Top 10: Best Kickboxers of All Time [Updated 2024]

Top 10 Best Kickboxers of All TimeThese are the best kickboxers of all time. The greatest kickboxers of all time list updated in 2024. Who…

Top 10 Best Kickboxers of All Time

These are the best kickboxers of all time. The greatest kickboxers of all time list updated in 2024. Who is the GOAT of Kickboxing? Who is the king of kickboxing? Let’s count down the top 10 kickboxers of all time.

Top 10 Best Kickboxers of All Time

These are the best kickboxers of all time followed by honorable mentions who nearly made the list, updated for this year with the best kickboxer in history.

10. Chingiz Allazov

Chingiz Allazov is a dangerous and aggressive striker who was able to win titles in K-1 and ONE Championship. Most notably, he was able to knock out Superbon Singha Mawynn to make history. Additionally, the striker has been able to defeat GLORY and K-1 champions such as Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong and Marat Grigorian in dominant performances.

9. Remy Bonjasky

Remy Bonjasky, nicknamed ‘The Flying Gentleman,’ was a major force in kickboxing during its peak years. This Dutch fighter snagged three K-1 World Grand Prix titles at the height of his career. He took down some big names like Errol Zimmerman, Gokhan Saki, Jerome Le Banner, Badr Hari, Musashi, and even Ernesto Hoost. In the 2004 K-1 World Grand Prix, Bonjasky faced a tough challenge by fighting three top-ranked opponents in a row. His matches kept ending in ties, pushing him into extra rounds. By the end of the night, he fought a total of 12 kickboxing rounds to secure the win. With his record and K-1 titles, he is one of the Best Kickboxers of All Time.

REmy Bonjasky

8. Masato Kobayashi

Masato is a huge name in Japanese kickboxing as he changed the landscape of the sport. He won the K-1 MAX Grand Prix world championship twice, with impressive victories over fighters like Andy Souwer, Buakaw Banchamek, Mike Zambidis, Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig, and Albert Kraus. He competed during the golden era of kickboxing and K-1 MAX, facing the best competition in a deep division. His legacy still inspires fighters to this day making him one of the best kickboxers of all time.

Masato kob

7. Buakaw Banchamek

Buakaw Banchamek from Thailand is a legendary figure in combat sports. His win in the 2004 K-1 MAX Grand Prix, where he beat Masato in the final, was a game-changer for kickboxing and made him a superstar in Thailand. Throughout his career, he won two K-1 MAX Grand Prix world titles and multiple Muay Thai stadium titles. He has an impressive record of 240 wins, 24 losses, and 12 draws, with notable victories over Masato, Nieky Holzken, John Wayne Parr, Andy Souwer, Mike Zambidis, Jean-Charles Skarbowsky, Albert Kraus, and many others. Not only does he have an incredible legacy in Muay Thai, but also he is one of the best kickboxers of all time.

Buakaw Banchamek

6. Peter Aerts

Peter Aerts, known as ‘The Dutch Lumberjack,’ had one of the most remarkable careers in kickboxing. Over 30 years, this Dutch fighter built an amazing record of 108 wins, 35 losses, and 2 draws. He won three K-1 World Grand Prix championships during kickboxing’s golden era and was famous for his head kick knockouts and relentless pressure, easily ranking him as one of the best kickboxers of all time. Aerts defeated many top fighters, including Andy Hug, UFC Hall of Famer Maurice Smith, Ernesto Hoost, Jerome Le Banner, Mike Bernardo, Musashi, Ray Sefo, Semmy Schilt, and many others.

5. Tenshin Nasukawa

Tenshin Nasukawa is one of those rare fighters who has beaten almost everyone in his division. Starting his pro career at just 15 years old. In just eight years, Tenshin built an unbeaten record of 44-0, with most wins by knockout. The Japanese star has defeated well-known fighters like Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Kyoji Horiguchi, Shiro, Kumandoi, Rui Ebata, and his K-1 rival the declared champion Takeru Segawa. With his incredible dominance and style, he is absolutely one of the best kickboxers of all time. He also won various divisional and tournament titles in RISE. Now, he is unbeaten in professional boxing and many of his kickboxing wins have aged very well.

4. Rico Verhoeven

Rico Verhoeven, known as the ‘King of Kickboxing,’ has one of the longest championship streaks in the sport. This Dutch fighter is currently on a 16-fight winning streak against top contenders. He holds the GLORY heavyweight kickboxing world title and has successfully defended it ten times. Verhoeven has notable wins against fighters like Badr Hari, Jamal Ben Saddik, Errol Zimmerman, Daniel Ghita, and Peter Aerts. With his Grand Prix win earlier this year in which he defeated three heavyweights on the same night, Verhoeven moves up as being one of the best kickboxers of all time.

