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Pride comes before the fall, and these athletes learned that the hard way! Join us as we count down our picks for the most memorable times that brash, cocky, and completely arrogant athletes got knocked down a peg or two on the global stage. Which humbling moment left the biggest impression on you? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Things all happen for a reason and I really do believe that. I really do believe that the worst
00:04things in life result in the best things that can happen. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're
00:08counting down our picks for the top 20 times that brash, cocky and completely arrogant athletes got
00:13knocked down a peg or two on the global stage. Got a better man one, respect to Andy and I'll
00:19move forward now and see what's next with the boss man. Number 20, Jake Paul. Depending on who you
00:25ask, Jake Paul's pivot into the world of boxing has either been an existential threat to the
00:29sports integrity or a totally meaningless sideshow. I, Jake Joseph Paul, will knock out, defeat and
00:35embarrass Anthony Joshua Friday, December 19th live on Netflix. Most people tend to fall somewhere in
00:41the middle. As one of the foremost YouTube celebrities to emerge in the last decade,
00:45Paul is by no means a shy character. In fact, most of his haters would argue that he's an
00:48incredibly arrogant young man. Beating up aging MMA fighters in the boxing ring was enough to earn him
00:53at least some credibility though. However, when he finally came face to face with a legit opponent,
00:57the former heavyweight king, Anthony Joshua, he ended up with a broken jaw and a painful defeat.
01:01Declaring your winner by knockout AJ Anthony Joshua!
01:16Number 19, Isaiah Thomas. Once heralded as a true surprise package in the NBA. Rising into MVP
01:22contention in 2017, Isaiah Thomas' fall was just as dramatic.
01:26MVP chants broke out. What does that mean to you?
01:29Blessing from God. I mean, you dream about things like that.
01:32Following injury concerns and a trade from the Celtics to the Cleveland Cavaliers,
01:36he really struggled to replicate his form. Reports of locker room tension and diminished
01:40performance reframed him from a potential standout to a real uncertainty. His breakout season inflated his
01:45ego, but life has a way of dealing people undesirable hands. For Thomas, some of it was bad luck,
01:49but in reality, he didn't do himself any favors with his attitude.
01:52I have no hard feelings against Cleveland. It just didn't work out, and that just happened.
01:56Number 18, Johnny Manziel. You don't get a nickname like Johnny Football without having
02:00some real promise. Unfortunately, Johnny Manziel's biggest crime was not being untalented.
02:04Got him. No, they didn't. No, they didn't. Oh, my gracious. How about that?
02:16Can't teach that, can you?
02:18Nah, he was guilty of buying into his own hype way too much by the time his NFL opportunity came.
02:22Upon being drafted by the Cleveland Browns, he started talking a frankly huge game. In his first
02:27start against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2014, though, Manziel struggled with pace, decision-making,
02:32and defensive complexity, finishing a 30-0 loss with multiple turnovers.
02:36I mean, you've seen the Bengals. They were tired of hearing about Johnny Manziel,
02:40and so he's going to get a lot of people's best shot. His persona, who he is, the celebrity
02:46quarterback, it engenders a response that isn't too kind from opponents.
02:50Opponents mocked him using his own swaggy celebration, flipping his exuberant persona
02:54against him. He never did manage to deliver on all those big claims.
02:58Number 17, Deontay Wilder. Few fighters of the modern era have
03:01managed to make as many outlandish claims in the media as Deontay Wilder.
03:05No one scares me, because if I wanted to do some Tyson, believe me, it will be done.
03:11When you at night, sleeping and dreaming about me, know this, I don't know when it's going to come.
03:18He's a character, what can we say? He really dug deep into his trash-talking of Tyson Fury
03:22after their controversial first meeting. In that bout, most analysts and fans agreed that Wilder
03:26had lost the vast majority of the rounds, saving himself from a shutout only through a pair of
03:31pivotal knockdowns. The draw was given by the judges, leading to a big money rematch.
03:35Wilder made it clear that Fury had fluked his way into that performance. On fight night,
03:39the Gypsy King showed up and absolutely destroyed Wilder for seven rounds before getting the stoppage.
