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.
- Rico Verhoeven (1)
- Antonio Plazibat (2)
- Roman Kryklia (3)
- Benjamin Adegbuyi (4)
- Zabit Samedov (5)
- Murat Aygün (6)
- Tarik Khbabez (7)
- Levi Rigters (8)
- Nordine Mahieddine (9)
- Rade Opačić (10)
There were no fighters in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Artem Vakhitov (1)
- Luis Tavares (2)
- Sergej Maslobojev (3)
- Donegi Abena (4)
- Stéphane Susperregui (5)
- Felipe Micheletti (6)
- Ariel Machado (7)
- Zinedine Hameur-Lain (8)
- Danyo Ilunga (9)
- Michael Duut (10)
The only fighter in action during the month was third-ranked Sergej Maslobojev, who earned a unanimous decision victory over Georgia’s Nika Kulumbegashvili at KOK 99 in Vilnuis, Lithuania.
- Donovan Wisse (1)
- Sergey Ponomarev (2)
- Serkan Ozcaglayan (3)
- Sher Mamazulunov (4)
- Mohammed Ghaedibareh (5)
- Maxim Vorovski (6)
- Andrei Chekhonin (7)
- Khalid El Bakouri (8)
- Jonatan Oliveira (9)
- Sergey Veselkin (10)
There were no fighters in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Regian Eersel (1)
- Alim Nabiev (2)
- Dmitry Menshikov (5)
- Mohamed “Hamicha” Mezouari (3)
- Endy Semeleer (6)
- Nieky Holzken (4)
- Robin Ciric (7)
- Jamie Bates (8)
- Harut Grigorian (9)
- Yohan Lidon (10)
Fourth-ranked Nieky Holzken was knocked out in the second round by short-notice replacement Sinsamut Klinmee under Muay Thai rules at ONE X. However, Holzken drops in the rankings due to his recent kickboxing resume.
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (1)
- Marat Grigorian (2)
- Chingiz Allazov (5)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (3)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (4)
- Davit Kiria (6)
- Tayfun Özcan (7)
- Tyjani Beztati (8)
- Enriko Kehl (9)
- Samy Sana (10)
In a battle of the top-ranked lightweights, Superbon defended his ONE featherweight title for the first time against former GLORY titleholder Marat Grigorian at ONE: X, cementing his place atop the 70-kilogram rankings. Elsewhere on the card, former K-1 champion Chingiz Allazov put on a phenomal performance against former perennial top-ranked lightweight Sitthichai to capture the ONE featherweight world grand prix. Allazov avenged his 2014 loss to Sitthichai, pushed his winning streak to three, and earned a future title shot against the now defending champion Superbon.
- Masaaki Noiri (1)
- Jia Aoqi (2)
- Wang Pengfei (3)
- Qiu Jianliang (4)
- Rukiya Anpo (7)
- Liu Xiangming (5)
- Tie Yinghua (6)
- Ali Ayinta (8)
- Kaisei Kondo (9)
- Ryoto Nakano (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Takeharu Ogawa (10)
Top-ranked super featherweight Masaaki Noiri continued his reign of dominance following another beautiful knockout victory over Kona Kato at K’Festa.5. The K-1 welterweight champion has won nine straight, including four consectuive stoppage wins. At the same event, Rukiya Anpo landed a devastating body shot to stop Thailand’s Playchumpon Sor.Srisomphong in the first round for his fifth win in his past six fights at the weight. Current NJKF titleholder Ryoto Nakano makes his debut in the top-10 following his fifth straight win and most recent victory over Masashi Nakajima at RISE 156.
