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)
- Kevin Tariq Osaro (2)
- Antonio Plazibat (3)
- Roman Kryklia (4)
- Rade Opačić (5)
- Guto Inocente (6)
- Levi Rigters (7)
- Iraj Azizpour (8)
- Sofian Laidouni (9)
- Françesko Xhaja (10)
The only ranked heavyweight to compete in December was fourth-ranked Roman Kryklia. He faced WBC Muay Thai heavyweight champion Alex Roberts at ONE Fight Night 17 for the inaugural ONE heavyweight Muay Thai title. At only 25 seconds of Round 2, Kryklia, the ONE light heavyweight kickboxing champ, scored a knockout with a left hook to bring home a new title. This does not affect the kickboxing rankings.
- Artem Vakhitov (1)
- Donegi Abena (2)
- Sergej Maslobojev (3)
- Ștefan Lătescu (4)
- Ibrahim El Bouni (5)
- Felipe Micheletti (6)
- Thian de Vries (7)
- Jimmy Livinus (8)
- Lukas Achterberg (9)
- Nikita Kozlov (10)
On Dec. 8, No. 7 Thian de Vries kept his undefeated record intact when he picked up a first-round knockout of Vasile Amariței at Colosseum Tournament 41. He keeps his spot in the rankings.
- Donovan Wisse (1)
- Islam Murtazaev (2)
- Sergey Ponomarev (3)
- César Almeida (4)
- Khalid El Bakouri (5)
- Michael Boapeah (6)
- Ulric Bokeme (7)
- Serkan Özçağlayan (8)
- Sergej Braun (9)
- Mohamed Touchassie (10)
At GLORY 90 on Dec. 23, tenth-ranked Mohamed Touchassie was back down at middleweight when he took on Brice Kombou. At the 1:52 mark of Round 1, he scored a third knockdown to score a TKO victory that solidifies his No. 10 spot in the rankings.
- Regian Eersel (1)
- Endy Semeleer (2)
- Alim Nabiev (3)
- Dmitry Menshikov (4)
- Mohamed Touchassie (5)
- Chico Kwasi (6)
- Jay Overmeer (7)
- Jamie Bates (8)
- Bogdan Shumarov (9)
- “Hamicha” Mohamed Mezouari (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Constantin Rusu (10)
A few ranked welterweights were in action in December. First, at ONE Fight Night 17 on Dec. 8, fourth-ranked Dmitry Menshikov scored a first-round knockout of Mouhcine Chafi in a Muay Thai battle that does not affect the rankings. A week later, tenth-ranked Constatin Rusu lost a bid for the vacant RCC welterweight title when he faced Eduard Saik at RCC 17. Rusu drops from the rankings, making way for “Hamicha” Mohamed Mezouari to enter at no. 10.
Finally, at GLORY 90, second-ranked Endy Semeleer defended his GLORY welterweight title with a first-round TKO of Anwar Ouled-Chaib. He retains his No. 2 spot.
- Chingiz Allazov (1)
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (2)
- Marat Grigorian (3)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (4)
- Tyjani Beztati (5)
- Giorgio Petrosyan (6)
- Tayfun Özcan (7)
- Jamal Yusupov (8)
- Kaito Ono (9)
- Stoyan Koprivlenski (10)
On Dec. 16, ninth-ranked Kaito Ono won for a second month in a row when he scored a first-round TKO of James Condé at RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round to keep his spot in the rankings. Also in action was second-ranked Superbon Singha Mawynn, who finally faced Tawanchai PK Saenchai for Tawanchai’s ONE featherweight Muay Thai title at ONE Friday Fights 46. After five rounds, Superbon lost by unanimous decision, but this does not affect the kickboxing rankings.
- David Mejia (1)
- Jia Aoqi (2)
- Rukiya Anpo (3)
- Ayinta Ali (6)
- Riki Matsuoka (-)
- Han Wenbao (7)
- Petru Morari (-)
- Ryota Nakano (4)
- Jomthong Strikegym (5)
- Zhou Jiaqiang (8)
Dropped from the rankings: Meng Gaofeng (9), Wang Pengfei (10)
December saw a big shake-up in the super featherweight rankings after a couple upsets. First, at K-1 ReBIRTH 2 on Dec. 9, No. 5 Jomthong Strikegym lost a unanimous decision to unranked Riki Matsuoka. Matsuoka is now on a two-fight winning streak with his only two losses in recent years coming to Rukiya Anpo and Ayinta Ali back in 2021 and 2022, respectively. A week later, at RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round, No. 4 Ryota Nakano lost a majority decision to little-known Moldovan Petru Morari, who is 0-4 in professional MMA, but 3-0 in pro kickboxing.
