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)
Second-ranked Antonio Plazibat firmly cemented himself as the next title challenger for the GLORY heavyweight crown after his third-round stoppage of Seventh-ranked Tarik Khbabez at the GLORY 80 Studio event, which was held to make up for the absolute madness that happened during GLORY 80 following fans rioting in the stands.
- Artem Vakhitov (1)
- Luis Tavares (2)
- Sergej Maslobojev (3)
- Donegi Abena (4)
- Stéphane Susperregui (5)
- Felipe Micheletti (6)
- Gökhan Saki (-)
- Danyo Ilunga (9)
- Mahmoud Sattari (-)
- Anthony Leroy (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Ariel Machado (7), Zinedine Hameur-Lain (8), Michael Duut (10)
Zinedine Hameur-Lain drops out of the light heavyweight rankings following his upset decision loss against Anthony Leroy at Stars Night. The light heavyweight division features a number of changes due to inactivity, which includes the return of Gökhan Saki and the debuts of Krush 90-kilogram champ Mahmoud Sattari and France’s Anthony Leroy.
- Donovan Wisse (1)
- Sergey Ponomarev (2)
- Serkan Ozcaglayan (3)
- Sher Mamazulunov (4)
- Nikos Tzotzos Echetlaios (-)
- Maxim Vorovski (6)
- Andrei Chekhonin (7)
- Jonatan Oliveira (9)
- Mohammed Ghaedibareh (5)
- Khalid El Bakouri (8)
Dropped from the rankings: Sergey Veselkin (10)
In a showdown of top middleweight talents, Enfusion champion Mohammed Ghaedibareh and Greece’s Nikos Tzotzos Echetlaios ended in a strange and unusual way when Ghaedibareh left the cage after refusing to compete in the fourth round after the fight was ruled a draw. Echetlaios scored a flying knee knockdown in the third round to even up the scorecards and eventually win the contest via retirement to earn the Vendetta middleweight title at Vendetta 25.
- Regian Eersel (1)
- Alim Nabiev (2)
- Dmitry Menshikov (3)
- Mohamed “Hamicha” Mezouari (4)
- Endy Semeleer (5)
- Nieky Holzken (6)
- Robin Ciric (7)
- Mohamed Touchassie (8)
- Jamie Bates (9)
- Harut Grigorian (10)
There were no fighters in action during the month of May, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (1)
- Marat Grigorian (2)
- Chingiz Allazov (3)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (4)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (5)
- Tayfun Özcan (7)
- Tyjani Beztati (8)
- Mohammed Boutasaa (-)
- Davit Kiria (6)
- Mamuka Usubyan (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Enriko Kehl (9)
GLORY lightweight champion Tyjani Beztati scored a dominant victory over top contender Josh Jauncey at the GLORY 80 Studio event to push himself up the lightweight rankings with his third straight win and second victory over his Canadian-born opponent. 22-year-old Mohammed Boutasaa scored a huge upset over former GLORY lightweight king Davit Kiria to make his debut in the Combat Press rankings following his impressive decision nod at ONE Championship 157.
- Masaaki Noiri (1)
- Jia Aoqi (2)
- Wang Pengfei (3)
- Qiu Jianliang (4)
- Rukiya Anpo (5)
- Liu Xiangming (6)
- Tie Yinghua (7)
- Ryoto Nakano (10)
- Ayinta Ali (8)
- Kaisei Kondo (9)
Ryoto Nakano captured the vacant RISE welterweight title following a brutal second-round knockout over former unbeaten Ryoya Inai at RISE 158. The 25-year-old stretched his winning streak to six where he won multiples titles, including the WBC Muay Thai Japan, NJKF, and S-1 welterweight titles.