3. Semmy Schilt

Semmy Schilt is one of the most decorated kickboxers ever, with four K-1 World Grand Prix titles, a GLORY Heavyweight Championship, and several Karate world titles. He’s beaten top fighters like Rico Verhoeven, Errol Zimmerman, Kyotaro, Badr Hari, Remy Bonjasky, and Mark Hunt. Standing nearly 7 feet tall, ‘Hightower’ had a massive reach and a powerful jab that could knock opponents out. Interestingly, he fought as a switch making his lead hand a powerful weapon.

2. Giorgio Petrosyan

Giorgio Petrosyan is often compared to a master artist for his technical kickboxing style. Known as ‘The Doctor,’ Petrosyan is a two-time K-1 MAX Grand Prix champion and has won world titles in GLORY Kickboxing and ONE Championship. Throughout his career, he’s defeated top fighters like Robin van Roosmalen, Davit Kiria, Cosmo Alexandre, Yoshihiro Sato, Mike Zambidis, Albert Kraus, and Andy Souwer.

Giorgio Petrosyan YK4 7440 1200x799

1. Ernesto Hoost

Ernesto Hoost, or ‘Mr. Perfect,’ developed a kickboxing style that many fighters still try to emulate today. He was at the top of the striking world for nearly 30 years, thanks to his mix of high and low combination strikes. Hoost won four K-1 World Grand Prix titles during kickboxing’s golden era, with knockout wins over Mirko ‘Cro Cop‘ Filipovic, Jerome Le Banner, Ray Sefo, Stefan Leko, Igor Vovchanchyn, Mike Bernardo, and Peter Aerts. He also fighters he coached, such as Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Tyrone Spong, and Fedor Emelianenko, among others. His style would become the main influential form of kickboxing for the next several decades.

Honorable Mentions – best kickboxers of all time

These are some more of the Best Kickboxers of All Time but not quite in the top ten list.

Superbon Singha Mawynn
Ramon Dekkers
Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong
Andy Hug
Robin Van Roosmalen
Rob Kaman
Andy Souwer
Alex Pereira
Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace

Beware the Bowing, Humble Man: 5 Things We Learned Over 5 Days in Japan

By Elias Cepeda 

I spent last week in Tokyo, Japan, to cover the Glory year-end championship kickboxing event and interview and train with luminaries of Japanese MMA. I’m only now beginning to process everything I experienced and saw but here are five immediate take aways.

1. Japanese Fans are No Longer Silent During Fights, But They are Still Hella Observant

Watching Pride events on television years ago, I used to marvel at how attentive and respectful the Japanese fans in live attendance seemed. During most of the action, it seemed as though you’d be able to hear a pin drop in even the largest of super arenas because the fans watched in almost complete silence.

Then, a fighter might make a minor adjustment towards a submission that most American fans would not be able to recognize as the offense it was, and the previously silent Japanese crowd would “ooohh,” and “ahhh.” In my American fight world of boorish booing, louder t-shirts and indifference to any aspect of fighting that wasn’t a competitor being knocked unconscious, Japan seemed like a magical place where people watched fights live with the understanding and respect they deserved.

This past Saturday, I watched a Glory kickboxing event live inside the Ariake Coliesum in Tokyo, Japan. It wasn’t MMA, but I was still excited to not only watch the great strikers on the card, but to experience a Japanese crowd in person for the first time.

Well, they are no longer silent during fights. Apparently that part of fight-viewing culture in Japan has changed in the past ten years or so.

Fans shouted throughout bouts and hooted and hollered. Still, they seemed to know what was going on much more so than American crowds I’ve been a part of or witnessed. Little bits of the fight were still appreciated by the crowd and they showed tremendous support to anyone who showed perseverance and heart in a fight, even if it wasn’t the crowd favorite.

By Elias Cepeda 

I spent last week in Tokyo, Japan, to cover the Glory year-end championship kickboxing event and interview and train with luminaries of Japanese MMA. I’m only now beginning to process everything I experienced and saw but here are five immediate take aways.

1. Japanese Fans are No Longer Silent During Fights, But They are Still Hella Observant

Watching Pride events on television years ago, I used to marvel at how attentive and respectful the Japanese fans in live attendance seemed. During most of the action, it seemed as though you’d be able to hear a pin drop in even the largest of super arenas because the fans watched in almost complete silence.