Nakano and Jomthong drop to No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, and No. 8 Zhou Jiaqiang drops to No. 10. Subsequently, No. 6 Ali moves up to No. 4, Riki Matsuoka enters at No. 5, seventh-ranked Han Wenbao moves up to No. 6 and Morari enters the rankings at No. 7. Due to the new entrants, Meng Gaofeng an Wang Pengfei fall out of the top 10.
- Chadd Collins (-)
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (1)
- Hiroki Akimoto (2)
- Tetsuya Yamato (3)
- Wei Rui (4)
- Kento Haraguchi (5)
- Chihiro Suzuki (6)
- Kiamran Nabati (7)
- Taiju Shiratori (8)
- Daizo Sasaki (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Abraham Vidales (10)
The featherweight king has fallen. At RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round, Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 lost a unanimous decision, and the RISE 65 kg title, to surging Aussie Chadd Collins, who has not lost a bout in 10 fights over the last year and a half. Collins is now a world champion in both Muay Thai and kickboxing, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. While he is the sixth-ranked super bantamweight, he now enters the featherweight kickboxing rankings at No. 1.
Fifth-ranked Kento Haraguchi picked up a second-round knockout win over No. 10 Abraham Vidales at RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round, but moved down a spot with Collins entering the rankings, and Vidales falls off the top 10. Also at the RISE event was No. 8 Taiju Shiratori, who scored a third-round knockout with a knee to the head of Zakaria Zouggary, but he still dropped a spot.
- Yuki Yoza (1)
- Kongnapa Weerasakreck (2)
- Zhu Shuai (3)
- Taio Asahisa (4)
- Jin Ying (5)
- Chadd Collins (6)
- Kento Ito (7)
- Yuzuki Satomi (8)
- Kan Nakamura (10)
- Hideki Sasaki (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Fumiya Osawa (9)
As previously mentioned, No. 6 Chadd Collins moved up to defeat Petchpanomrung at RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round, but, while that put him as the No. 1 featherweight, it dos not change his ranking at super bantamweight. At the same event, No. 10 Kan Nakamura scored a second-round knockout of of Ahmed Akoudad with a left hook. However, the next night, No. 9 Fumiya Osawa lost a split decision to Shoji Otani at KRUSH 156, losing his spot in the rankings. Nakamura moves up to No. 9, and Hideki Sasaki enters the rankings at No. 10.
Also in action, at the end of December, was No. 5 Jin Ying at Wu Lin Feng 2023 Year-End Kung Fu Festival, where he won a unanimous decision over Ahmed Karchenljanl. He retains his spot in the rankings.
- Takeru Segawa (1)
- Rémi Parra (-)
- Leona Pettas (2)
- Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
- Chan Hyung Lee (4)
- Taiga Kawabe (5)
- Hyuma Hitachi (6)
- Yuki Kasahara (7)
- Tomoya Yokoyama (8)
- Naoki Takahashi (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Chihiro Nakajima (10)
At K-1 ReBIRTH 2 on Dec. 9, second-ranked Leona Pettas lost a majority decision to France’s Rémi Parra, which extended Parra’s winning streak to 11 in a row. Parra enters the rankings at No. 2, bumping everyone below him down, and Chihiro Nakajima becomes the odd man out.
On Dec. 16, No. 6 Hyuma Hitachi used his punches to knock out Katsuji in the second round of their battle at RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round. However, due to the entry of Parra, he drops a spot in the rankings.
- Taito Gunji (1)
- Kaito Sakaguchi (2)
- Haruto Yasumoto (3)
- Shoki Kaneda (5)
- Tatsuya Tsubakihara (6)
- Wang Junguang (7)
- Keisuke Monguchi (8)
- Ryusei Kumagai (9)
- Tatsuki Shinotsuka (10)
- Kotaro Yamada (-)
Droped from the rankings: Toma Tanabe (4)
The K-1 ReBIRTH 2 event saw some outcomes that caused ripples in the super flyweight rankings. No. 5 Shoki Kaneda and No. 6 Tatsuya Tsubakihara both won their fights by TKO and unanimous decision, respectively, over unranked opponents. However, fourth-ranked Toma Tanabe lost a unanimous decision to Kyo Kawakami, who lost his previous two fights to currently unranked Kotaro Yamada and currently eight-ranked Keisuke Monguchi. In November, Yamada extended his winning streak to three at SHOOT BOXING 2023 Series Final with a unanimous decision over Yodtanong Or.Sansuk. Yamada’s only loss in the last two years, since his first bout with Kawakami, was to Monguchi a year ago.
Also in action were No. 9 Ryusei Kumagai at KNOCK OUT 2023 vol.6 and No. 10 Tatsuki Shinotsuka at RIZIN 45. Kumagai extended his undefeated record to 16-0 with a knockout by knee to the head of Facu Suarez in Round 3, and Shinotsuka won a unanimous decision over Daichi Tomizawa.