03:44It's over! Tyson Fury has become the new WBC heavyweight champion of the world. As the corner
03:54has thrown in the towel, there is a new champion, and his name is Tyson Fury.
04:01One of the great humbling moments of our time.
04:04Number 16, Mike Tyson. When you've ascended to the extreme heights of fame and exposure that Mike
04:08Tyson reached, it's always going to be hard to stay focused. However, in the case of this young heavyweight
04:13champion, his overlooking of James Buster Douglas in 1990 will forever go down as a legendary blunder.
04:18A lot of ringside observers didn't expect the fight to go this far. It should be pointed out
04:23that stamina has been a problem for Buster Douglas throughout his career.
04:27Oddsmakers were so confident that Tyson would beat this unheralded contender that most of them
04:31stopped taking bets on the fight. Iron Mike's team didn't even bring endswell or proper corner
04:35supplies due to their arrogance. In the end, Douglas fought the fight of his life, KOing Tyson to pull
04:40off perhaps the biggest upset in the history of boxing.
04:43This makes Cinderella look like a sad story, what Buster Douglas has done here tonight.
04:50Number 15, Tim Anderson. Ever since he landed on the scene, Tim Anderson's confidence has been
04:55central to his identity. But unfortunately, it crossed into spectacle during a 2023 clash
04:59with the Cleveland Guardians. Ramirez on his way to second, head for slide, safe and in the score
05:06is Jimenez. In one pivotal moment, Anderson got into a fight with Jose Ramirez, signaling that he was
05:11ready to throw down, a big bravado moment for him. In a hilarious turn of events, what followed was
05:16immediate and decisive. Ramirez landed a clean punch that dropped Anderson to the ground, sealing his viral
05:20infamy for life. Anderson squared off, Jose decked him. To this day, the clip remains in rotation on
05:27social media. In other words, it'll take one hell of an effort for Anderson to live this down.
05:32Number 14, Antonio Margarito. Karma comes at us in all manner of ways, but in the boxing ring,
05:37it tends to be delivered with painful consequences.
05:47The great Antonio Margarito's reputation took a decisive hit when allegations surfaced that he had
05:53used loaded hand wraps, most notably before his 2008 bout with Miguel Cotto. How much he actually
05:58knew about the cheating is unclear, but the damage to Cotto was unquestionable, and his attitude in the
06:03time after did not help him. In many ways, the world of boxing was united around the fan-favorite
06:08brawler when he rematched Margarito three years later in 2011. In that bout, Cotto avenged his first
06:12career defeat by comprehensively stopping his rival in round nine.
06:19Number 13, Zlatan Ibrahimović. There's no one quite like Zlatan Ibrahimović in the sport of
06:25football. It's a remarkable recovery. You come back a good month early, probably. Was there ever a
06:30moment you thought it might not happen? No, because Lions, they don't recover like humans.
06:35Beloved by the fans for his tongue-in-cheek adherence to an almost Chuck Norris level of self-mythologizing,
06:40Zlatan generally backs his words up with results. However, in the 2013 qualifiers for the World Cup,
06:45the following year, Zlatan's Sweden came face-to-face with Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.
06:49For as much as Ibrahimović was clearly a living legend in the sport, Ronaldo was in the process
06:53of ascending to a different level. Ibrahimović scored twice, but Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick.
06:57It's a chance for Ronaldo again! Hat-trick! He has written his name all over this tie,
07:05and there is no doubt now, he's paved their path to Rio!
07:09With that, Sweden crashed out and Ibrahimović received a pretty hefty slice of humble pie.
07:13Number 12. Lance Armstrong
07:15Although he spent an entire career framed as a hero,
07:17the arrogance of Lance Armstrong bubbled beneath the surface.
07:20He went from survivor to victor in what was called at the time,
07:24one of the most unbelievable comebacks in sports history.
07:28Armstrong wins the Tour de France!
07:30For seven straight years, he dominated arguably the hardest sporting event in the world.
