Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: January 2022

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 strawweight, 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.

1. Rico Verhoeven (1)
2. Antonio Plazibat (2)
3. Roman Kryklia (3)
4. Benjamin Adegbuyi (4)
5. Zabit Samedov (5)
6. Murat Aygün (6)
7. Tarik Khbabez (7)
8. Levi Rigters (8)
9. Nordine Mahieddine (9)
10. Fabio Kwasi (10)

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

1. Artem Vakhitov (1)
2. Luis Tavares (2)
3. Sergej Maslobojev (3)
4. Donegi Abena (4)
5. Stéphane Susperregui (5)
6. Felipe Micheletti (6)
7. Ariel Machado (7)
8. Zinedine Hameur-Lain (8)
9. Danyo Ilunga (9)
10. Michael Duut (10)

Stéphane Susperregui won a one-night, four-man tournament at K1 Event 14 in Troyes, France. In his first fight in nearly two years, the fifth-ranked light heavyweight defeated Romania’s Yuri Farcaș in the semifinals of the tournament. He capped off his performance with a decision victory over fellow countryman Pascal Touré in the finals.

1. Donovan Wisse (1)
2. Yousri Belgaroui (2)
3. Artem Levin (3)
4. Hicham El Gaoui (4)
5. Ulric Bokeme (5)
6. César Almeida (6)
7. Sher Mamazulunov (7)
8. Maxim Vorovski (8)
9. Mohammed Ghaedibareh (9)
10. Khalid El Bakouri (10)

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

1. Cédric Doumbé (1)
2. Regian Eersel (2)
3. Alim Nabiev (3)
4. Mohamed “Hamicha” Mezouari (4)
5. Nieky Holzken (5)
6. Dmitry Menshikov (6)
7. Endy Semeleer (7)
8. Jamie Bates (8)
9. Robin Ciric (9)
10. Yohan Lidon (10)

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

1. Superbon Banchamek (1)
2. Marat Grigorian (2)
3. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (3)
4. Giorgio Petrosyan (4)
5. Davit Kiria (5)
6. Chingiz Allazov (6)
7. Tayfun Özcan (7)
8. Tyjani Beztati (8)
9. Enriko Kehl (9)
10. Samy Sana (10)

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

1. Masaaki Noiri (1)
2. Jia Aoqi (2)
3. Jordann Pikeur (3)
4. Wang Pengfei (4)
5. Qiu Jianliang (5)
6. Liu Xiangming (6)
7. Tie Yinghua (7)
8. Rukiya Anpo (8)
9. Tawanchai P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym (9)
10. Ji Xiang (10)

Fourth-ranked Wang Pengfei unsuccessfully attempted to defend his Wu Lin Feng 65-kilogram title against rising star Meng Gaofeng. The 2021 ‘Fighter of the Year’ candidate will remain ranked at super featherweight unless he competes twice in a row at 65-kilograms. Due to his ability to fight at 65 and 67-kilograms, Pengfei is eligible to be ranked in the top-10 in either weight division. He is scheduled to face familar foe Jia Aoqi for the WLF 67-kilogram contender league tournament title in early 2022.

1. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (1)
2. Hideaki Yamazaki (2)
3. Wei Rui (3)
4. Hiroki Akimoto (4)
5. Capitan Petchyindee (5)
6. Daizo Sasaki (6)
7. Aleksei Ulianov (7)
8. Meng Gaofeng (-)
9. Kevin VanNostrand (9)
10. Petchtanong Petchfergus (8)

Dropped from the rankings: Serhiy Adamchuk (10)

Third-ranked Wei Rui scored a knockdown and earned a unanimous decision victory over Russia’s Sergei Lutchenko in his first fight of 2022. The former K-1 and WLF King’s Super Cup victor pushed his winning streak to 17 and overall record to 66-3. Chinese prospect Meng Gaofeng finally broke through in 2022 with a huge victory over WLF 65-kilogram champ and fourth-ranked super bantamweight Wang Pengfei.

1. Taio Asahisa (1)
2. Konnapar Weerasakreck (2)
3. Kento Haraguchi (3)
4. Koya Urabe (4)
5. Naoki Tanaka (5)
6. Dennis Wosik (6)
7. Zheng Jungfeng (7)
8. Jin Ying (8)
9. Zhu Shuai (9)
10. Shuji Kawarada (10)

RISE champ Naoki Tanaka scored a third-round knockout victory against Jaroenchai Jor Rachadakon at RISE 153. Tanaka has won four straight, 12 of his past 13, and only came up short in that stretch against third-ranked Kento Haraguchi. The bout took place at 65-kilograms, therefore Tanaka’s stoppage win with not affect the super bantamweight rankings. Eighth-ranked Jin Ying earned his fifth win in his past six bouts when he bested Wei Weiyang at Wu Lin Feng 526.

