The Official Karate Combat Rankings- Post-KC42 Update

Including a Pound-for-Pound List of the Best Professional Karatekas in the World

After KC39, Karate Combat switched over to a community based ranking system. The first step of this ranking system is delegated to the Community Ranking Council consisting of superfans and media members. Then it goes to the general community for approval. These are the Post-KC42 Rankings:

(Women’s) Strawweight:

Sthefanie Oliveira (C), 1. Christina Kavakopoulou, 2. Li Lishan, 3. Fabiola Esquivel, 4. Ana Villanueva

Bantamweight:

Myzra-Bek Tebuev (C), 1. Eoghan Chelmiah, 2. Jesus Lopez, 3. Gabriel Stankunas, 4. Maximo Nunez, 5. Robbie Lavoie

Lightweight:

Luiz Rocha (C), 1. Edgars Skrivers, 2. Gabriel Varga, 3. Bruno Roberto de Assis, 4. Artur Gasanov, 5. Andres Madera, 6. Shazaib Rindh

Welterweight:

Rafael Aghayev (C), 1. Josh Quayhagen, 2. Vasili Antokhii, 3. Fernando Moreno Paz, 4. Kenji Grillon, 5. Jo Miyahara, 6. Dionicio Gustav

Middleweight:

Ross Levine (C), 1. Shahin Atamov, 2. Igor De Castañeda, 3. Raymond Daniels, 4. Franklin Mina, 5. Adrian Hadribeaj

Heavyweight:

Vacant (C), 1. Achraf Ouchen, 2. Elhadji Ndour, 3. Antonio Arroyo, 4. Elvin Aghayev, 5. Sam Alvey

Men’s P4P:

1. Rafael Aghayev, 2. Ross Levine, 3. Luiz Rocha, 4. Myzra-Bek Tebuev, 5. Edgars Skrivers, 6. Josh Quayhagen, 7. Achraf Ouchen, 8. Gabriel Varga, 9. Eoghan Chelmiah, 10. Jesus Lopez

Women’s P4P:

1. Omaira Molina, 2. Sthefanie Oliveira, 3. Melinda Fábián, 4. Christina Kavakopoulou, 5. Ana Luisa Ferreira

Explaining the Rank Changes Post-KC42

At Karate Combat 42, the first female champion was crowned. Sthefanie Oliveira asserted herself as the top fighter in the division after a thrilling bout of high paced Karate action. Along with this achievement comes the #2 Women’s P4P ranking and the creation of the rankings for the Strawweight Division.

Despite coming up short in her first shot at the title, Christina Kavakopoulou earns the #1 ranked strawweight spot due to her prior dominance in the division. She also drops to the #4 ranking P4P however.

Li Lishan established herself as a true threat in the division with her dominant debut at KC42.

Ana Villanueva bounced back with a win at KC 41 but still has a KO loss to Fabiola Esquivel. With both fighters tied for the same amount of wins, Ana Villanueva takes the #4 ranking and Fabiola Esquivel takes the #3 ranking.

Jo Miyaraha overcame a lot of adversity in his fight at KC42. He didn’t have his coach with him, in the fight he got dropped in the first round, survived, made it to the sudden victory round, and secured the unanimous decision victory against the former #5 Welterweight Jorge Perez (in Jorge’s home country). In this fight Jo Miyahara not only showed the Fighting Spirit that Japanese Fighters are known for. But this was also an important step on his journey of pursuing Kyokushin Karate’s “Ultimate Truth” of 心技体 [Shin (Mind), Gi (Technique), Tai (Body)]. For all of that, Jo Miyahara earns the #5 ranking in the Welterweight Division. Becoming not only the first Japanese fighter in Karate Combat history but also the first to break into the top 5 of a division in league.