07:35Sure, he was a trailblazing figure who did a lot for the advancement of cycling as a sport
07:39and a series of charitable endeavors. He was also a cheat, using PEDs behind the scenes to
07:43maximize his performances. Armstrong didn't merely deny doping allegations either. He
07:47aggressively dismantled critics, suing journalists and discrediting whistleblowers. That type of
07:51response only served to turn him into public enemy number one when he was forced into a full
07:55confession.
07:56Yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance?
08:01Yes.
08:02Even if he tried to claim that everyone was on steroids, not just him,
08:05the damage to his reputation was done.
08:07Number 11, Ryan Lochte.
08:08Few things can cause you a major loss in credibility, quite like fabricating a fake robbery story.
08:13He took our money, he took my wallet, and then...
08:16But he left your cell phone, he left your credential.
08:19He left my cell phone, he left my credential, but he took my wallet and he took all the guys'
08:25tech.
08:25For Ryan Lochte, his Olympic success gave him some real cultural significance.
08:29It also fed a need for attention that eventually outpaced his judgment.
08:32The breaking point came during the 2016 Rio Olympics when Lochte claimed he and teammates
08:36had been robbed at gunpoint.
08:37The story unraveled quickly, though, and surveillance footage showed them vandalizing a gas station
08:41and fabricating the incident entirely.
08:43I'm a human.
08:44I made a mistake, and that's something that I'm going to have to live with.
08:48Messing with the trust of the public is something that few celebrities can bounce back from.
08:52Lochte thought he was able to pull off a long con, and he unfortunately thought wrong.
08:56Number 10, Nick Kyrgios.
08:57Tennis needed characters like Kyrgios to inject a little spice into the elite level.
09:02I love the media.
09:03I love doing the media.
09:04Yeah?
09:05Yeah, you guys are so nice to me.
09:07It's true of any era in any sport.
09:09However, that doesn't mean the Australian didn't end up looking foolish from time to time.
09:12In an attempt to get under the great Rafael Nadal's skin, Kyrgios mocked his pre-served
09:17demeanor.
09:17Flex feel.
09:18Serious feel.
09:19Yeah, exactly.
09:20Thank you, Todd.
09:25Unfortunately, his mind games had little to no effect, and he later apologized to Nadal,
09:29who took it all in stride.
09:30Kyrgios, by his own admission, had fallen into a deep depression after losing badly to
09:34Nadal the previous year, but thankfully, he pulled himself out of it eventually.
09:37There's a lot of things I need to improve on to get to that level that, you know, Rafa
09:40brings, Novak brings, Roger have been doing for so long.
09:43Number 9, Mario Balotelli.
09:45Nobody was denying Balotelli's talents, especially during his prime.
09:49Mario was a pretty unique guy.
09:53He was a real one-off.
09:54He was, contrary to popular belief, he was a bright guy who did some bizarre things.
10:01Very unpredictable.
10:02He just didn't know what he was going to do next.
10:04Very, very talented player.
10:05However, consistency was always a problem for the Italian, and his attitude caused several
10:10rifts with big-name managers.
10:11One infamous example of Balotelli's antics on the big stage came during a Manchester City
10:16pre-season showdown with LA Galaxy.
10:18Mario decided to attempt to score a trick shot that could not have looked more low-effort.
10:22Beautifully timed run.
10:23Balotelli to make it two.
10:25I'm gonna...
10:26Man, are you kidding?
10:27Serious?
10:27Mario Balotelli.
10:29This was, of course, seen as majorly disrespectful to the home side.
10:32Thankfully, manager Roberto Mancini decided to take action, subbing him out of the game
10:36immediately.
10:37Though Balotelli later claimed he thought he was offside and that the game had paused,
10:41very few people believed him.
10:42Boy, this is problematic here.
10:45Very interesting stuff here.
10:46Good on Roberto Mancini.
10:48Number eight, LeBron James.
10:49He came to the Miami Heat and decided to put a lot of pressure on his own shoulders, making
10:53the frankly insane promise of seven championship rings to the team's fans.