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (1)
- Hiroki Akimoto (2)
- Wei Rui (3)
- Tetsuya Yamato (4)
- Hideaki Yamazaki (5)
- Daizo Sasaki (6)
- Capitan Petchyindee (7)
- Aleksei Ulianov (8)
- Meng Gaofeng (9)
- Kosei Yamada (10)
There were no fighters in action during the month of May, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Kongnapa Weerasakreck (1)
- Yuki Yoza (2)
- Taio Asahisa (3)
- Koya Urabe (4)
- Zheng Jungfeng (5)
- Jin Ying (6)
- Zhu Shuai (7)
- Yuma Saikyo (-)
- Taiju Shiratori (9)
- Fumiya Osawa (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Yuto Shinohara (8), Shuji Kawarada (10)
Yuma Saikyo debuts in the super bantamweight rankings following his second round knockout over Yuki Masui at Krush 136. Former K-1 lightweight one-night tournament finalist Fumiya Osawa captured the Krush lightweight title following his unanimous decision defeat over former titleholder Shuji Kawarada.
- Takeru (1)
- Leona Pettas (2)
- Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
- Ilias Ennahachi (4)
- Yuta Murakoshi (5)
- Chihiro Nakajima (6)
- Tomoya Yokoyama (7)
- Huang Shuailu (8)
- Tatsuya Oiwa (9)
- Ryusei Ashizawa (10)
There were no fighters in action during the month of May, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
- Gunji Taito (2)
- Tatsuya Tsubakihara (3)
- Shuhei Kumura (-)
- Takahito Niimi (4)
- TOMA (5)
- Taisei Umei (6)
- Ryoga Hirano (7)
- Keisuke Monguchi (9)
- Taiki Sawatani (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Masaki Takeuchi (8)
Shuhei Kumura unseated top-ranked Krush featherweight champion Takahito Niimi following a close, but clear unanimous decision victory at Krush 137. Kumura earns his third straight win while Niimi has fallen on hard times with three losses in his past four contests, albiet against top-10 competition. Masaki Takeuchi drops out of the super flyweight rankings following his third loss in four fights, which came against Riku Morisaka at Krush 136.
- Tenshin Nasukawa (1)
- Akihiro Kaneko (2)
- Masashi Kumura (3)
- Shiro Matsumoto (4)
- Masahiko Suzuki (5)
- Rui Ebata (6)
- Junki Sasaki (8)
- Riamu Sera (9)
- Koki Osaki (-)
- Yugo Kato (7)
Drops from the rankings: Yuki Kyotani (10)
Top-10 strawweight Koki Osaki was rewarded for his moved to flyweight. The BOM 54-kilogram champ stopped formerly seventh-ranked Yugo Kato via cut stoppage in the fifth and final round at NO KICK NO LIFE to make his debut in the flyweight rankings.
- Kazuki Osaki (1)
- Kazane (2)
- Shiro Matsumoto (3)
- Kodai Hirayama (4)
- Jin Mandokoro (5)
- Toma Kuroda (6)
- Koki Osaki (7)
- Koji Ikeda (8)
- Kazuki Miburo (9)
- Ryoga Terayama (10)
The only fighter in action during the month of May was Koki Osaki, who competed up in weight at the end of the month. He will remain ranked at strawweight for the time being. However, he will be subject to being dropped from the divisional rankings should he not compete at strawweight in the following months.
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (1)
- Tenshin Nasukawa (2)
- Takeru (3)
- Marat Grigorian (4)
- Artem Vakhitov (5)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (6)
- Wei Rui (7)
- Rico Verhoeven (9)
- Kazuki Osaki (10)
- Masaaki Noiri (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (8)
Due to his inconsistent schedule and multiple losses under Muay Thai rules, GLORY featherweight champion Petchpanomrung exits the pound-for-pound rankings. In his place enters two-division K-1 champion Masaaki Noiri.
- Tiffany van Soest (1)
- Anissa Meksen (2)
- Hinata Terayama (3)
- Sarel de Jong (4)
- Kotomi (5)
- KANA (6)
- Miho Takanashi (7)
- Manazo Kobayashi (8)
- Janet Todd (10)
- Sarah Moussadak (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Maurine Atef (9)
France’s Sarah Moussadak won the WAKO 56-kilogram world title following her decision victory over Anta Marina Sanchez at Fighting Edition in Orchies, France. She replaces fellow countrywoman Maurine Atef, who drops out of the top-10 due to inactivity.
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.