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)
- Rade Opačić (7)
- Ariel Machado (8)
- Jamal Ben Saddik (-)
- Nico Pereira Horta (-)
- Sofian Laidouni (9)
- Iraj Azizpour (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Antonio Plazibat (5), Roman Kryklia (6)
Before getting to February results; two fighters were removed from the rankings. No. 5 Antonio Plazibat has not fought since 6/2023, and while No. 6 Roman Kryklia won the ONE heavyweight Muay Thai belt in Dec. 2023, he hasn’t had a kickboxing bout since Jan. 2022. No. 7 Rade Opačić and No. 8 Ariel Machado have moved into their respective positions. Also, unranked Nico Pereira Horta jumps the line into the No. 8 spot. While he lost to Tariq Osaro in Sep. 2024, he had beaten No. 9 Sofian Laidouni a month prior, and, in April, he will take on Opačić in the GLORY heavyweight tournament.
Formerly ranked Jamal Ben Saddik finally returned to action in February, after a combination of a PED ban and some run-ins with the law kept him on the bench since Aug. 2022. At GLORY 98, he scored a head-kick knockout of Uku Jürjendal to enter the rankings at No. 7.
- Tarik Khbabez (1)
- Donegi Abena (2)
- Bahram Rajabzadeh (3)
- Sergej Maslobojev (4)
- Cem Cáceres (5)
- Ștefan Lătescu (6)
- Thian de Vries (8)
- Michael Boapeah (-)
- Ibrahim El Bouni (7)
- Mory Kromah (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Miloš Cvjetićanin (10)
To kick off February, eighth-ranked Thian de Vries kept his unbeaten career alive when he picked up a first-round knockout of Carlos Budiao at K-1 World MAX 2025 to bring his pro record to 27-0 with one no-contest. On Feb. 22, two different events took place, with one having a big effect on the rankings, and one having no effect at all.
At GLORY 98, fifth-ranked Cem Cáceres won a split decision over No. 9 Mory Kromah. At that same event, seventh-ranked Ibrahim El Bouni lost a third-round TKO due to four knockdowns to fourth-ranked middleweight Michael Boapeah. The other event that evening was UTMA #11, where No. 4 Sergej Maslobojev won a second-round knockout of Jimmy Livinus Omani. by the end of the month, El Bouni dropped to No. 9, pushing Kromah to No. 10 and bouncing Miloš Cvjetićanin out of the rankings. Cáceres stayed put, but de Vries jumped to No. 7 and Boapeah entered the light heavyweight rankings at No. 8.
- 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)
- Aleksandar Petrov (10)
No top-10 fighters were in middleweight action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Regian Eersel (1)
- Alexis Nicolas (2)
- Chico Kwasi (3)
- Tyjani Beztati (4)
- Endy Semeleer (5)
- Dmitry Menshikov (6)
- Teodor Hristov (7)
- Jay Overmeer (8)
- Jamie Bates (9)
- “Hamicha” Mohamed Mezouari (10)
At ONE Friday Fights 97 on Feb. 14, Dmitry Menshikov scored a first-round knockout using a left hook against Tengnueng Fairtex in a Muay Thai bout that has no effect on kickboxing rankings. At GLORY 98, welterweight champion Chico Kwasi won a unanimous decision over No. 7 Teodor Hristov to defend his title. That same evening, fans finally got to see No. 10 Hamicha back in action, as he took out Calmente Mendes in the third round using low kicks. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (2)
- Marat Grigorian (3)
- Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (4)
- Tyjani Beztati (5)
- Ouyang Feng (6)
- Younes Smaili (7)
- Tayfun Özcan (8)
- Kaito Ono (9)
- Kacper Muszyński (10)
- Luo Chao (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Chingiz Allazov (1),
No top-10 fighters were in middleweight action this month, but we did have a shake-up in the rankings. Having not fought in over 18 months, top-ranked lightweight and pound-for-pound kickboxing king Chingiz Allazov has finally been removed. Every fighter below him moved up one notch, making remove for former No. 10 Luo Chao to reclaim that spot in the rankings.
