Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: October 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 (4)
5. Artem Levin (5)
6. Igor Bugaenko (6)
7. Hicham El Gaoui (7)
8. Ulrik Bokeme (8)
9. Jason Wilnis (9)
10. Ertugrul Bayrak (10)

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

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. Hideaki Yamazaki (-)
6. Wei Rui (8)
7. Rukiya Anpo (6)
8. Kaew Weerasakreck (7)
9. Liu Xiangming (9)
10. Jia Aoqi (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Petchtanong Banchamek (5)

There were multiple featherweights in action in September. The biggest change came in one of the most dramatic finishes of the year when current Lumpinee stadium 70-kilogram champion Capitan Petchyindee Academy knocked out Petchtanong in just six seconds at ONE Championship: A New Breed. The loss pushes the 2019 Wu Lin Feng 67-kilogram Cup winner, who was formerly ranked No. 5, outside of the top 10 for the first time in two years. However, the quick knockout victory isn’t enough to earn Capitan a spot in the rankings due to his lack of kickboxing resume. So, for now, he sits just outside the top 10. Hideaki Yamazaki re-enters the rankings and leaps to fifth following his title-winning performance against Rukiya Anpo at K-1 World GP 2020 in Osaka. Yamazaki knocked out Rukiya with a massive left hook in the first round in a rematch of one of the best fights of 2018. Wei Rui continues to climb the rankings with unanimous decision victories against Jia Aoqi and Zhao Chuanlin to extend his winning streak to eight. He now resides in the No. 6 spot.

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. Koya Urabe (9)
8. Jin Ying (7)
9. Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang (8)
10. Gonnapar Weerasakreck (10)

Third-ranked Taio Asahisa extended his winning streak to five fights with a second-round knockout in Osaka, Japan. Former top-ranked super bantamweight Koya Urabe moves up two spots in the rankings following a successful return to the ring against former top-10 62.5-kilogram kickboxer Yuto Shinohara.

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

Dropped from the rankings: Suarek Rukkukamui (9)

Kotaro Shimano moves up one spot to sixth in the rankings following a first-round knockout victory over Junpei Sano at Krush.117. Tomoya Yokoyama, who is just 20 years old, earns his place in the top 10 following an upset victory over Yuma Saikyo at the same event. Kouzi moved down to 58.5 kilograms to meet Tenshin Nasukawa, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The former K-1 title challenger showed off his toughness in the bout, but Nasukawa was too much for the top-flight 60-kilogram kickboxer. The outcome of that contest does not factor into Kouzi’s standing in the bantamweight top 10.

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

Dropped from the rankings: Jorge Varela (10)

Tenshin Nasukawa continued his reign at the top of multiple divisions with a dominant performance against Kouzi at Rizin 24. Meanwhile, Tatsuya Tsubakihara made a huge splash to make his rankings debut at No. 2 following a massive victory over K-1 57.5-kilogram champion Yuuki Egawa at K-1 World GP 2020 in Osaka. Tsubakihara’s entrance into the super-flyweight poll pushes Jorge Varela outside of the top 10.

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

Krush 55-kilogram champion Masashi Kumura cements himself as the No. 2 flyweight in the world following a unanimous-decision victory over Gunji Taito at Krush.117. Kazuki Osaki continues his ascent in the rankings following a unanimous-decision win over previously sixth-ranked Toki Tamaru at RISE 142. Osaki leapfrogs Tamaru and Taito to land in the fifth spot.

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

Tenshin Nasukawa’s dominant decision win over former K-1 title challenger Kouzi pushes him into second, overtaking a collective of top 70-kilogram talent, in the pound-for-pound rankings.

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)

Sarel de Jong picked up a victory over Aylina Engel at Enfusion 97. She remains at No. 9 in our poll.

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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.