1. Takeru (1)
2. Leona Pettas (2)
3. Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
4. Ilias Ennahachi (4)
5. Yuta Murakoshi (5)
6. Tomoya Yokoyama (6)
7. Zhao Chongyang (10)
8. Zhao Boshi (8)
9. Zhang Lanpei (9)
10. Tatsuya Oiwa (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Kouzi (7)

Former Enfusion champion Zhao Chongyang scored a third-round knockout win over Thailand’s Peimangkhon at the first Wu Lin Feng event of the new year, Wu Lin Feng 526. RISE prospect YA-MAN earned a majority decision victory over formerly seventh-ranked Kouzi at RIZIN 33. However, the fight took place at a catchweight of 62-kilograms, which means that YA-MAN will not be ranked at bantamweight. Tatsuya Oiwa re-enters the rankings following the change at the bottom of the division.

1. Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
2. Gunji Taito (2)
3. Tatsuya Tsubakihara (3)
4. Takahito Niimi (4)
5. TOMA (6)
6. Masahide Kudo (5)
7. Masaki Takeuchi (7)
8. Kaito (8)
9. Keisuke Monguchi (9)
10. Jawsuayai Sor.Dechaphan (10)

Top-ranked super flyweight Tenshin Nasukawa returned to the ring in December. However, he competed in a short notice boxing exhibition against former Pride FC lightweight champion and UFC veteran Takanori Goki. It’s unfortunate that Tenshin did not compete under kickboxing rules for his final RIZIN bout, however. Tenshin is scheduled to have two more fights before he retires, one of which will come against Takeru in Summer 2022. Krush titleholder Takahito Niimi stopped Tatsuki Shinotsuka in the second round following three knockdowns at Krush 132. The fourth-ranked super flyweight firmly cemented his place in the top 5 with his fifth win in his past six bouts. Tenth-ranked Jawsuayai Sor.Dechaphan bested Tuangsap Sor.Salacheep at Rajadamnern stadium in a Muay Thai rules bout.

1. Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
2. Masashi Kumura (2)
3. Akihiro Kaneko (3)
4. Shiro Matsumoto (4)
5. Masahiko Suzuki (5)
6. Rui Ebata (6)
7. Junki Sasaki (7)
8. Riamu (8)
9. Yugo Kato (9)
10. Yuki Kyotani (10)

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

1. Kazuki Osaki (1)
2. Kazane (2)
3. Shiro Matsumoto (3)
4. Kodai Hirayama (4)
5. Jin Mandokoro (5)
6. Toma Kuroda (6)
7. Kazuki Miburo (7)
8. Koki Osaki (8)
9. Ryoga Terayama (9)
10. Toki Tamaru (10)

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

1. Superbon Banchamek (1)
2. Tenshin Nasukawa (2)
3. Takeru (3)
4. Marat Grigorian (4)
5. Artem Vakhitov (5)
6. Giorgio Petrosyan (6)
7. Wei Rui (8)
8. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (7)
9. Rico Verhoeven (9)
10. Kazuki Osaki (10)/ Taio Asahisa (10)

Wei Rui kept his 17-fight winning streak alive with a dominant victory to open 2022. China’s best fighter overtakes GLORY 65-kilogram champion Petchpanomrung with excellence in two separate weight divisions.

1. Anissa Meksen (1)
2. Tiffany van Soest (2)
3. Hinata Terayama (3)
4. Sarel de Jong (5)
5. Kotomi (7)
6. KANA (8)
7. Manazo Kobayashi (9)
8. Miho Takanashi (10)
9. Maurine Atef (-)
10. Janet Todd (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Iman Barlow (4), Josefine Knutsson (6)

Fourth-ranked Iman Barlow dropped from the rankings due to not competing under kickboxing rules in over two years. Sixth-ranked Josefine Knutsson made a successful transition to mixed martial arts, where she went 3-0 in 2021. ONE kickboxing atomweight champion Janet Todd and France’s Maurine Atef make their debut in the rankings.

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Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last 24 months. Any fighter that chooses to switch weight classes will be ranked in their previous weight class until they have competed once in their new division.