- Jia Aoqi (1)
- Bobo Sacko (2)
- David Mejia (3)
- Rukiya Anpo (4)
- Riki Matsuoka (6)
- Han Wenbao (7)
- Zhou Jiaqiang (8)
- Meison Hide Usami (10)
- Takumi Sanekata (-)
- Hiromi Wajima (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Ayinta Ali (5), Jomthong Chuwattana (9)
To start the month, No. 5 Ayinta Ali was removed from the rankings, since he has not fought since Jul. 2023. Then, on Feb. 9, ninth-ranked Jomthong Chuwattana got knocked out by Darryl Verdonk in the first round of their match at K-1 World MAX 2025, which cost him his spot in the rankings. Sliding in at No. 9 is Takumi Sanekata, who recently just left the rankings and was right on the bubble. Entering at No. 10 is Hiromi Wajimi, who is coming off a win over Stoyan Koprivlenski at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2024 Final in Dec. 2024. This was a tough one, as his last loss was in Jul. 2024 to Verdonk, but Verdonk lost to Dengue Silva since that win, and he sits right in the No. 11 spot for the rankings.
Also in action in February was third-ranked David Mejia who won a TKO victory over Nicolas Sanabria at Fight 2 One #8. He keeps his spot in the rankings.
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (1)
- Miguel Trindade (2)
- Chadd Collins (3)
- Jonathan Haggerty (-)
- Ilias Ennahachi (5)
- Wei Rui (4)
- Hiroki Akimoto (6)
- Tetsuya Yamato (7)
- Kento Haraguchi (8)
- Kiamran Nabati (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Taiju Shiratori (10)
The only featherweight in action in February was fourth-ranked Wei Rui, who attempted his second ONE Championship win, when he became the first challenger to Jonathan Haggerty’s bantamweight (145-pound) kickboxing title at ONE 171 on Feb. 20. However, Haggerty scored a unanimous decision victory in his first defense of that title, and enters the rankings at No. 4. Wei falls two spots to No. 6, and those below him move down one spot. Taiju Shiratori falls out of the top 10.
- Yuki Yoza (1)
- Giorgi Malania (8)
- Hirotaka Asahisa (2)
- Zhu Shuai (3)
- Chadd Collins (4)
- Zhao Chongyang (5)
- Jin Ying (6)
- Kan Nakamura (7)
- Wei Weiyang (9)
- Yuma Saikyo (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Tomás Aguirre (10)
On Feb. 9 at K-1 World MAX 2025, tenth-ranked Tomás Aguirre lost a unanimous decision to Yuzuki Satomi. However, instead of Satomi taking his place, we have a new ranked super bantamweight.
At the KRUSH 171 Lightweight Grand Prix, on Feb. 24, Yuma Saikyo won a unanimous decision over Hiroki in the quarterfinals, as well as over Shoya Sugiyama in the semifinals. Then, in the finals, he used a left hook to secure a TKO victory over Haru Furumiya to win the tournament. Saikyo enters the rankings at No. 10.
- Superlek Kiatmoo9 (1)
- Takeru Segawa (2)
- Hirotaka Asahisa (3)
- Achraf Aasila (4)
- Rémi Parra (5)
- Leona Pettas (6)
- Taiga Kawabe (7)
- Yuki Kasahara (8)
- Tomoya Yokoyama (9)
- Yuki Egawa (10)
The only bantamweight in action in February was No. 5 Rémi Parra, who fought up a decision and won a decision over Jérémy Monteiro at La Nuit des Titans to wins the vacant La Nuit des Titans K-1 65kg title. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Takumi Terada (1)
- Taito Gunji (2)
- Kaito Sakaguchi (3)
- Akif Guluzada (4)
- Haruto Yasumoto (5)
- Shoki Kaneda (6)
- Shuhei Kumura (7)
- Wang Junguang (8)
- Tatsuya Tsubakihara (9)
- Ryusei Kumagai (10)
On Feb. 9, K-1 World MAX 2025, top-ranked Takumi Terada defended his K-1 featherweight (-57.5kg) title over Takahito Nimi by unanimous decision. Also in action was No. 6 Shoki Kaneda, who knocked out No, 7 Shuhei Kumura in the first round of their bout. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Shiro Matsumoto (1)
- Koki Osaki (2)
- Akihiro Kaneko (3)
- Rui Okubo (4)
- Masashi Kumura (5)
- Masahiko Suzuki (6)
- Kompetch Fairtex (7)
- Prajanchai PK.Saenchai (8)
- Jonathan Di Bella (9)
- Akram Hamidi (10)
Four flyweights competed in February, but two of them were in ONE Championship Muay Thai bouts, which had no effect on the kickboxing rankings. On Feb. 14, No. 7 Kompetch Fairtex won a unanimous decision over Theptaksin Sor.Sornsing. Two weeks later, No. 8 Prajanchai defended his ONE strawweight Muay Title with a fourth-round doctor stoppage of Ellis Barboza. However, earlier in the month, two ranked fighters were in kickboxing action on Feb. 9.
