Ronaldo, McGregor, Mayweather, Tyson: Top 30 most arrogant athletes according to fan vote
Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, Conor McGregor, Mike Tyson and other high-profile sports stars have been voted amongst the most arrogant athletes in history.
There’s no denying that an excess of confidence can be crucial for sportspeople because believing in yourself can go a long way in helping to manifest your dreams and ambitions into reality.
It’s not a coincidence that there are so many cheesy Instagram quotes and clichéd home accessories spouting wisdom about believing in yourself being half the battle.
Fans vote on arrogant athletes
And while we’re not here to dispute that rhetoric, there’s also something to be said for somebody having too much confidence and you can definitely accuse certain athletes of falling into that category.
As such, when we stumbled across the interactive list titled: “Top Ten Most Arrogant Athletes,” over at thetoptens.com, we couldn’t help being curious as to whom fans had been voting for.
And it’s fair to say that the voice of the people, who can up-vote athletes they consider to be the most ‘arrogant’, has thrown up an eclectic range of choices and ranking decisions.
Some sportspeople have clearly been chosen for relatively positive reasons with heroes such as Muhammad Ali and Tom Brady undoubtedly acting arrogant at times, but ultimately remaining humble at heart.
Then, there is a spectrum of picks that ranges from athletes who are indefensibly up their own backsides and others who, well, have no doubt accrued votes due to certain controversies in their personal lives.
The 30 most arrogant athletes ever
However, whatever the motives might be behind certain votes, the results are nevertheless thoroughly intriguing, so be sure to check out the top 30 most arrogant athletes in sports history according to fan votes down below:
30. Kevin Durant (Basketball)
29. Adrien Broner (Boxing)
28. Brock Lesnar (WWE and MMA)
27. Jameis Winston (American football)
26. Usain Bolt (Athletics)
25. Jim Brown (American football)
24. Joey Barton (Football)
23. Michael Vick (American football)
22. Bernard Hopkins (Boxing)
21. Sidney Crosby (Ice hockey)
20. Alexander Ovechkin (Ice hockey)
19. Tony Romo (American football)
18. O.J. Simpson (American football)
17. Johnny Manziel (American football)
16. Lance Armstrong (Cycling)
15. Kobe Bryant (Basketball)
14. Tiger Woods (Golf)
13. Conor McGregor (MMA and boxing)
12. Cam Newton (American football)
11. Mike Tyson (Boxing)
10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Football)
9. Cristiano Ronaldo (Football)
8. DeSean Jackson (American football)
7. Chael Sonnen (MMA)
6. Roy Jones Jr. (Boxing)
5. Richard Sherman (American football)
4. Tom Brady (American football)
3. LeBron James (Basketball)
2. Muhammad Ali (Boxing)
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Boxing)
Interesting vote results
While there are certainly some selections that leave us scratching our heads and looking away out of awkwardness, there are definitely a number of picks that – let’s be honest here – hit the nail on the head.
For starters, Mayweather feels like a worthy winner considering that he openly backs himself as the greatest boxer to walk the earth and can’t seem to go more than a few weeks on Instagram without posing alongside stacks of cash.
Elsewhere, we can understand why Ali ranks highly given that he openly referred to himself as the GOAT during his prime, but we can’t help feeling as though it came from a better place than it does for Mayweather.
Ronaldo making an appearance is thoroughly unsurprising, though the whole ‘arrogance’ narrative surrounding him is almost certainly disproportionately informed by his love for topless photos.
Besides, we’d probably say that Ibrahimovic actually deserves to place higher than the Manchester United star considering his comments belittling the MLS and third-person comparisons between himself and lions and gods.
Meanwhile, Bolt channelled that most loveable brand of ‘arrogance’ with his unforgettable pre-race antics and the vain accusations aimed at Woods are a little outdated now that he’s warmed up to the fans.
Like we say, though, the caveat to all of this is that arrogance isn’t always a bad thing in sport as long as it’s not an immovable personality trait rubbing people up the wrong way every second of every day.
After all, controlling one’s confidence and self belief can be an unstoppable sporting weapon in the right hands. It’s not for no reason that so many of these sports stars were absolute masters in their fields.