The Top 30 Sore Losers In Sports History

29. Christina Linardatou

Greek boxer Linardatou fought Katie Taylor in 2019. However, her Irish opponent, the unified lightweight champion of the world, had far too much class and won a title in her second weight division. Did Linardatou accept defeat on the chin? No, of course she didn’t. In fact, she called Taylor ‘fake’ and claimed that she hadn’t won either of her past two fights.

Now we all know that boxing is one of the most corrupt sports on the planet. But anybody who thought Linardatou beat Taylor needs some help. Taylor did fight a very close match against Belgium’s Delfine Persoons, and many felt that she was lucky to get the decision. However, she clearly won their rematch. In sum, Linardatou just added her names to the ranks of poor losers who embarrassed themselves.

28. Mike Tyson

Biting somebody’s ear off will ensure disqualification from a boxing match. Tyson fought Evander Holyfield for the second time in 1997 when this dramatic moment occurred. Holyfield won the first fight by a late TKO and was confident before the second match. He put pressure on Tyson who responded by biting Holyfield’s ear in the third round. The referee docked him two points and the fight continued.

But he did again two rounds later and this time tore a chunk out of his opponent’s ear. Finally, the referee disqualified him. Holyfield claimed that Tyson knew a knockout was coming and preferred a disqualification instead. Meanwhile, Tyson confirmed that if the fight continued he would have tried to bite Holyfield again. As losers go, ‘Iron Mike’ is the only cannibal on this list.

27. Dennis Green

If your team was up by 20 points and went onto lose 24-23, you’d probably be angry too. Green was like a volcano ready to erupt after his Arizona Cardinals imploded against the Chicago Bears. It’s a bit harsh to call him one of sports’ worst losers, but this footage is incredible as you can see below. You can almost feel the reporter melt into the ground.

In short, the reporter asked if they had underestimated the Bears but Green didn’t like the question. He reacted furiously and passionately. After such a horrendous meltdown you can’t blame him for being angry, but you also wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of this rant. It became an iconic moment in NFL history so we have to give a bit of love to the late coach.

26. Roy Hodgson

When you get past his mild-mannered exterior and funny accent, Hodgson is a prickly character. The former England manager and current Crystal Palace head coach doesn’t enjoy talking to the media. He also possesses a very foul mouth as one reporter found out the hard way. You can check out the clip below as Hodgson showed why he is on this list of bad losers.

He wasn’t happy with a penalty decision that went against his team. He accused the interviewer of being ‘tricky’. Then he became more foul-mouthed. However, they restarted the interview again and all seemed well until the same question came up. Hodgson gave him short thrift. It makes you wonder how often arguments happen between sports coaches and media.

25. Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton didn’t get to his level by making friends with his fellow Formula 1 drivers. The British superstar is one of the most successful of all-time but he definitely has a dark side. A case in point was when he defied team orders in an attempt to beat his teammate Nico Rosberg to the Driver’s Championship. However, Hamilton had other ideas. He didn’t care about guaranteed team glory unless he was the one who won.

The UK driver tried to hold Rosberg up in the final race of the 2016 calendar so that other drivers would pass him and make him lose points. But he failed and the German won the championship. However, is only victory over Hamilton during their three years as teammates, with the Brit winning it for the other two years. Hamilton’s hunger to win superseded the team.

24. Deron Williams

Williams held himself to very high standards and admitted he was a bad loser. He even once told the media that he becomes grumpy when he loses and that they won’t like him. It seems like there are two types of sore losers in sports. Firstly, you have those who just take it too far and start a fight or rant at officials in an uncontrolled manner. This is obviously wrong.

But then you have the other type who just don’t want to talk to anybody. Nothing is more frustrating than your own personal failure. When you think about it, this should be the response of every high-level athlete after losing. Williams once scored 57 points as he blasted the Nets to a close victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. This man had desire and hated to come up short.

23. Bill Belichick

The long-serving head coach of the New England Patriots, Belichick is a relentless winner. Understandably, this has made him one of the worst losers amongst his contemporaries. The veteran hates defeat more than anything and just doesn’t cope very well with it. After one defeat he refused to do an interview with CBS. Many people believed that he shirked his responsibilities.

Belichick’s relationship with the media is notoriously fraught. After a heavy loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2014, he faced the cameras. “We’re onto Cincinnati,” he said over and over again. Many thought it was very petty. However, other fans love his irascible nature and lack of give. We can see both sides of it, and there’s no doubt that winners make the worst losers.