So, as the rising tide lifts all boats, No. 5 through No. 10 all move up a spot as Tanabe falls out of the rankings. While this might seem like an extreme shift, he has only gone 2-2 in the last year, and has not really beaten any fighters who are notable under the kickboxing ruleset in quite some time. Yamada enters the rankings at No. 10.
- Shiro Matsumoto (1)
- Koki Osaki (6)
- Akihiro Kaneko (3)
- Masashi Kumura (4)
- Masahiko Suzuki (2)
- Kompetch Sitsarawatsuer (5)
- Jonathan Di Bella (7)
- Rui Ebata (8)
- Junki Sasaki (9)
- Mutsuki Ebata (10)
At K-1 ReBIRTH 2, No. 3 Akihiro Kaneko picked up a win by unanimous decision over Lan Shanteng. The next evening, however, No. 2 Masahiko Suzuki dropped a unanimous decision, and the -55 kg title, to Koki Osaki at RISE 174. Six days later, divisional king and No. 1 Shiro Matsumoto stopped Boonlong PetchyindeeAcademy in Round 1 at RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round with a TKO from a right cross.
After December, Shiro holds strong at No. 1, Osaki jumps to No. 2, and Suzuki falls to No. 5, moving No. 5 Kompetch Sitsarawatsuer down one spot.
- Toki Tamaru (1)
- Kazuki Osaki (2)
- Kumandoi Petchyindee (3)
- Jin Mandokoro (4)
- Ryu Hanaoka (4)
- Kazane Nagai (6)
- Toma Kuroda (7)
- Issei Ishii (8)
- Koji Ikeda (9)
- Kazuki Miburo (10)
As a quick editor’s note, it was missed last month that No. 5 Jin Mandokoro defeated No. 4 Ryu Hanaoka by first-round TKO at RISE 173 – New Warriors Tournament. Their respective spots were swapped prior to calculating this month’s rankings. Also, at K-1 ReBIRTH 2 on Dec. 9, No, 7 Toma Kuroda picked up a unanimous decision victory over No. 8 Issei Ishii, which had no effect on rankings.
On Dec. 16, RISE World Series 2023 – Final Round served up quite a bit of action in the strawweight division. In the main event, No. 1 Toki Tamaru defeated No, 3 Kumandoi Petchyindee by unanimous decision to win the -54 kg World Series. Prior to that, No. 2 Kazuki Osaka won a split decision over Jaroensuk BoonlannaMuaythai, and No, 9 Koji Ikeda got a majority decision victory over Musashi Matsushita.
After all of that, other than the adjustment, the rankings remain unchanged.
- Chingiz Allazov (1)
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (2)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (3)
- Artem Vakhitov (4)
- Wei Rui (5)
- Rico Verhoeven (6)
- Toki Tamaru (7)
- Kazuki Osaki (8)
- Marat Grigorian (9)
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (10)
No, 7 Toki Tamaru and No. 8 Kazuki Osaki were both victorious in December and they hold their respective spots in the rankings.
- Tiffany van Soest (1)
- Phetjeeja Or.Meekun (-)
- Jorina Baars (3)
- Sarel de Jong (4)
- Miyuu Sugawara (5)
- Li Mingrui (6)
- Koyuki Miyazaki (7)
- Martine Michieletto (8)
- Kana Morimoto (2)
- Kira Matsutani (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Sarah Moussaddak (9)
Two top-five women kickboxers had bouts at K-1 ReBIRTH 2, but with different results. First, 24-year-old veteran, and K-1 women’s atomweight champion, No. 5 Miyuu Sugawara picked up a unanimous decision win over Australia’s Lucille Deadman. Two fights later, No. 2 Kana Morimoto lost a unanimous decision to Greece’s Antonia Prifti, which also cost her the K-1 women’s flyweight title. This brings the 22-year-old’s current winning streak to four, including two titles.
Before calculating the overall rankings, it is important to point out a rising star, who enters the women’s pound-for-pound rankings. On Dec. 22, at ONE Friday Fights 46, 22-year-old Phetjeeja Or.Meekun made huge waves in the kickboxing world, when she dominated Anissa Meksen for the interim ONE atomweight kickboxing title. This brought Phetjeeja’s current winning streak to 13 over the last six years, which goes back to her early teenage years. Meksen was widely considered one of the best kickboxers in history, and this was a huge win for Phetjeeja. The Thai fighter enters the rankings at No. 3, only behind Tiffany van Soest, who has announced retirement and will only be eligible until next Fall, and previous No. 3 Jorina Baars, the reigning Enfusion featherweight champion who jumps to No. 2. Morimoto falls to No. 9, pushing Sarah Moussaddak out of the rankings.
Also in action in December was No. 7 Koyuki Miyazaki, who picked up a unanimous decision win over Mongkutpetch Khaolakmuaythai at RISE WORLD SERIES 2023 Final Round to keep her spot in the rankings.
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.