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (1)
- Hiroki Akimoto (4)
- Wei Rui (3)
- Tetsuya Yamato (-)
- Hideaki Yamazaki (2)
- Daizo Sasaki (6)
- Capitan Petchyindee (5)
- Aleksei Ulianov (7)
- Meng Gaofeng (8)
- Kosei Yamada (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Kevin VanNostrand (9), Petchtanong Petchfergus (10)
There were some major changes in the featherweight rankings during the month of March and April. Former Lion Fight champion Tetsuya Yamato earned one of the biggest wins of his career when he shocked the world by stopping Hideaki Yamazaki’s six-fight winning streak to capture the K-1 super lightweight title at K’Festa.5. He makes his debut in the ranking after a massive upset that overshadows all of the struggles he’s had in the latter part of his career. Hiroki Akimoto continued his ascenscion of the featherweight ranks after a wonderful back-and-forth brawl with former top-five ranked Capitan Petchyindee at ONE: X. He earned his fifth straight win in his title-winning performance, moved to 26-1 as a professional, stopped Capitan’s 16-fight winning streak, and cemented himself as the second best featherweight in the world behind GLORY champ Petchpanomrung. Speaking of the best of the best in the division, China’s Wei Rui scored his 18th straight win following a decision victory over long-time Kun Khmer veteran Phal Sophorn in Wu Lin Feng’s first international event in over two years, Wu Lin Feng 529 in Cambodia. RISE super lightweight titleholder Kosei Yamada returns to the rankings following his third-round knockout victory over top-ranked super bantamweight and RISE lightweight champ Naoki Tanaka.
- Kongnapa Weerasakreck (1)
- Yuki Yoza (2)
- Taio Asahisa (3)
- Kento Haraguchi (4)
- Koya Urabe (5)
- Naoki Tanaka (6)
- Zheng Jungfeng (7)
- Jin Ying (8)
- Zhu Shuai (9)
- Yuto Shinohara (10)
Top-ranked super bantamweight Kongnapa Weerasakreck landed a beautiful flying knee in the first round of his bout with Shoya Suzuki at K’Festa.5 to remain at the top of the rankings. Fourth-ranked Kento Haraguchi dominated Lompetch Y’zdgym enroute to a first-round stoppage to get back in the win column at RISE El Dorado 2022. Sixth-ranked Naoki Tanaka fell short in his bid to defeate RISE 65-kilogram champ Kosei Yamada at the same event. Due to fighting at 65-kilograms in their past few fights, Haraguchi and Tanaka will be removed from the super bantamweight rankings next month. Eigth-ranked and 2021 WLF Contender League winner Jin Ying earned two victories in one-night to keep his four-fight winning streak alive at Wu Lin Feng 528. Ninth-ranked Zhu Shuai returned to the win column after a win over Russian Sergei Lutchenko at the same event.
- Takeru (1)
- Leona Pettas (2)
- Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
- Ilias Ennahachi (4)
- Yuta Murakoshi (5)
- Chihiro Nakajima (6)
- Tomoya Yokoyama (7)
- Huang Shuailu (-)
- Tatsuya Oiwa (10)
- Ryusei Ashizawa (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Zhao Chongyang (8), Zhao Boshi (9), Zhang Lanpei (10)
Wu Lin Feng champion Hirotaka Asahisa landed a brutal knee knockout over fifth-ranked Yuta Murakoshi at K’Festa.5 to maintain his ranking in the top three of the bantamweight division. Huang Shuailu makes his debut in the bantamweight rankings following a 60-kilogram tournament win at Wu Lin Feng 528 where he earned victories over formerly eighth-ranked Zhao Chongyang and Yang Ming, who defeated formerly ninth-ranked Zhao Boshi in their semifinal bout. Bigbang lightweight champion Tatsuya Oiwa earned his third-straight victory after defeating former K-1 titleholder Yuki Egawa. Due to the action at the bottom of the rankings, Ryusei Ashizawa returns to the rankings following three wins in his past four bouts. Zhang Lanpei drops out of the bantamweight rankings due to competing at a higher weight in his past few fights. He will be eligible to be ranked again if he competes in the weight class.
- Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
- Gunji Taito (2)
- Tatsuya Tsubakihara (3)
- Takahito Niimi (4)
- TOMA (5)
- Masahide Kudo (6)
- Taisei Umei (-)
- Ryoga Hirano (7)
- Masaki Takeuchi (8)
- Keisuke Monguchi (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Kaito (9)
Top-ranked Tenshin Nasukawa took on his former teammate Kazane in what was his last bout with the RISE organization before his retirement from the sport of kickboxing. The bout took place at 55-kilograms, so it has no bearing on his ranking in the super flyweight division. However, his next bout against three-division K-1 champ Takeru is schedule to take place at 58-kilograms. Second-ranked Gunji Taito defeated top-five ranked opponent Toma Tanabe after an extension round at K’Festa.5 to push his winning streak to five. In a battle of two of the best in the division, former K-1 titleholder Tatsuya Tsubakihara edged out Krush champion Takahito Niimi over the course of three rounds to sustain his ranking. The division featured a number of changes at the bottom of the rankings as multiple fighters took losses during the month. Taisei Umei captured the RISE featherweight title with his second victory over Ryoga Hirano, this time by majority decision at RISE 156. Formerly ninth-ranked Kaito drops out of the rankings following his majority decision loss to Kyo Kawakami at Shootboxing 2022 Act. 2.
- Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
- Akihiro Kaneko (2)
- Masashi Kumura (3)
- Shiro Matsumoto (5)
- Masahiko Suzuki (4)
- Rui Ebata (6)
- Yugo Kato (7)
- Junki Sasaki (8)
- Riamu Sera (9)
- Yuki Kyotani (10)
Tenshin remained in the top spot at flyweight following his decision nod over second-ranked strawweight Kazane at RISE El Dorado 2022. RISE 55-kilogram champion Masahiko Suzuki earned his third-straight victory with a unanimous decision win over Mutsuki Ebata at the same event. However, he drops in the rankings because multiple-time RISE tournament finalist Shiro Matsumoto scored one of the best knockouts of the year over Mutsuki’s brother, Rui Ebata at the same event. He jumps over Suzuki to settle in the fourth spot in the top-10.
- Kazuki Osaki (1)
- Kazane (2)
- Shiro Matsumoto (3)
- Kodai Hirayama (4)
- Jin Mandokoro (5)
- Toma Kuroda (6)
- Koki Osaki (8)
- Koji Ikeda (-)
- Kazuki Miburo (7)
- Ryoga Terayama (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Toki Tamaru (10)
The best straweight in the world Kazuki Osaki extended his 13-fight winning streak with a majority decision nod over Kanta Tabuchi at RISE 156. Second-ranked Kazane dropped a closely contested bout against pound-for-pound great Tenshin Nasukawa up in weight. Shiro Matsumoto also competed up a weight class, defeating his ranked opponent with a brilliantly set-up high kick. Kodai Hirayama finally returned to the win column after back-to-back losses against Shiro with a decision victory over Azusa Kaneko at HOOST CUP Kings Kyoto 9 ~Reversal~. Fifth-ranked Jin Mandokoro’s bout with Syuto Sato ended in a no contest at RIZIN 34 following an accidental injury. Koji Ikeda made his debut in the rankings following the biggest victory of his career, a majority decision over Kazuki Miburo to capture the Krush 53-kilogram title at Krush 135.
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (1)
- Tenshin Nasukawa (2)
- Takeru (3)
- Marat Grigorian (4)
- Artem Vakhitov (5)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (6)
- Wei Rui (7)
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (8)
- Rico Verhoeven (9)
- Kazuki Osaki (10)
Five of the top-10 fighters were in action during the month. However, the rankings remain unchanged following the results. Superbon, Tenshin, Rui, and Osaki all claimed victories while Grigorian fell short against top-ranked Superbon.
- Tiffany van Soest (1)
- Anissa Meksen (2)
- Hinata Terayama (3)
- Sarel de Jong (4)
- Kotomi (5)
- KANA (6)
- Miho Takanashi (7)
- Manazo Kobayashi (8)
- Maurine Atef (9)
- Janet Todd (10)
There were no fighters in action in the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last two years. 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.