Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: December 2020

As kickboxing continues to grow on a global scale with promotions like GLORY, K-1, ONE Championship, 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 flyweight, 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. Wei Rui (5)
6. Hideaki Yamazaki (6)
7. Rukiya Anpo (7)
8. Kaew Weerasakreck (8)
9. Liu Xiangming (9)
10. Ji Xiang (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Jia Aoqi (10)

Ji Xiang sneaks into the featherweight rankings after he scored a ‘Knockout of the Year’ candidate against Wu Lin Feng 67-kilogram champion Jia Aoqi at the Wu Lin Feng 2020: China 70-kilogram Championship Tournament. Xiang makes his debut in the No. 10-spot.

1. Taio Asahisa (1)
2. Ilias Ennahachi (2)
3. Kenta Hayashi (3)
4. Dennis Wosik (4)
5. Kento Haraguchi (5)
6. Naoki Tanaka (6)
7. Taiju Shiratori (7)
8. Zhu Shuai (-)
9. Wang Wenfeng (8)
10. Koya Urabe (9)

Dropped from the rankings: Jin Ying (10)

There was a number of meaningful bouts at the bottom of the division, all of which took place during the Wu Lin Feng 63-kilogram championship tournament on Nov. 14. Former top-10 super bantamweight Zhu Shuai returned to the rankings following three victories in one night to become the WLF 63-kilogram China champion. Shuai knocked out all three of his opponents during the tournament, including Zhang Jun in the quarterfinals, Fang Feida in the semifinals, and Ma Yunkang in the finals. Shuai cemented his place in the rankings by winning seven of his past eight fights, including two wins over Feida, a stoppage win against former two-division K-1 champion Koya Urabe, and former WLF 60-kilogram Hirotaka Asahisa. Due to Shuai’s successful tournament run, the once streaking Jin Ying drops from the rankings following back-to-back losses to Wei Rui in the King’s Super Cup final and the previously aforementioned Feida in the quarterfinals of the 63-kilogram China tournament. Ying had previously defeated Shuai and Feida during the King’s Super Cup round robin tournament.

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

Dropped from the rankings: Djany Fiorenti (10)

There was a change at the bottom of the rankings when former top-10 bantamweight Zhao Chongyang returned to 60 kilograms. However, Chongyang fell short against Zhang Lanpei in the finals, who makes his debut in the rankings in ninth following three knockout victories in one-night during the Wu Lin Feng 60-kilogram China touranment.

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

Dropped from the rankings: Jorge Varela (10)

Russia’s Aslanbek Zikreev makes his debut in the top 10 following a split decision victory over former Enfusion 57-kilogram champ Wang Junguang at ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix. Due to Zikreev’s addition to the top 10, Jorge Varela falls out of the rankings.

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

There were a few flyweights in action during the month of November. Fourth-ranked Kazuki Osaki earned his tenth consecutive victory following a unanimous-decision victory over Kyo Kawakami at RISE 143. Tenth-ranked Jin Mandokoro topped Syuto Sato by decision at Rizin 25 to remain in the top 10.

1. Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
2. Takeru (2)
3. Marat Grigorian (3)
4. Giorgio Petrosyan (4)
5. Superbon Banchamek (5)
6. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (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. Josefine Knutsson (5)
6. Sarel de Jong (6)
7. Hinata Terayama (7)
8. Kotomi (8)
9. KANA (9)
10. Anissa Haddaoui (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.