Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: June 2023

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. Guto Inocente (4)
5. Rade Opačić (6)
6. Levi Rigters (7)
7. Iraj Azizpour (8)
8. Kevin Tariq Osaro (9)
9. Sofian Laidouni (-)
10. Françesko Xhaja (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Benjamin Adegbuyi (5)

At GLORY 86 on May 27, Benjamin Adegbuyi lost, technically, his third fight in a row to the surging 28-year-old Sofian Laidouni. In turn, this marks the third win in a row for Laidouni. This causes Adegbuyi to drop from his No. 5 spot out of the rankings, and Laidouni enters at No. 9. This shifts a few guys up a spot.

1. Artem Vakhitov (1)
2. Donegi Abena (2)
3. Sergej Maslobojev (3)
4. Nikita Kozlov (4)
5. Felipe Micheletti (5)
6. Ibrahim El Bouni (6)
7. Lukas Achterberg (7)
8. Valery Bizyaev (8)
9. Ștefan Lătescu (9)
10. Pascal Touré (10)

The light heavyweight division finally saw some action again in May, and all three fights took place on May 13.. At RCC 15, fourth-ranked Nikita Kozlov extended his winning streak to 14 with a spinning backfist in Round 3 to take out Brazil’s Gustavo Jones. That same day, at Senshi 16 in Bulgaria, No. 7 Lukas Achterberg scored a majority decision win over Olivier Langlois-Ross. Finally, at DFS 19, ninth-ranked Ștefan Lătescu knocked out Adam Kosut in the first round. All three fighters remain in their current positions in the rankings.

1. Donovan Wisse (1)
2. Islam Murtazaev (2)
3. Sergey Ponomarev (3)
4. César Almeida (4)
5. Serkan Özçağlayan (5)
6. Khalid El Bakouri (6)
7. Sergej Braun (7)
8. Michael Boapeah (8)
9. Ulric Bokeme (9)
10. Eduard Aleksanyan (10)

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

1. Regian Eersel (1)
2. Endy Semeleer (2)
3. Alim Nabiev (3)
4. Dmitry Menshikov (4)
5. Mohamed Touchassie (5)
6. Jay Overmeer (6)
7. Constantin Rusu (7)
8. Chico Kwasi (8)
9. Jamie Bates (9)
10. Harut Grigorian (10)

At GLORY 86 on May 27, Chico Kwasi picked up a unanimous decision victory over Robin Ciric to maintain his No. 8 spot in the rankings.

1. Chingiz Allazov (1)
2. Superbon Singha Mawynn (2)
3. Marat Grigorian (3)
4. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (4)
5. Tyjani Beztati (5)
6. Giorgio Petrosyan (6)
7. Tayfun Özcan (7)
8. Mamuka Usubyan (8)
9. Kaito Ono (10)
10. Mohammed Siasarani

Dropped from the rankings: Mohammed Boutasaa (9)

On May 26, ONE Friday Fights 19 showcased a battle of the Mohammeds, as Boutasaa faced Siasarani. After three rounds, Siasarani had dominated Boutasaa to pick up the decision. This bumps Boutasaa from the rankings, as Siasarani enters at No. 10.

1. Jia Aoqi (1)
2. Rukiya Anpo (2)
3. Ayinta Ali (3)
4. Ryota Nakano (4)
5. Han Wenbao (5)
6. Zhou Jiaqiang (6)
7. Meng Gaofeng (7)
8. Wang Pengfei (8)
9. Kona Kato (9)
10. Riki Matsuoka (10)

At RIZIN 42 on May 6, Rukiya Anpo moved up to fight Buakaw Banchamek at 154 pounds. The fight ended in a draw, but it does not affect the super featherweight rankings. That same day, No. 7 Meng Gaofeng picked up a third-round TKO at Huya Kung Fu Carnival to keep his position. Lastly, at Wu Lin Feng 538 on May 27, Han Wenbao picked scored a decision win over Alexander Skvortsov to keep his fifth place in the rankings.

1. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (1)
2. Petchtanong Petchfergus (2)
3. Hiroki Akimoto (3)
4. Tetsuya Yamato (4)
5. Wei Rui (5)
6. Kento Haraguchi (6)
7. Chihiro Suzuki (7)
8. Taiju Shiratori (8)
9. Daizo Sasaki (9)
10. Hideaki Yamazaki (10)

At GLORY 86, the top-ranked Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao continued his run of dominance when he outworked Ahmad Chikh Mousa through five rounds.

1. Yuki Yoza (1)
2. Kongnapa Weerasakreck (2)
3. Taio Asahisa (3)
4. Zhu Shuai (4)
5. Jin Ying (5)
6. Chadd Collins (6)
7. Fumiya Osawa (7)
8. Chan Hyung Lee (8)
9. Kan Nakamura (9)
10. Hiroki Kasahara (10)

On May 14, No. 6 Chadd Collins extended his overall winning streak to seven, when he beat Ratchasing Petchyindee at the Hoost Cup Kickboxing World Cup in Tokyo. Also in action in May, No. 5 Jin Ying won the one-night -63 kilogram tournament at Wu Ling Feng 537 with one TKO and two decision wins. Both men keep their spots in the rankings.

1. Leona Pettas (1)
2. Hirotaka Asahisa (2)
3. Ilias Ennahachi (3)
4. Chan Hyung Lee (4)
5. Hyuma Hitachi (5)
6. Yuta Murakoshi (6)
7. Yuki Kasahara (7)
8. Chihiro Nakajima (8)
9. Tomoya Yokoyama (9)
10. Huang Shuailu (10)

At Wu Lin Feng 537 on May 2, Hirotaka Asahisa won a unanimous decision over Yang Ming to keep his No. 2 spot in the rankings.

1. Taito Gunji (1)
2. Haruto Yasumoto (2)
3. Toma Tanabe (3)
4. Shoki Kaneda (4)
5. Tatsuya Tsubakihara (5)
6. Wang Junguang (6)
7. Keisuke Monguchi (7)
8. Riku Morisaka (8)
9. Shuhei Kumura (9)
10. Ryusei Kumagai (10)

On May 21, Haruto Yasumoto stayed in the win column with a majority decision victory over Kiyoto Takahashi in Tokyo. He maintains his position at No. 2.

1. Shiro Matsumoto (1)
2. Masashi Kumura (2)
3. Masahiko Suzuki (3)
4. Akihiro Kaneko (4)
5. Kompetch Sitsarawatsuer (5)
6. Koki Osaki (6)
7. Rui Ebata (7)
8. Junki Sasaki (8)
9. Mutsuki Ebata (9)
10. Jonathan Di Bella (10)

Koki Osaki was the only flyweight in action during May, as he scored three knockdowns of Ryoga Terayama at RISE 168. He stays put at No. 6.

1. Kazuki Osaki (1)
2. Toki Tamaru (2)
3. Kazane Nagai (3)
4. Toma Kuroda (4)
5. Ryu Hanaoka (5)
6. Jin Mandokoro (6)
7. Issei Ishii (7)
8. Koji Ikeda (8)
9. Kazuki Miburo (9)
10. Ryuki Matsuda (10)

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

1. Chingiz Allazov (1)
2. Superbon Singha Mawynn (2)
3. Marat Grigorian (3)
4. Kazuki Osaki (4)
5. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (5)
6. Artem Vakhitov (6)
7. Wei Rui (7)
8. Rico Verhoeven (8)
9. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (9)
10. Taito Gunji (10)

Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao was the only pound-for-pound-ranked fighter who competed in May,and his win over Ahmad Chikh Mousa keeps him at No. 9.

1. Tiffany van Soest (1)
2. Kana Morimoto (2)
3. Jorina Baars (3)
4. Sarel de Jong (4)
5. Miyuu Sugawara (5)
6. Li Mingrui (6)
7. Phayahong Ayothaya Gym (7)
8. Koyuki Miyazaki (8)
9. Sarah Moussadak (9)
10. Martine Michieletto (10)

In women’s action, No. 4 Sarel de Jong and No. 9 Sarah Moussadak both picked up May wins to keep their respective spots in the rankings.

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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.