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)
- Levi Rigters (2)
- Bahram Rajabzadeh (3)
- Kevin Tariq Osaro (4)
- Antonio Plazibat (5)
- Roman Kryklia (6)
- Rade Opačić (7)
- Guto Inocente (8)
- Iraj Azizpour (9)
- Sofian Laidouni (10)
No. 7 Rade Opačić was the only heavyweight in action in July. On Jul. 7, he scored a first-round knockout of Daniel Lentie at SENSHI 22. The heavyweight rankings remain unchanged.
- Donegi Abena (1)
- Tarik Khbabez (2)
- Bahram Rajabzadeh (3)
- Sergej Maslobojev (4)
- Ștefan Lătescu (5)
- Ibrahim El Bouni (6)
- Felipe Micheletti (7)
- Thian de Vries (8)
- Jimmy Livinus Omani (9)
- Lukas Achterberg (10)
After a busy June for the light heavyweights, July was pretty quiet. No. 9 Jimmy Livinus Omani picked up a first-round knockout of Mbamba Cauwenbergh with a knee to the head at SENSHI 22. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Donovan Wisse (1)
- Islam Murtazaev (2)
- Sergey Ponomarev (3)
- Michael Boapeah (4)
- Ulric Bokeme (5)
- Serkan Özçağlayan (6)
- Sergej Braun (7)
- Mohamed Touchassie (8)
- Eduard Aleksanyan (9)
- Ertugrul Bayrak (10)
July saw a few ranked middleweights in action. First, on Jul. 6, No. 9 Eduard Aleksanyan used a left hook to score a second-round knockout of Jakob Styben at SENSHI 22. Then, on Jul. 20, at GLORY 93, fans saw a highly anticipated rematch go the distance between No. 4 Michael Boapeah and No. 5 Ulric Bokeme, with Boapeah picking up the nod from the judges. The middleweight rankings remain unchanged.
- Alexis Nicolas (1)
- Regian Eersel (2)
- Chico Kwasi (3)
- Tyjani Beztati (-)
- Endy Semeleer (4)
- Dmitry Menshikov (5)
- Teodor Hristov (6)
- Jay Overmeer (7)
- Jamie Bates (8)
- “Hamicha” Mohamed Mezouari (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong (10)
There was only one ranked welterweight battle in July, but his was a big one. At GLORY 93, reigning GLORY lightweight champ Tyjani Beztati moved up a division to face former GLORY welterweight titleholder Endy Sememleer, who had just lost his title to Chico Kwasi last April. After three rounds, Beztati picked up the unanimous decision and has entered at Semeleer’s spot at No. 4, moving everyone else down one spot. The odd man out is Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong, who lost his No. 10 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 (9)
- Kaito Ono (10)
- Kacper Muszyński (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Aleksei Ulianov (8)
First off, on Jul. 20 at GLORY 93, fifth-ranked Tyjani Beztati, the current GLORY lightweight champ, who moved up to welterweight to win a unanimous decision over former GLORY welterweight champ Endy Semeleer However, this does not affect the lightweight rankings. That same night, seventh-ranked Tayfun Özcan won a unanimous decision of his own over Majid Amarouche. Two other ranked lightweights fought on Jul. 26 with different outcomes.
On Jul. 26, at RCC Fair Fight, No. 9 Jamal Yusupov scored a first-round knockout of Dmitry Kireev. That same night, however, No. 8 Aleksei Ulianov, who only recently entered the rankings with a win over Yusupov in February, lost a unanimous decision at Wu Lin Feng 546 to Luo Chao. Ulianov loses his spot in the rankings, Yusupov and Kaito Ono each move up one nothc, and entering the rankings at No. 10 is Poland’s Kacper Muszyński. Muszyński last fought at K-1 World MAX 2024 – World Championship Tournament Final on Jul. 7, when he won a unanimous decision over Armenia’s Zhora Akopyan, before having to exit the tournament with an injury.
- Jia Aoqi (1)
- Bobo Sacko (2)
- David Mejia (3)
- Rukiya Anpo (4)
- Ayinta Ali (5)
- Riki Matsuoka (6)
- Han Wenbao (7)
- Jomthong Strikegym (-)
- Petru Morari (8)
- Ryota Nakano (9)
The only super featherweight in action in July was No. 7 Han Wenbao. He took a unanimous decision over Saiyok Pumpanmuang at Wu Lin Feng 546 on Jul. 27 to keep his spot in the rankings.
- Miguel Trinidade (1)
- Chadd Collins (2)
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (3)
- Wei Rui (4)
- Hiroki Akimoto (5)
- Tetsuya Yamato (6)
- Kento Haraguchi (7)
- Chihiro Suzuki (8)
- Kiamran Nabati (9)
- Taiju Shiratori (10)
A few ranked featherweights were in action in July, and all at GLORY 93. top-ranked Miguel Trinidade put on a complete clinic when he outworked Abraham Vidales. Later that evening, third-ranked Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 picked up a unanimous decision victory over No. 7 Kento Haraguchi. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Yuki Yoza (1)
- Kongnapa Weerasakreck (2)
- Zhu Shuai (3)
- Jin Ying (5)
- Chadd Collins (6)
- Tatsuya Oiwa (-)
- Kento Ito (7)
- Yuzuki Satomi (8)
- Kan Nakamura (9)
- Hideki Sasaki (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Taio Asahisa (4)
At K-1 World MAX 2024 – World Championship Tournament Final on Jul. 7, the top two super banatamweights No. 1 Yuki Yoza and No. 2 Kongnapa Weerasakreck squared off. In the first round, Yoza scored three knockdowns for a TKO victory. 20 days later, at KRUSH 163, seventh-ranked Kento Ito lost a unanimous decision to Tatsuya Oiwa for the KRUSH lightweight (62kg) title. However, it was a removal that caused a shake-up in the rankings.