10:57But we also know you three kings came down here to win championships.
11:02Not one, championships.
11:04Not two.
11:04LeBron, tell us about that.
11:06Not two.
11:06Not three.
11:07Not four.
11:09Not five.
11:10Not six.
11:11Not seven.
11:12Sure, gunning for one more than Michael Jordan's six is a clear statement of intent, but it
11:16showed James' lack of humility.
11:18He would go on to have a patchy record in finals appearances, and in 2014, he was forced
11:22to accept that he had bitten off more than he could chew.
11:24San Antonio Spurs are the world champions.
11:28The Spurs have captured their fifth NBA championship.
11:32In other words, the San Antonio Spurs were simply better than the Heat.
11:35Sure, LeBron would go on to find more consistent form under the bright lights, but this was
11:39an important moment for his trajectory nonetheless.
11:42But that's just the nature of the game.
11:43You win some, you lose some.
11:45You know, you just got to come back the next year and, you know, and be better.
11:49Number seven, Tom Brady.
11:51Seeing a young Brady being so undeniably cocky is a pretty crazy sight.
11:55We don't make predictions, or we just let our play do the talking, so.
11:59Giants wideout, Plaxico Burris boldly predicted that Brady's dominant Patriots wouldn't make
12:03it past 17 points in Super Bowl XLII.
12:06Brady, who was full of confidence, openly laughed at the idea of his team underperforming.
12:09We're only going to score 17 points?
12:13Okay.
12:13He then went out and saw Burris' prediction come true.
12:16Patriots lost 17-14, leaving Brady to accept that he was wrong.
12:19To his credit, he made no attempts to shy away from media questions, and later described
12:23it as his hardest ever career loss.
12:25Well, it is extremely disappointing.
12:30Isn't something, you know, any of us prepare for, but you go into a game, you know that
12:33some team's got to win, and some team's got to lose.
12:36Number six, Brian Bosworth.
12:38To say that Bosworth had bought into his own hype would be putting it lightly.
12:41The Boz was this larger-than-life character.
12:46This guy who knew how to merchandise himself.
12:49This guy who had the haircut and the earring and all the things that he brought with him.
12:56He very publicly flaunted his persona as the Boz, often referring to himself in the third
13:01person.
13:01However, ahead of a heavily publicized meeting with Bo Jackson in 1987, he made a promise
13:06that would haunt him for years after.
13:08I remember calling him out.
13:10That was kind of what my job was as a linebacker.
13:12Got to call out the star on the other side of the team.
13:14He made it clear that he wasn't worried about Jackson's athleticism or talents, vowing to
13:19handle him with ease on the field.
13:21Not only did that not happen, he actually ended up getting manhandled by Jackson in several
13:25key plays.
13:26It was a very public instance of being forced to eat crow.
13:29He did all, all of the talking, and I learned, and I learned back in college and high school,
13:36is that I do my talking on the field.
13:39Number five, Cam Newton.
13:40It doesn't matter how good your team looks in the lead-up to the Super Bowl.
13:43It can still fall apart when it matters most.
13:45I'm comfortable, you know, with the position that I'm in right now.
13:49Cam Newton seemed uber-confident about the Carolina Panthers' chances of running over
13:53the Denver Broncos.
13:54On the big night, it was the Broncos' defense that had the last laugh, as they managed to
13:58throw him off his game.
13:59The newly minted MVP.
14:00Couldn't get it going.
14:02Newton was even responsible for a huge error, freezing up for a split second over a fumbled
14:07ball, allowing the opposition to scoop it up.
14:09It was an error that he himself admitted would follow him for years after.
14:13They just played better than us.
14:15I don't know what you want me to say.
14:17Number four, Muhammad Ali.
14:18Look, we love Muhammad Ali, as much as anyone else.
14:21He is, without question, one of the most iconic and important sports figures in history.
14:24I predict that when I meet Joe Frazier, this will be like a good amateur fighting a real
14:30professional.
14:31We'd be remiss, though, if we didn't draw attention to how much he belittled and insulted
14:34Joe Frazier in the lead-up to their first bout.
