Combat Press Kickboxing Rankings: November 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. Kevin Tariq Osaro (2)
3. Antonio Plazibat (3)
4. Roman Kryklia (4)
5. Rade Opačić (5)
6. Guto Inocente (6)
7. Levi Rigters (7)
8. Iraj Azizpour (8)
9. Sofian Laidouni (9)
10. Françesko Xhaja (10)

The only heavyweight in action in October was Levi Rigters, who scored a first-round KO of Ion Taburceanu using leg kicks at GLORY 89 on Oct. 7 He maintains his No. 7 spot in the rankings. Looking into November, GLORY: COLLISION 6 includes some important heavyweight fights, including the title unification bout between divisional king Rico Verhoeven and interim champ Kevin Tariq “Cookie” Osaro.

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

Dropped from the rankings: Tarik Khbabez (10)

At RCC Fair Fight XXII on Oct. 28, fourth-ranked light heavyweight Nikita Kozlov lost ananimous decision to Dutch youngster Thian de Vries. This brings the 22-year-old’s record to 14-0 in just 27 months as a pro. As a result, Kozlov falls to the No. 9 spot, with everyone below him moving up two spots. De Vries enters at No. 8, and Tarik Khbabez falls out of 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. Michael Boapeah (7)
8. Sergej Braun (8)
9. Ulric Bokeme (9)
10. Mohamed Touchassie (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Eduard Aleksanyan (10)

On Oct. 7, at GLORY 89, fifth-ranked welterweight Mohamed Touchassie moved up to middleweight and beat tenth-ranked Eduard Aleksanyan. In a turn of events, Touchassie took a short-notice replacement fight in November, and he will face Donegi Abena for the GLORY light heavyweight title at GLORY: COLLISION 6. He replaces Aleksanyan in the No. 10 spot at middleweight, but that may change depending on where he decides to fight next.

Also in action was third-ranked Sergey Ponomarev, who picked up a first-round TKO over Juri De Sousa at Ural FC 4 on Oct. 19 to keep his spot in the rankings.

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. Chico Kwasi (7)
8. Jamie Bates (8)
9. Bogdan Shumarov (9)
10. Constantin Rusu (10)

As mentioned above, fifth-ranked welterweight Mohamed Touchassie moved up to middleweight in October to score a second-round TKO over Eduard Aleksanyan. The welterweight rankings remain unchanged.

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. Jamal Yusupov (8)
9. Kaito Ono (9)
10. Mohammad Siasarani (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. David Mejia (1)
2. Jia Aoqi (2)
3. Rukiya Anpo (3)
4. Ryota Nakano (4)
5. Jpmthong Strikegym (5)
6. Ayinta Ali (6)
7. Han Wenbao (7)
8. Zhou Jiaqiang (8)
9. Meng Gaofeng (9)
10. Wang Pengfei (10)

The only super featherweight in action in October was top-ranked David Mejia, who dropped down to face top-ranked featherweight Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 at GLORY 89. The super featherweight rankings remain the same.

1. Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (1)
2. Hiroki Akimoto (2)
3. Tetsuya Yamato (3)
4. Wei Rui (4)
5. Kento Haraguchi (5)
6. Chihiro Suzuki (6)
7. Kiamran Nabati (7)
8. Taiju Shiratori (8)
9. Daizo Sasaki (9)
10. Ahmad Chikh Mousa (10)

As mentioned above Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 defended his GLORY featherweight title against top-ranked super featherweight David Mejia at GLORY 89. This does not affect either division’s rankings.

1. Yuki Yoza (1)
2. Kongnapa Weerasakreck (2)
3. Zhu Shuai (3)
4. Taio Asahisa (4)
5. Jin Ying (5)
6. Chadd Collins (6)
7. Kento Ito (7)
8. Yuzuki Satomi (8)
9. Fumiya Osawa (9)
10. Kan Nakamura (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Takeru Segawa (1)
2. Leona Pettas (2)
3. Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
4. Chan Hyung Lee (4)
5. Taiga Kawabe (5)
6. Hyuma Hitachi (6)
7. Yuki Kasahara (7)
8. Tomoya Yokoyama (8)
9. Naoki Takahashi (9)
10. Chihiro Nakajima (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Taito Gunji (1)
2. Kaito Sakaguchi (2)
3. Haruto Yasumoto (3)
4. Toma Tanabe (4)
5. Shoki Kaneda (5)
6. Tatsuya Tsubakihara (6)
7. Wang Junguang (7)
8. Keisuke Monguchi (8)
9. Ryusei Kumagai (9)
10. Tatsuki Shinotsuka

Dropped from the rankings: Riku Morisaka (10)

October saw a big shake-up in the super flyweight rankings, starting on Oct. 21 at Krush 154, when tenth-ranked Riku Morisaka lost a majority decision and his Krush title to Tatsuki Shinotsuka. Shinotsuka replaces him at No. 10.

A week later, at RISE 172, No. 8 Keisuke Monguchi picked up a unanimous decision win over second-ranked Kaito Sakaguchi. Monguchi moves into the No. 2 spot, moving those below him down.

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

At ONE Fight Night 15 on Oct. 6, tenth-ranked Jonathan Di Bella defended his ONE strap with a unanimous decision over Danial Williams. He jumps to the No. 7 spot, moving three men down. The only other flyweight in action was Kompetch Sitsarawatsuer, when he went to a draw against Comeback TK Yuttana in a Muay Thai fight. That does not affect the kickboxing rankings.

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

In October, the only strawweight in action was Issei Ishii, who lost a decision to Pangtor Por Lakboon in a Muay Thai bout. This does not affect the kickboxing rankings.

1. Chingiz Allazov (1)
2. Superbon Singha Mawynn (2)
3. Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (3)
4. Artem Vakhitov (4)
5. Wei Rui (5)
6. Rico Verhoeven (6)
7. Toki Tamaru (7)
8. Kazuki Osaki (8)
9. Marat Grigorian (9)
10. Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (10)

Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 was the only pound-for-pound ranked fighter who had a bout in October, and he successfully defended his title over David Mejia at GLORY 89.

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. Koyuki Miyazaki (7)
8. Martine Michieletto (8)
9. Sarah Moussaddak (9)
10. Kira Matsutani (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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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.