Then, a fighter might make a minor adjustment towards a submission that most American fans would not be able to recognize as the offense it was, and the previously silent Japanese crowd would “ooohh,” and “ahhh.” In my American fight world of boorish booing, louder t-shirts and indifference to any aspect of fighting that wasn’t a competitor being knocked unconscious, Japan seemed like a magical place where people watched fights live with the understanding and respect they deserved.

This past Saturday, I watched a Glory kickboxing event live inside the Ariake Coliesum in Tokyo, Japan. It wasn’t MMA, but I was still excited to not only watch the great strikers on the card, but to experience a Japanese crowd in person for the first time.

Well, they are no longer silent during fights. Apparently that part of fight-viewing culture in Japan has changed in the past ten years or so.

Fans shouted throughout bouts and hooted and hollered. Still, they seemed to know what was going on much more so than American crowds I’ve been a part of or witnessed. Little bits of the fight were still appreciated by the crowd and they showed tremendous support to anyone who showed perseverance and heart in a fight, even if it wasn’t the crowd favorite.

It would have been cool to experience that observant silence that I’d noticed through television years ago, sure. The Tokyo crowd did not disappoint me, however. They were just a bit different.

2. Kickboxers Seem to be Much Bigger Stars Than MMA fighters

I remember reading and hearing years ago that, although Pride would fill large arenas and many of its fighters enjoyed fame, K-1 fighters were far more popular. I can’t speak to all of that but I will say that kickboxing, even in this slightly scaled-down and new, post-K1 incarnation, seems to be very popular in Tokyo.

The stadium looked nearly filled to me and the crowd clearly had old favorites like Remy Bojansky and Peter Aerts, as well as popular new champs like welterweight Nieky Holzken.

Point is, the fans knew what and who they were watching. Peter Aerts had fans crowd around him at his hotel before the fight.

In contrast, I was on a subway train for a few minutes with one of the very best MMA fighters Japan has ever produced, former UFC title challenger Yushin Okami and no one batted an eye at him. Okami is sponsored by Under Armour and, I believe, was also sponsored by Nike. He’s fought on MMA’s largest stage for years. Still, he was just a big Japanese dude to those around him on a subway train on a Friday night. I’m betting Okami would get a lot more attention around the hotel lobbies in Vegas than he does in his home city.

3. The Glory Rules May Suck, But Hot Damn are the Fights Still Fun to Watch

Before this past Glory event, I spoke with the former star fighter and current top coach who does color commentary for their telecasts, Duke Roufus, and pretty much asked him to admit that Glory rules (and K-1 ones before them) basically stunk. I kinda gave the same opportunity last fall to Tyrone Spong as well.

I don’t know much about kickboxing but here’s my beef: most of these top kick boxers have trained Muay Thai, the most complete striking art the world has ever known — with all it’s clinching, take downs, elbows, shoulder strikes, etc — for years and indeed even fought under those rules many times. However, once they get to the big leagues, they are not allowed to use many of the devastating weapons they’ve honed because the promotion has either severely limited those rules (clinching) or made them illegal (elbows).

I don’t like those limitations for similar reasons that I don’t like forced stand ups or forced clinch breaks in MMA (or that very useful and realistic moves like knees to the head of opponents on the ground are not allowed). I stand by my stance that the fights would be more interesting, realistic and even safer if allowed to be more pure versions of themselves but having that stance didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the Glory fights one iota on Saturday night. Perhaps I just got lucky because it was an exceptional card that combined hungry young local fighters, new champions and old legends, all fighting their hearts out with the refs not making themselves known too often.

This was the first full Glory card I’d ever watched and it delivered amazing fights. Since Saturday, I’ve gone back and watched the past few events. Those were quality all-around as well. Basically, it is easy to get hooked on Glory kick boxing fights. I’ll always prefer MMA to everything else (because it’s the most complete, realistic fight sport) and I’ll always push for it to be its most complete, real self, but now I also know I won’t be missing many Glory cards from here on out.

4. You Can’t Judge a Gym By it’s Size

In major cities in the states, many of us are used to fight gyms that are literally the size of warehouses and factories. LA and Vegas have scores of these. Even in land-short New York, giant gyms like those of Renzo Gracie exist.