22. Hope Solo

One of the most successful women’s soccer players ever, Solo captained the USWMT throughout her career. A passionate figure, Solo was one of the world’s best goalkeepers. However, there were times when she should have kept her mouth shut because nobody likes bad losers. Just as the Swedish team that beat the U.S. in the 2016 Olympic Games, she didn’t exactly cover herself in glory.

Solo called the Swedes ‘cowards’ for not wanting to pass the ball. She essentially called them long-ball merchants who were too afraid to play the U.S. in an open game. However, at the end of the day, Sweden pulled off a tactical masterclass and won the game. In the end, it just came off as sour grapes and nobody really took her seriously. She shouldn’t have said anything.

21. Angel Matos

How do you guarantee you’ll never compete in the Olympics ever again? Try kicking the referee in the head because that will usually do it. Matos competed for Cuba in Taekwondo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After a gold medal in Sydney, he hoped to add to his incredible collection. However, things didn’t go his way and he broke his foot in the bronze medal round.

The injury timeout elapsed and the referee called the fight. But Matos didn’t take kindly to this and kicked him in the end with his broken foot. It’s easier to be one of the world’s worst losers when you have Fidel Castro on your side because the Cuban dictator defended the athlete’s actions. In the end, the International Olympic Committee and World Taekwondo banned him for life from competition.

20. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

The most successful women’s strawweight champion in UFC history, Jedrzejczyk is a phenomenal fighter. She butchered her opponents with terrifying glee and looked invincible. Until she met Rose Namajunas and the American fighter stopped her in the first round. Did ‘Joanna Champion’ respond graciously and accept that the better woman won on the night? Of course not.

Jedrzejczyk proceeded to blame her defeat on everybody and everything except herself. Firstly, she tried to make out that she had a bad weight cut. Then she said that ‘Thug Rose’ got lucky. Furthermore, she pointed the finger at her coaches. It may have all been very tedious but she finally got a rematch. However, Namajunas won that as well, making the Polish fighter look like one of the sport’s worst losers.

19. Juan Manuel Marquez

Mexican combat sports fans like to make it very clear when they’re not happy. If the result doesn’t go their way, then watch out below. A maelstrom of beer glasses, empty cups, bottles, and whatever else they can get their hands on will rain down from above. This happened on multiple occasions but one of the most notorious was when Marquez controversially lost against Manny Pacquaio at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

The fight was very even but Pacquaio put in a strong two final rounds. This was enough to seal victory with two of the judges giving him the nod. The other scored the fight as a draw. Mexican fans showed that they aren’t good losers by launching projectiles at the ring. Meanwhile, Marquez and his cornermen didn’t help matters by claiming that a robbery went down.

18. Arsene Wenger

Another soccer personality who proved that there is nothing wrong with being one of the sports’ worst losers, Wenger revolutionized the Premier League with Arsenal. However, he resented any style of play that went against his personal philosophies. As a result, he had strong rivalries with the likes of Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce. Both of these men preferred a more agricultural setup with long balls and tough-tackling.

As a result, Allardyce labeled his counterpart as ‘arrogant’ and a ‘bad loser.’ Meanwhile, Wenger also made headlines for not shaking hands with one of the coaches at Tottenham Hotspurs after a rare defeat. However, once again, let’s reiterate that we’re not hating in this case. Wenger was a serial winner and hated losing against less refined teams. You can’t blame him for that.

17. Jeff Tarango

Probably the least famous athlete on this list, Tarango nonetheless served up an inglorious moment in 1995. The American tennis player ensured himself a place on lists of worst losers for life by getting into it with an umpire at Wimbledon. The number 80-ranked player didn’t really do much else exciting throughout his career but ensured that we remember for one reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBaGk7ndbY8

Tarango thought that he had scored an ace but the umpire called it out. Then Tarango argued with the referee and incited the crowd. The player told the crowd to ‘shut up,’ so the umpire docked him a point. Next, Tarango proceeded to call the umpire ‘corrupt’ and finally ended his dramatic moment by storming off the court before the game ended. Overall, it was dramatic and hilarious.

16. Jose Mourinho

A serial winner, Mourinho is one of the most successful coaches in soccer history. He managed the likes of F.C. Porto and Inter Milan to Champion’s League titles, while he also won leagues with Real Madrid and Chelsea. However, the current Tottenham Hotspurs’ coach is also one of the worst losers in the game and has a notorious dark side as he proved in 2011.