14:36Billed as the fight of the century, it was the collision of the current champ, Smoke and
14:40Joe, and the former champ who never actually lost his belt in the ring, Ali.
14:43Wait, can I get you in the ring?
14:45Wait, you see what?
14:46Lift your hand.
14:47Despite writing him off as one-dimensional, Ali was forced to accept that Frazier's aggressive
14:51style and stocky frame was a real problem.
14:53He even got knocked down late in the fight, eventually losing on the scorecards.
14:57For the first time in his career, Muhammad Ali was beaten.
15:01Number three, Conor McGregor.
15:02We can point to a few times that McGregor was served up some humble pie.
15:05I came back for the love of this, to come and shut this man up, a little rat, a little
15:11weasel, a little hard man in groups.
15:13His defeats to Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier are certainly worth a mention, but for our money,
15:18his collision with Khabib Nurmagomedov stands out.
15:21McGregor relentlessly trash-talked Khabib in the build-up to the bout, going after his character,
15:25his family, his team, his religion.
15:27Nothing was off-limits.
15:28I am going to truly, truly love putting a bad, bad beating on this little glass jar rat.
15:36However, on fight night, Nurmagomedov showed his quality, dominating the Irishman before
15:41forcing him to tap in the fourth round.
15:43He even out-notorioused him by causing a huge post-fight brawl in the immediate aftermath.
15:48A new major superstar was born on that night, and it signaled the beginning of the end of
15:51the McGregor era.
15:52I told you guys, when you put him wrong way, he gonna tap.
15:56No, what happened today?
15:57Like, they call him two-time world champion, like, two weight classes, but today he tapped.
16:02Number two, Anthony Joshua.
16:04If there's one mistake that any young boxer should avoid at all costs, it's underestimating
16:08a worthy opponent.
16:09When they see me, they're like, man, who's this short, chubby kid?
16:12He's gonna get tired really fast.
16:14I don't think he could last.
16:15Andy Ruiz Jr. might not have looked like much to the casual observer, and Anthony Joshua clearly
16:20didn't think that highly of him ahead of their 2019 showdown.
16:23As it turned out, though, Ruiz was a lot better than most people realized and got the jump
16:27on AJ, knocking him down several times before scoring the TKO finish.
16:31He says that's it!
16:32Andy Ruiz is the heavyweight champion!
16:35And Andy Ruiz has shocked the world!
16:38All of a sudden, one of the biggest stars in the sport had fallen victim to his own arrogance.
16:42Though he did eventually find his momentum again with the win in the rematch, his stock
16:45and reputation never fully recovered.
16:47But it just didn't work out, so what do I do next?
16:51He did eventually find his momentum again with a win in the rematch and did some humbling
16:56of his own in his match against Jake Paul in 2025.
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17:27Number 1, Ronda Rousey.
17:29Her drop from hero to zero might be the most dramatic fall from grace in recent memory.
17:33Yeah, I'm ready for every situation.
17:35I've had more title fights than non-title fights and I've been in many more situations
17:38than always have been and I'm more prepared than she is for this and I'm going to win on
17:42Sunday and everyone's going to see.
17:43She was a pioneering force for women's MMA and single-handedly responsible for Dana White,
17:48allowing them to compete in the UFC.
17:50However, when she began to believe her own hype, it all fell apart.
17:52She was tasked with taking on the former boxing world champion Holly Holm, but we ended up
17:56seeing Rousey's game audited in shocking fashion.
17:59I just go out there and get the victory in the most efficient and fantastic way I can think
18:02of.
18:03Not only was her striking underdeveloped, it was almost laughably bad.
18:06To make matters worse when Holm eventually finished her with a brutal head kick, Rousey refused
18:10even acknowledge it in interviews, UFC 193 began her decline into a universally criticized
18:16figure in the sport.
18:17I think I'd just rather not talk about that right now.
18:19But what's your own personal favorite example of an athlete getting humbled in sports?
18:23Let us know in the comments below.
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