And you know what, those gyms are cool as hell. That said, many of the gyms in gigantic Tokyo are tiny. Like, really small. Doesn’t matter. There’s great instruction, hard training and skilled champions being produced in these gyms. In just five days, this writer visited three different ones and trained at two. Yuki Nakai’s Paraestra gym was maybe twice the size of my hotel gym and I can’t say enough good things about how quality it is.

The former Shooto champion Nakai produces his own excellent students, like Shinya Aoki, and his gym also attracts the best pro fighters and Jiu Jitsu champions to its open sparring days. There’s good reason. The training is respectful but hard and competitive.

And, it goes on for hours and hours. Nakai loves teaching and the fight so much, the clock and the schedule on the wall have no bearing on how long the actual training session goes. Training stops when everyone has either left or is exhausted on the side of the mat.

The Abe Ani Combat Club (AACC) is where former UFC champ Josh Barnett trains and teaches when he’s in Tokyo, and brothers Hiroyuki and Masatoshi Abe have produced some of the best Japanese champions in MMA, both male and female. Their space, in a Gold’s Gym, is bigger than the mat space I have at my home gym but it would still look small compared to the mega gyms of Vegas.

Pro fighter, Scottish ex-pat and Cagepotato vet Stewart Fulton took me to the gym that Yushin Okami runs in Tokyo. Again, it was more than spacious to me, but tiny compared to the McDojos that are popping up in U.S. metro areas of late. Funny enough, neither Okami, nor the other high level professionals training that night under his direction needed more space to become as good as they have. None of the gyms I visited had rings or full cages to work with. Cages are hard to come by in Tokyo gyms, Fulton tells me.

For certain, ring and cage training is useful during training camps to get practice cutting off distance. That said, just a few days in Tokyo can teach even “more is more” American martial artists that you can’t judge a gym by its size.

5. Beware the Bowing, Humble Man

All too often, arrogance is seen as confidence. Chest-puffing as strength. In fact, there are few better indicators of insecurity and weakness.

Training at a gym in Tokyo — a city where literally every person I encountered during my week there at least acted overly polite — is a good way to learn that humble-acting, smiling, and bowing guys can be warriors. The cultures of the gyms I trained at were such that when someone wanted to spar with you, they came over smiling, shrugging, bowing, with hands clasped together, humbly asking if you would train with them. Then, they’d train hard as fuck.

I’m not talking about cheap shots, because I didn’t experience any of that at Yuki Nakai’s gym or at AACC. I’m just saying that these meek-acting, bowing, almost cowering dudes turned into twirling, smashing, submission-hunting machines once it was time to flip the switch.

You can’t judge a gym or opponent by their size, you also shouldn’t be fooled, one way or the other, by how they act before the fight happens. Bowing just may mean that they know they’re bad enough mofos to pull it off. Like the guy wearing rainbow colored grappling tights.

Kickboxing Legend Peter Aerts to Retire After June 30th Fight With Tyrone Spong


(Stay classy.) 

Today, CagePotato is brought to you by the letter R. Specifically, R for retirement.

If the name Peter Aerts doesn’t immediately bring to mind a cavalcade of classic kickboxing matches against a list of opponents that reads like a who’s who of the sport, then might we recommend you do a little research on one of the greatest combatants to ever don the heavy gloves. After collecting over 100 victories in a career that spanned nearly 25 years, kickboxing legend Peter Aerts has announced that his June 30th match against #7 ranked heavyweight kickboxer Tyrone Sprong will be his last.

In a true testament of his character, Aerts will be going out in the same fashion in which he came, by taking on the best; his first professional fight saw him square off against fellow legend Ernesto Hoost, and now he will be going out, win or lose, against a top prospect in Sprong. Known for his trademark head kick finishes that earned him the nickname, “The Dutch Lumberjack,” Aerts built his reputation through vintage battles with the likes of Hoost (five times), Jerome Le Banner (four times), Semmy Schilt (five times), and Ray Sefo (three times). Having competed in every K1 tournament except for 2009, Aerts also earned the moniker “Mr. K1,” taking home tournament gold in 1994, 1995, and 1998, and placing second in 2001, 2006, 2007, and 2010.

Aerts’ crowning achievement by far was his devastating run through the 1998 K1 World Grand Prix, in which he dispatched all three of his opponents in 6 minutes and 43 seconds, a record that held until 2009, when it was broken by Semmy Schilt. As a HUGE fan and close follower of his career, I would personally like to wish Mr. Aerts all the best in his future endeavors on behalf of everyone here at CagePotato, and have compiled a brief look back at some of his greatest hits below, starting with his first rematch against Hoost that took place at the 1993 K1 Quarterfinals.


