Number 7 Cain Velasquez
In the early 2010s, Cain Velasquez was arguably the UFC’s most feared and dominant heavyweight.
He went on to become a two-time champion for the promotion before he was ultimately
forced to retire from MMA following a string of injuries. Velasquez had a brief professional
wrestling career in the WWE before he was released amidst pandemic-related budget cuts in 2020. The
former professional athlete was officially charged with one count of attempted murder
in addition to several counts of related weapon charges on March the 2nd of 2022. The incident
for which 39-year-old Velasquez was charged stemmed from a shooting that had taken place
on February the 28th, roughly a week after a man named Harry Goularte, Jr. had been released from
custody on a personal recognizance bond. Goularte had been detained on felony charges for allegedly
abusing one of Velasquez’s younger relatives. On a stretch of a main freeway in Santa Clara County,
California, the former MMA star chased after a pickup truck that contained 43-year-old Goularte,
his stepfather and one other person. He rammed the truck with his own vehicle then fired a
.40-caliber pistol at Goularte through the window. Velasquez missed his intended target and, instead,
struck the man’s stepfather, inflicting non-life threatening injuries. Velasquez was later arrested
and booked into the Santa Clara County jail. Many within the MMA community expressed their
support of the athlete in the aftermath, sparking a movement to “Free Cain”. The same message was
written on the T-shirts of nearly one hundred people that showed up outside the California
court where he was formally arraigned. Number 6 Chamique Holdsclaw
Following an accomplished WNBA career that spanned over 11 years, Chamique Holdsclaw retired in 2010.
Throughout her professional run, Holdsclaw earned an Olympic gold medal while domestically she was a
six-time WNBA All-Star. In her autobiography, entitled “Breaking Through: Beating the Odds
Shot after Shot”, the former sport star wrote that she’d battled with mental health issues
during her basketball career. In November of 2012, Holdsclaw went to see her ex-girlfriend,
Jennifer Lacy, who at the time was working out at a church on Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Avenue.
The 35-year-old former sportswoman approached Lacy, a player for the WNBA's Tulsa Shock,
to say that she wanted to return some items. Upon driving away from the church in her Range Rover,
29-year-old Lacy noticed that Holdsclaw was following her. The former drove to a friend’s
house and, upon exiting her SUV, was approached by Holdsclaw who was wielding a baseball bat.
Lacy fled into her friend’s house and then watched as her ex used the bat to smash the windows
of her car prior to firing a handgun into it. It was reported that Holdsclaw had earlier poured
gasoline into Lacy’s vehicle and that she’d fired the gun in hopes of blowing it up. Lacy
and her friend were unhurt in the incident and a warrant was put out for Holdsclaw’s arrest.
After she was taken into custody, the former WNBA star was charged with aggravated assault,
criminal damage and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. She pleaded guilty in
June of 2013 and was sentenced to three years’ probation, ordered to perform community service,
and pay a $3,000 fine. Number 5 Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman, one of the most celebrated defensive players in NBA history, rose to
superstardom during his three-championship run with the Chicago Bulls, playing alongside
Michael Jordan. Rodman was a controversial figure during his time as a professional athlete, mostly
stemming from a “wild man” persona; much of which he maintained after retiring from the NBA in 2000.
He struggled with alcohol abuse, even appearing on rehab-related reality TV shows, and developed
a highly-publicized friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom he visited several times.
In early 2003, Rodman was arrested on domestic violence charges for assaulting his then-fiancée
at his home in Newport Beach, California. The following year he was ordered to serve
30 days of home detention after pleading no contest to charges of drunk driving in Las Vegas.
Additional arrests for spousal battery and driving under the influence followed in 2008 and 2018,
respectively, with Rodman receiving three years of probation for the latter. More recently,
in 2019, the former NBA athlete was charged with a single misdemeanor count of battery
for slapping an acquaintance of his, named as Jeff Soulouque, at the Buddha Sky Bar in Delray Beach,
Florida. Rodman was celebrating his 48th birthday at the time and, according to an arrest affidavit,
he abruptly turned around and struck Soulouque, who’d been standing behind him. He hit him twice
with an open hand in what was described as an unprovoked attack. The 30-year-old victim reported
that he was left with considerable swelling and a corneal abrasion that rendered him unable to work.
An agreement was reached the following year that required Rodman to pay Soulouque
$250 in restitution, maintain his distance from him and avoid further legal trouble in order for
the battery charges to be dropped. Number 4 Mike Tyson
Once nicknamed the “Baddest Man on the Planet”, boxer Mike Tyson has been embroiled in a plethora
of controversies and legal problems ever since his preteens, through his professional career,
and after his retirement. Tyson had already been arrested 38 times by the age of 13,
before he was taken under the wing of trainer Cus D’Amato and molded into an elite boxer.