At K-1 World MAX 2025, No. 4 Rui Okubo scored a third-round knockout by body kick over Koshiro Takemi in a 58kg catchweight bout. Then, K-1 super bantamweight (55kg) champ, and third-ranked, Akihiro Kaneko defended his title with a unanimous decision win over Manolis Kallistis. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Toki Tamaru (1)
- Kazuki Osaki (2)
- Kumandoi Petchyindee (3)
- Ryu Hanaoka (4)
- Jin Mandokoro (5)
- Toma Kuroda (7)
- Issei Ishii (8)
- Koji Ikeda (9)
- Rui Okubo (10)
- Ryujin Nasukawa (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Kazane Nagai (6)
To start the month, sixth-ranked Kazane Nagai was dropped from the rankings, since he has not fought since Jul. 2023. Everyone below him moved up a notch, including Rui Okubo, who fought up a weight class in February.
Entering at No. 10 is Ryujin Nasukawa. He is on an impressive eight-fight winning streak, going back to Jun. 2023, all in RISE. His last three wins were by knockout, and he currently holds the RISE Flyweight (-51.5kg) title. He fights No. 3 Kumandoi on Mar. 29, after Kumandoi won a dazzling knockout by spinning backfist over Teerapong DabthitBangRak in a Muay Thai battle on Feb. 11 that had no effect on the kickboxing rankings.
- Superbon Singha Mawynn (1)
- Petchpanomrung Kiatmoo9 (2)
- Marat Grigorian (3)
- Rico Verhoeven (4)
- Superlek Kiatmoo9 (5)
- Shiro Matsumoto (6)
- Toki Tamaru (7)
- Kazuki Osaki (8)
- Donovan Wisse (9)
- Takumi Terada (10)
The only top-10 pound-for-pound fighter in action in February was No. 10 Takumi Terada, who extended his winning streak to five, after he exacted revenge over Takahito Niimi, who was the only person he has lost to in his professional kickboxing career. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Phetjeeja Or.Meekun (1)
- Koyuki Miyazaki (2)
- Li Mingrui (4)
- Martine Michieletto (5)
- Tessa de Kom (6)
- Arina Kobayashi (7)
- Saho Yoshino (8)
- Jackie Buntan (9)
- Kira Matsutani (-)
- Antonia Prifti (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Miyuu Sugawara (3)
Before getting to February results, No. 3 Miyuu Sugawara has been dropped from the rankings, as she has not had a kickboxing bout since Mar. 2024, and she announced in Dec. 2024, she was vacating her K-1 atomweight title to pursue a career in boxing. This moved everyone below her up, except for No. 10 Antonia Prifti, who stays put.
On Feb. 2, now-seventh-ranked Saho Yoshino won a unanimous decision over Dangkongfah Kiatpetnoigym at NJKF Challenger 7 to extend her winning streak to seven. Six days later, Tessa de Kom added yet another belt to her collection when she scored a fourth-round TKO of Giuliana Parisi at Kumit K Event 4.
On Dec. 9, at the K-1 World MAX 2025 Atomweight Championship Tournament, fomerly-ranked Kira Matsutani won a unanimous decision in the semifinals over Mafia Petchmongkoldee and a majority decision in the finals over Aki Suematsu to win the vacant K-1 women’s atomweight championship. She reclaims her spot in the rankings, entering at No. 9.
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.