His Madrid side lost to Barcelona when a fracas broke out. Mourinho calmly walked over to Barca coach Tito Vilanova and poked him in the eye. Meanwhile, he regularly throws his players under the bus when results don’t go his way. Furthermore, Mourinho loves an old-fashioned siege mentality. Nothing makes him happier than the misery of acting like the whole world is against him.

15. Jim Schwartz

Schwartz is that awful combination of a bad winner and an even worse loser. After one victory, he requested his players carry him on their shoulders. The cringle is unshakeable. However, he is also one of the NFL’s worst losers as he proved in defeat against the San Francisco 49ers. In short, the Detroit Lions’ coach didn’t cover himself in glory at all with a hilarious post-game interaction.

He went over to shake Jim Harbaugh’s hand but took exception to Harbaugh’s overzealous celebration. In response, Schwartz charged toward Harbaugh and it all kicked off. Players from both sides squared up to each other with their helmets on as if they were ready to fight. It fizzled out but Schwartz’s bad temper almost caused an on-field riot. All because of a handshake.

14. Dan Gilbert

Gilbert’s situation is a bit different from most of the people on this list because he didn’t lose a game. No, he lost arguably the greatest player of all-time in LeBron James. James left his beloved Cleveland for the Miami Heat because he wanted to win an NBA Championship, which he duly did in his second season with Miami. However, Gilbert didn’t appreciate his franchise star departing for pastures new.

Gilbert described it as a striking betrayal as he ranted and raved about James to the world’s media. When James returned, Gilbert’s leadership was a big part of why he eventually left for the L.A Lakers. In sum, Gilbert has proved to be one of the biggest losers in NBA history. In a battle against a superstar, Gilbert needed to accept that you’re going to come off second-best in the eyes of the public.

13. Peyton Manning

Another serial winner who didn’t know how to admit defeat, Manning had an exemplary career. However, as well as belonging on this list of sore losers, he was also a hypocrite. The former Colts and Broncos’ star quarterback shredded Cam Newton for refusing to speak to media after Super Bowl 50. However, Manning referred to Mike Vanderjagt as ‘that idiot kicker’ following a crushing 41-0 playoff loss to the New York Jets.

When the New Orleans Saints defeated the Colts at Super Bowl XLIV, what did Manning do? He stormed off without shaking hands with his counterpart Drew Brees or any of the other Saints’ players. Sure, the pain hurts, but there is still the etiquette of professionals to follow. Look, we accept that winners have a different standard but you can’t slate another athlete when you’ve done the same thing.

12. Danica Patrick

The legendary driver was a beacon for women in motorsports for years. We have to be fair because she was always going to receive a lot of hate for being female in Indy and Nascar. However, this fairness works both ways as Patrick showed a lack of class on several occasions. She would argue that male drivers do the same thing, but she’s more famous than most of them and with that comes responsibility.

Blaming your equipment is petty by anybody’s standards. Furthermore, so is pointing the finger at other drivers. Finally, throwing your team under the bus is unforgivable. Patrick did all of those things throughout her career as she solidified her reputation as one of racing’s worst losers. However, she was under a lot of pressure as a woman in a man’s world. Her will to be the best has to be respected.

11. Cam Newton

Newton received a lot of criticism after Super Bowl 50. The Carolina Panthers lost to the Denver Broncos in a disappointing game for the franchise. Furthermore, Newton didn’t play well at all with a key fumble in the fourth quarter. Newton then refused to speak with reporters in the post-game press conference and attracted a lot of hate online as well as raised eyebrows from his critics.

Most of his detractors said that he should have faced up to the media like a man. However, Newton responded later by accepting that he’s one of the sport’s sore losers. He said, “if you show me a good loser, then I’ll show you a loser.” It was a great line and also proves how much the best athletes believe in themselves and hate to appear diminished in front of the world.

10. Sean O’Malley

In 2020, O’Malley’s star was on the rise. He had the look and the skills to win a mainstream appeal. After a stunning first-round KO win over Eddie Wineland, he entered his next fight against vteran Marlon Vera. He suffered a devastating shock loss. O’Malley threw a calf kick but Vera checked it and damaged a nerve in his opponent’s leg. ‘Suga’ couldn’t put his weight on the foot and Vera eventually overwhelmed it.

O’Malley’s reaction earns him a place on this list of sorest losers because he showed zero class after the fight. He put Vera on full blast, calling him a journeyman and describing the win as a ‘fluke.’ This ignored the fact that Vera’s offense caused the injury. Most people agreed that O’Malley should have said that it is what it is and moved on gracefully. But instead, he showed immaturity and lost fans for his disrespect.