After making his professional debut in the mid-1980s, an aura of invincibility
followed Tyson, who became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at the age 20. He
was the most feared and dominant pugilist in the sport up until his loss to Buster Douglas in 1990;
considered one of boxing’s biggest upsets. In July of the following year, Tyson was arrested for
allegedly forcing himself upon 18-year-old Desiree Washington. He was found guilty, sentenced to six
years in prison and paroled after three. Tyson enjoyed sporadic success following his release,
even briefly regaining his WBC and WBA titles, before retiring from professional boxing in 2005,
following back-to-back losses. Prior to his last fight, a USA Today interview with Tyson
was released in which he was quoted as saying "I just want to escape. I'm really embarrassed
with myself and my life”. In late December of 2006, Tyson nearly crashed into a police SUV
after driving away from a nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizona. According to a probable-cause statement
filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Tyson admitted to having used drugs and to being an
addict upon being questioned by the authorities. He was charged with felony drug possession and
paraphernalia possession counts as well as two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence
of drugs. While awaiting trial on the charges, he checked himself into an inpatient treatment
program. He pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and driving under the influence in September of
2007 and spent 24 hours in an Arizona jail. A judge praised Tyson for seeking help for his
addiction and, in lieu of more jail time, ordered him to serve three years' probation and complete
360 hours of community service. Number 3 Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho, is often regarded as a standout
of his generation and as being among the most gifted soccer players of all time. He was an
integral member of the Brazilian national team that won the World Cup in 2002 and also had a
celebrated club career, particularly at Barcelona, which contributed to him becoming the 2005
Ballon d’Or winner. Following his retirement from the sport, Ronaldinho has had several
legal troubles. In July of 2019, dozens of his properties were confiscated, along with his
Brazilian and Spanish passports, for unpaid taxes and fines. The following year, the former soccer
superstar and his brother, Roberto, were detained by authorities in Paraguay for attempting to enter
the country using fake passports. On March the 6th they’d arrived to launch an online casino and
promote a book but were taken into custody after presenting passports which had been issued to two
women before being modified. The documents falsely claimed that they were naturalized Paraguayan
citizens and immediately attracted attention due to Ronaldinho’s international fame. He spent his
40th birthday in jail but was allowed to move to Asunción’s Palmaroga Hotel, along with his
brother, as part of a house arrest agreement. A judge eventually released Ronaldinho and Roberto,
following a plea deal with fines of $90,000 and $110,000 for the brothers, respectively. After a
forced stay of nearly six months in Paraguay, they returned to Brazil in August of 2020.
Number 2 Joanna Nalborska A former North Carolina State University tennis
star was arrested for domestic assault, alongside her boyfriend, following an altercation at their
home off of Trinity Ridge Road in Raleigh. The incident took place in November of 2018 and it
involved Joanna Nalborska and Gilmore Dejoie, aged 25 and 22 respectively. The former had been
a prodigious player for the Wolfpack from 2014 to 2017. An unspecified heated argument had occurred
between the Polish native and her partner that ultimately devolved into a physical struggle. As
reported by arresting officers, Dejoie had choked Nalborska to which she’d responded by striking him
with a meat tenderizer. Consequently, the former star athlete was charged with assault with a
deadly weapon while her boyfriend was taken into custody on a charge of assault by strangulation.
Number 1 Anthony Smith
Defensive end Anthony Smith played football professionally with the Oakland/Los Angeles
Raiders, for seven seasons. He was the team’s top pick in 1990 out of the University of Arizona,
and retired from the sport in the late 1990s, when he was 31 years old. Smith became affiliated
with street gangs and was involved in criminal activities within only a few years of ending
his career. In 2008, the former NFL athlete and two associates were charged with the murder of
mechanic Maurilio Ponce, who’d been found beaten and shot to death in Lancaster, California. Smith
and Ponce had reportedly been involved in a cargo theft together and, after the latter’s death,
Smith was seen driving his car. A jury deadlocked in April of 2011 and a retrial was expected but,
as he awaited new legal proceedings, Smith was charged with three other killings. In 1999,
brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles were kidnapped from a Los Angeles car wash by two individuals
posing as police officers. The brothers were tortured, as evidenced by a clothing iron-shaped
burn on Ricky’s stomach, and then executed. Their bodies, with their heads wrapped in duct tape,
were found a day after their abduction. On June the 25th of 2001, Smith was alleged to have
kidnapped Dennis Henderson in the LA neighborhood of Mar Vista. The following day, his body was
discovered in Watts, in the back of a rental car. Henderson had been beaten and stabbed to death.
After a preliminary hearing, in October of 2012, a judge determined there was enough evidence for
Smith to stand trial for the four murders of which he stood accused. A jury again deadlocked on Ponce
but, in November of 2015, Smith was convicted of the murders of Henderson and the Nettles brothers.
Prosecutors didn’t seek the death penalty and the once promising NFL athlete was given
three consecutive life sentences, without the possibility of parole.
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