joining Nasukawa at super flyweight are former K-1 champion Hirotaka Urabe, RISE World Series runner-up Shiro, and K-1 veteran Jorge Varela.

1. Yoshiki Takei (-)
2. Masashi Kumura (-)
3. Akihiro Kaneko (-)
4. Masahiko Suzuki (-)
5. Gunji Taito (-)
6. Toki Tamaru (-)
7. Kazuki Osaki (-)
8. Koudai Hirayama (-)
9. Jin Mandokoro (-)
10. Begin Yoshioka (-)

The newly formed flyweight division features a few previously ranked fighters and a number of new faces in its inaugural month. K-1 55-kilogram champion Yoshiki Takei, who has won 23 of his 25 bouts, sits atop the rankings. Masashi Kumura, the Krush 55-kilogram champ and K-1 55-kilogram tournament runner-up, holds a win over Rajadamnern stadium champion Phetpangan Mor.Ratanabandit. Akihiro Kaneko is the former K-1 53-kilogram titleholder, the 2018 K-1 “Rookie of the Year,” and has won nine of his 10 pro bouts. Masahiko Suzuki is the current RISE 55-kilogram champ and hasn’t lost since facing Tenshin Nasukawa in 2015. Gunji Taito is the former Krush 53-kilogram champ and is scheduled to fight for the Krush 55-kilogram title against Kumura in September. Kazuki Osaki has scored 17 knockouts among his 30 professional victories. Osaki has won eight straight fights and will challenge for the RISE 53-kilogram title at RISE 142. Koudai Hirayama is the DEEP KICK and HOOST Cup 53-kilogram champion. Hirayama holds a record of 13-1-2 that includes victories over the aforementioned Kumura and ninth-ranked Jin Mandokoro (twice). Toki Tamaru is the RISE super-flyweight titleholder, and his only loss came against Masahiko Suzuki when he was just 17 years old. Mandokoro, the J-NETWORK flyweight champ holds wins over Koki Osaki, Shota Takiya (twice) and Issei Ishii. Yoshioka, 20, has beaten former Krush champion Koki and top prospect Aoshi. The youngster has competed in over 100 amateur fighters in his career. Other fighters who were under consideration for our inaugural flyweight rankings include Rasta, Samvel Babayan, Aoshi, Junki Sasaki, Ryuji Horio, Akram Hamidi and Momotaro Kiyama.

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

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Anissa Meksen (1)
2. Tiffany van Soest (2)
3. Iman Barlow (3)
4. Jorina Baars (4)
5. KANA (5)
6. Josefine Knutsson (6)
7. Anissa Haddaoui (7)
8. Anke Van Gestel (8)
9. Sarel de Jong (9)
10. Sofia Olofsson (10)/Christina Breuer (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, 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.