(Stay classy.) 

Today, CagePotato is brought to you by the letter R. Specifically, R for retirement.

If the name Peter Aerts doesn’t immediately bring to mind a cavalcade of classic kickboxing matches against a list of opponents that reads like a who’s who of the sport, then might we recommend you do a little research on one of the greatest combatants to ever don the heavy gloves. After collecting over 100 victories in a career that spanned nearly 25 years, kickboxing legend Peter Aerts has announced that his June 30th match against #7 ranked heavyweight kickboxer Tyrone Sprong will be his last.

In a true testament of his character, Aerts will be going out in the same fashion in which he came, by taking on the best; his first professional fight saw him square off against fellow legend Ernesto Hoost, and now he will be going out, win or lose, against a top prospect in Sprong. Known for his trademark head kick finishes that earned him the nickname, “The Dutch Lumberjack,” Aerts built his reputation through vintage battles with the likes of Hoost (five times), Jerome Le Banner (four times), Semmy Schilt (five times), and Ray Sefo (three times). Having competed in every K1 tournament except for 2009, Aerts also earned the moniker “Mr. K1,” taking home tournament gold in 1994, 1995, and 1998, and placing second in 2001, 2006, 2007, and 2010.

Aerts’ crowning achievement by far was his devastating run through the 1998 K1 World Grand Prix, in which he dispatched all three of his opponents in 6 minutes and 43 seconds, a record that held until 2009, when it was broken by Semmy Schilt. As a HUGE fan and close follower of his career, I would personally like to wish Mr. Aerts all the best in his future endeavors on behalf of everyone here at CagePotato, and have compiled a brief look back at some of his greatest hits below, starting with his first rematch against Hoost that took place at the 1993 K1 Quarterfinals.

Aerts vs. Hoost 2 – K1 Grand Prix Quarterfinals ’93

Aerts vs. Le Banner – K1 Dream ’97

Aerts vs. Hug 4 – K1 World Grand Prix Final ’98

Aerts vs. Schilt – K1 WGP ’06

And just because I had to…

Aerts vs. Bob Sapp – K1 WGP ’07

-Danga 

K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Finals Results

Filed under: Results, JapanMMAFighting.com has K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 results of the single-night, eight-man tournament on Saturday, Dec. 11 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.

Mighty Mo, Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Kyotaro, Gokhan Saki, Daniel …

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MMAFighting.com has K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 results of the single-night, eight-man tournament on Saturday, Dec. 11 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.

Mighty Mo, Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Kyotaro, Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghita, Alistair Overeem and Tyrone Sprong are in the tournament to win K-1’s most prestigious prize.

Full K-1 World GP Final results are below.

Alistair Overeem Wins K-1 World Grand Prix Final

Filed under: Strikeforce, K1, News, JapanAlistair Overeem already owns the Strikeforce MMA heavyweight title. Now, he owns the most prestigious championship in heavyweight kickboxing.

Overeem won the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 2010 with a brutal displ…

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Alistair Overeem wins K-1 World Grand Prix final.Alistair Overeem already owns the Strikeforce MMA heavyweight title. Now, he owns the most prestigious championship in heavyweight kickboxing.

Overeem won the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 2010 with a brutal display of striking Saturday in Japan, using a vicious body shot to stop Peter Aerts in the final of his three fights in the eight-man, one-night tournament.

Aerts got to the final with a shocking majority decision upset over defending champion Semmy Schilt, and if the 40-year-old Aerts had won the whole tournament it would have been a great moment for longtime K-1 fans, who have long loved Aerts’ fighting style in the ring and gentlemanly ways out of the ring.

Reminder: K-1 2010 World Grand Prix Finals Go Down Tonight While You Sleep

Man, did FEG fire all the guys responsible for their awesome posters of the past?  (PicProps:  K-1’s Official Site)

Heads up for those of you who forget such things: K-1’s World Grand Prix Finals are going down tonight/tomorrow/wha…


Man, did FEG fire all the guys responsible for their awesome posters of the past?  (PicProps:  K-1’s Official Site)

Heads up for those of you who forget such things: K-1’s World Grand Prix Finals are going down tonight/tomorrow/whatever in Japan, and will air live on HDNet Fights at 2am EST.  Eight heavyweights from six countries (including at least one guy you should damn well be familiar with) will meet to do bodily harm to one another in the name of entertainment, and to determine whom you would least like to meet in a bar while hitting on his girlfriend. 

A rundown of the brackets and the rest of the card are after the jump….

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