Fourth-ranked Taio Asahisa has not fought since Mar. 2023, and he has been removed. This moves up No. 5 Jin Ying and No. 6 Chadd Collins. Oiwa slide in at No. 6, and the bottom four keep their positions in the rankings.
- Superlek Kiatmoo9 (1)
- Takeru Segawa (2)
- Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
- Achraf Aasila (-)
- Rémi Parra (4)
- Leona Pettas (5)
- Taiga Kawabe (6)
- Yuki Kasahara (8)
- Tomoya Yokoyama (9)
- Yuki Egawa (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Chan Hyung Lee (7)
To kick of July in the bantamweight division, No. 9 Tomoya Yokoyama Tomoya Yokoyama knocked down Brazil’s Cabelo Monteiro three times in Round 1 to pick up a victory at K-1 World MAX 2024 – World Championship Tournament Final on Jul. 7. Two weeks later, fourth-ranked Rémi Parra lost a decision to Achraf Aasila at Le Choc des Gladiateurs 22. Three days later, third–ranked Hirotaka Asahisa won a unanimous decision over Zhang Lanpei at Wu Lin Feng 545.
No. 7 Chan Hyung Lee has not fought since January, and he has not won a fight in over a year, so he has been removed from the rankings. Aasila enters at No. 4, and Parra, Leona Pettas and Taiga Kawabe all move down one notch.
- Taito Gunji (1)
- Kaito Sakaguchi (2)
- Takumi Terada (-)
- Akif Guluzada (-)
- Haruto Yasumoto (3)
- Shoki Kaneda (4)
- Tatsuya Tsubakihara (5)
- Wang Junguang (6)
- Keisuke Monguchi (7)
- Ryusei Kumagai (8)
Dropped from the rankings: Tatsuki Shinotsuka (9), Kotaro Yamada (10)
Two of the top-five super flyweights had rough outings in July. First, at K-1 World MAX 2024 – World Championship Tournament Final on Jul. 7, No. 4 Shoki Kaneda lost a majority decision to Takumi Terada. This put Terada on the docket for a title challenge against K-1 featherweight champ Taito Gunji in September. Then, on Jul. 2 at ONE Friday Fights 72, No. 3 Haruto Yasumoto lost a unanimous decision to Azerbaijan’s Akif Guluzada in a complete war. Terada enters the rankings at No. 3 and Guluzada at No. 4, which pushes everyone below them down one notch.
On Jul. 20 at Extreme Fighting Competition 7, No. 7 Tatsuya Tsubakihara picked up a decision win after an extra round over Jia Mengqiang. However, as mentioned above, he drops to No. 9, Tatsuki Shinotsuka and Kotaro Yamada lose their spots in the rankings
- Shiro Matsumoto (1)
- Koki Osaki (2)
- Akihiro Kaneko (3)
- Masashi Kumura (4)
- Masahiko Suzuki (5)
- Kompetch Fairtex (6)
- Prajanchai PK.Saenchai (-)
- Jonathan Di Bella (7)
- Akram Hamidi (8)
- Jaroensuk BoonlannaMuaythai (9)
Two ranked flyweights were on display in July, and both won by knockout at K-1 World MAX 2024 – World Championship Tournament Final on Jul. 7. No 3 Akihiro Kaneko knocked out Kan Meng Hong in Round 3 of their battle, and No. 4 Masashi Kumura knocked out WBC Muay Thai champ Antoio Orden in Round 1. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Toki Tamaru (1)
- Kazuki Osaki (2)
- Kumandoi Petchyindee (3)
- Jin Mandokoro (4)
- Ryu Hanaoka (5)
- Kazane Nagai (6)
- Toma Kuroda (7)
- Issei Ishii (8)
- Koji Ikeda (9)
- Rui Okubo (10)
On Jul. 7, two strawweights were in action at K-1 World MAX 2024 – World Championship Tournament Final. No. 9 Koji Ikeda scored a second-round TKO of Koki Tomimura, and No. 10 Rui Okubo won a decision over Zhao Zhendong. They both keep their spots in the rankings. There were also two strawweights in Muay Thai action, and both lost, but that does not affect the kickboxing rankings.
On Jul. 4, Kumandoi Petchyindee lost a decision to Wanchainoi Sitsarawatseur at Petchyindee + Kiatpetch, which took place at Rajadamnern Stadium. Then, on Jul. 14, Issei Ishii lost a decision to Pangtor Por.Lakboon at RWS Muay Thai in Japan.
- Chingiz Allazov (1)
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (2)
- Marat Grigorian (3)
- Wei Rui (4)
- Rico Verhoeven (5)
- Superlek Kiatmoo9 (6)
- Toki Tamaru (7)
- Kazuki Osaki (8)
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (9)
- Taito Gunji (10)
The only pound-for-pound ranked fighter who was in action in July was Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9, who won a unanimous decision over Kento Haraguchi at GLORY 93. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Tiffany van Soest (1)
- Phetjeeja Or.Meekun (2)
- Jorina Baars (3)
- Sarel de Jong (4)
- Koyuki Miyazaki (5)
- Miyuu Sugawara (6)
- Li Mingrui (7)
- Martine Michieletto (8)
- Arina Kobayashi (9)
- Saho Yoshino (10)
No top-10 ranked fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
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.