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 compile kickboxing rankings for each weight class from heavyweight to flyweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings for both men and women.
Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from the previous month.
- Rico Verhoeven (1)
- Roman Kryklia (2)
- Jamal Ben Saddik (3)
- Benjamin Adegbuyi (4)
- Guto Inocente (5)
- Zabit Samedov (6)
- Roel Mannaart (7)
- Murat Aygün (8)
- Tarik Khbabez (9)
- Levi Rigters (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Alex Pereira (1)
- Artem Vakhitov (2)
- Luis Tavares (3)
- Pavel Zhuravlev (4)
- Sergej Maslobojev (5)
- Donegi Abena (6)
- Stéphane Susperregui (7)
- Felipe Micheletti (8)
- Ariel Machado (9)
- Zinedine Hameur-Lain (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Alex Pereira (1)
- Donovan Wisse (2)
- Simon Marcus (3)
- Yousri Belgaroui (4)
- Artem Levin (5)
- Igor Bugaenko (6)
- Hicham El Gaoui (7)
- Ulrik Bokeme (8)
- Jason Wilnis (9)
- Ertugrul Bayrak (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Cédric Doumbé (1)
- Regian Eersel (2)
- Alim Nabiyev (3)
- Murthel Groenhart (4)
- Jamie Bates (5)
- Harut Grigorian (6)
- Nieky Holzken (7)
- Dmitry Menshikov (8)
- Endy Semeleer (9)
- Mohamed “Hamicha” Mezouari (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Marat Grigorian (1)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (2)
- Superbon Banchamek (3)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (4)
- Tayfun Ozcan (5)
- Enriko Kehl (6)
- Chingiz Allazov (7)
- Samy Sana (8)
- Jonay Risco (9)
- Davit Kiria (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Qiu Jianliang (1)
- Jordann Pikeur (2)
- Masaaki Noiri (3)
- Wang Pengfei (4)
- Liu Xiangming (5)
- Jia Aoqi (6)
- Petchtanong Banchamek (7)
- Tie Yinghua (8)
- Jomthong Chuwattana (9)
- Ji Xiang (10)
There were two top-10 fighters in action at the Wu Lin Feng: World Contender League 3rd Stage in May. Liu Xiangming earned a decision victory against Thailand’s Thodkui Manas at 65 kilograms. It won’t affect his standing in the super-featherweight rankings, but it does push him closer to the top 10 at featherweight due to his past resume at 66 kilograms and under. Meanwhile, 2019 WLF World Cup winner Jia Aoqi earned his second victory in three fights following a three-fight skid. Aoqi took a majority decision over Hu Yafei and remains locked in the sixth spot in the rankings.
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (1)
- Wei Rui (2)
- Hideaki Yamazaki (3)
- Rukiya Anpo (4)
- Capitan Petchyindee (5)
- Kaew Weerasakreck (6)
- Kevin VanNostrand (7)
- Daizo Sasaki (10)
- Serhiy Adamchuk (8)
- Aleksei Ulianov (9)
Krush super-lightweight champion Daizo Sasaki moves up to eighth following a unanimous-decision victory over Jin Hirayama at Krush 125. It was his seventh consecutive victory.
- Taio Asahisa (1)
- Gonnapar Weerasakreck (2)
- Kento Haraguchi (3)
- Ilias Ennahachi (4)
- Wei Rui (5)
- Dennis Wosik (7)
- Jin Ying (8)v
- Zhu Shuai (9)
- Koya Urabe (T-10)
- Naoki Tanaka (T-10)
Dropped from the rankings: Kenta Hayashi (6)
Former K-1 lightweight champion and 2018 K-1 lightweight tournament winner Kenta Hayashi drops out of the top 10 due to a move up in weight. He debuted in the 65-kilogram-and-under rankings in January 2019 and held the top spot from May 2019 until April 2020, when he suffered a loss to current No. 1 Taio Asahisa. After dropping back-to-back fights, Hayashi returned to the win column at 65 kilograms against Brazilian Vitor Toffanelli. The skilled former champion dropped his Brazilian opponent three times in under two rounds to earn the TKO victory, his 14th career knockout in 19 wins. However, the rankings have since been adjusted to where the cutoff for the super-bantamweight division is 64 kilograms. Hayashi’s permanent move up in weight makes him eligible to be ranked at featherweight in the future.
- Takeru (1)
- Leona Pettas (2)
- Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
- Kosuke Komiyama (4)
- Kouzi (5)
- Tomoya Yokoyama (7)
- Yuta Murakoshi (8)
- Zhang Lanpei (-)
- Zhao Chongyang (6)
- Tatsuya Oiwa (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Kotaro Shimano (9)
The bantamweight division featured a shake-up following multiple top-10 competitors taking defeats. The 2020 WLF China 60-kg tournament winner Zhang Lanpei re-entered the win column — and the rankings — after stopping Enfusion 60-kilogram champ Zhao Chongyang for the second time in six months to earn his seventh win in his past nine fights. Lanpei lands in the eighth spot in the rankings with the knockout victory, while Chongyang drops three spots to ninth. Kotaro Shimano was bested by Tenma Sano via unanimous decision at the K-1 World GP 2021: Japan Bantamweight Tournament. However, Sano had lost three of his past four bouts prior to the victory and therefore wasn’t able to break into the top 10. Shimano drops out of the rankings after his second loss in three fights.
- Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
- Tatsuya Tsubakihara (2)
- Yuuki Egawa (3)
- Haruma Saikyo (4)
- Astemir Borsov (5)
- Sam-A Gaiyanghadao (6)
- Jawsuayai Sor.Dechaphan (7)
- Aslanbek Zikreev (8)
- Wang Junguang (9)
- Hirotaka Urabe (10)
K-1 featherweight world champion Tatsuya Tsubakihara remains firmly placed in the second spot in the super-flyweight rankings following a unanimous-decision victory over former NJKF bantamweight titleholder Shuhei Kumura at the K-1 World GP 2021: Japan Bantamweight Tournament. It was Tsubakihara’s fifth consecutive victory.
- Masashi Kumura (1)
- Kazuki Osaki (2)
- Akihiro Kaneko (3)
- Shiro Matsumoto (4)
- Masahiko Suzuki (5)
- Koudai Hirayama (6)
- Toma Kuroda (-)
- Toki Tamaru (7)
- Jin Mandokoro (8)
- Kazuki Miburo (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Junki Sasaki (10)
The flyweight division features a number of changes following the K-1 World GP bantamweight tournament to determine the inaugural 53-kilogram champion. Toma Kuroda, one of the tournament favorites, had an incredible night of performances, with three victories and two incredible knockouts on his way to claiming the belt and his place in the top 10. In the opening round, TOMA knocked out 2019 K-1 Koshien 55-kilogram titleholder Koji Ikeda with a flying knee. In the semifinals, he earned a one-sided decision victory over 2018 K-1 Koshien 55-kilogram champion Hinata Matsumoto. In his most impressive performance of the night, he knocked out current Krush bantamweight champ Kazuki Miburo with one punch in just over 30 seconds. Kuroda makes his debut in the rankings at seventh. However, due to the creation of the 53-kilogram division in K-1, the flyweight division could be split into 55- and 53-kilogram rankings in the future. Miburo, who was previously undefeated, experienced a tough road to the finals, but he picked up excellent victories over 2020 K-1 Koshien 55-kilogram winner Noda Aoi and runner-up Naoki Omura in the tournament quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. Despite his victory on the same event, former Krush champion Junki Sasaki, who notched a majority-decision win over Rat Eiwasportsgym, drops outside of the top 10 as a result of Kuroda’s entry.
- Takeru (1)
- Tenshin Nasukawa (2)
- Marat Grigorian (3)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (4)
- Cédric Doumbé (5)
- Alex Pereira (6)
- Superbon Banchamek (7)
- Wei Rui (8)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (9)
- Rico Verhoeven (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Anissa Meksen (1)
- Tiffany van Soest (2)
- Iman Barlow (3)
- Hinata Terayama (7)
- Josefine Knutsson (5)
- Sarel de Jong (6)
- Kotomi (8)
- KANA (9)
- Manazo Kobayashi (10)
- Miho Takanashi (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Jorina Baars (4)
RISE champion Hinata Terayama, the 2020 “Female Fighter of the Year,” extended her winning streak to 12 fights with a unanimous-decision victory in a defense of her 49-kilogram belt against Akari at RISE on Abema 2. She moves up to fourth in the rankings following the removal of Jorina Baars due to inactivity. Baars’ departure opens the door for Miho Takanashi to take over the 10th spot.
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.