9. Jonathan Papelbon

Most people agree that choking your teammate is not the best way to improve locker room morale. Unfortunately, nobody told Papelbon this before he tried to strangle Bryce Harper in 2015. Harper failed to run out a fly ball and infuriated his teammate who didn’t cover himself in glory either. However, Papelbon’s reaction was totally over the top and he looked like an idiot.

Harper was the MLB’s bright young star and received a lot of sympathy. However, some MLB players thought that Papelbon did the right thing. In sum, it just goes to show the difference in mentality between top sportspeople and ordinary folks. The needlessly aggressive Papelbon was one of the worst losers in the sport. Only a few weeks earlier, MLB suspended him for hitting Manny Machado.

8. Tom Brady

A six-time Super Bowl winner, Brady is a serial winner. That’s why we’re not hating by including him on this list. In sum, he hates defeat so much that he doesn’t know how to accept it. However, there are occasions where he could have shown more class. For example, he failed to shake Nick Foles’ hand twice after defeats, including the Super Bowl. This is just a basic requirement that takes almost no effort to fulfill.

Furthermore, he rants and raves at teammates who pick him off in training or make mistakes on the playing field. Once again, as one of the most successful athletes in American sporting history, we can’t hate on this. Maybe this mentality is what separates the elite from the very good. Nonetheless, he’s clearly one of the sorest losers in the NFL and also the biggest winner.

7. Didier Drogba

Chelsea played Barcelona in the 2009 Champion’s League semifinals. The second leg of the tie took place at Stamford Bridge in London. Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo was the man in the middle and soon riled the Chelsea players with a series of mistakes. He turned down several valid penalty claims and Chelsea crashed out 1-1 on the away goals rule. Talisman striker Drogba was furious.

His teammates physically restrained him as he ranted, raved, and cursed at the hapless official. He called him a “f***ing disgrace” as well as other unsavory phrases. Furthermore, he continued to thump the wall beside the referee, intimidating him even though he didn’t touch him physically. In short, Drogba was one of the sorest losers in soccer because his reaction demonstrated a total lack of class.

6. Randy Moss

Even if a loss is almost inevitable, you need to bite down on your mouthguard and just endure. There’s strength in solidarity, even if it hurts. What you don’t do is walk off the field before the game even ends. But that’s exactly what Moss did in the dying moments of the Washington Redskins’ win over the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings were three points behind with an onside kick and two seconds left on the clock. Sure, the chances of them actually producing something were extremely slim, but without Moss, it was impossible. In sum, it’s better to fall nobly on your sword than to abandon your teammates in their time of need. However, Moss didn’t think so and left them behind without a thought.

5. Vancouver Canucks Fans

The Canucks played the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup final. Boston won and the Canucks’ fans didn’t really like this. They proved to be the worst losers in hockey and almost immediately rampaged through their city. Supposedly mild-mannered and polite, these angry Canadians lit trucks on fire and smashed multiple vehicles on the streets. It was total craziness.

About 10 police officers suffered injuries while there were also several stabbings. Meanwhile, precisely 101 people enjoyed the hospitality of the Vancouver Police Department. Arrests continued over the course of the next four years as the legacy of the chaos lived on. Most people just have a few drinks to drown their sorrows and go home, but not these crazy Vancouver fans.

4. Bobby Knight

Knight coached the legendary Indiana Hoosiers team who were the last men’s college side to post an undefeated season. Meanwhile, he had notable success with the likes of Texas Tech and the Olympic team. However, Knight has a well-earned reputation for being one of the worst losers in the history of sports. In one game, he infamously flung a chair across the floor in protest at an official’s decision.

Knight coached like J.K. Simmons in the movie Whiplash. He was brilliant but occasionally crossed the line. For example, he slapped a player under the chin because he didn’t listen to him. The legendary coach also kicked his own during a game because he wasn’t happy with him. Knight’s methods were obviously effective, but the question is did he go far?

3. Conor McGregor

McGregor fought Khabib Nurmagamedov at UFC 229 in October 2018 and lost badly in the fourth round. However, did McGregor accept his defeat lying down? Of course not. Firstly, he claimed to have lost the battle but won the war after a brawl broke out immediately after the fight. Of course, most UFC fans rolled their eyes at this and told him to accept his loss and move on. But he certainly didn’t.

Instead, he has spent the past two years tweeting about how he could beat the Dagestani and analyzing the things that he did well in their fight. Needless to say, he has come off as the sorest loser out there because he just won’t let it go. It’s very tiring and it’s not the first time either, because he did the exact same thing after Floyd Mayweather defeated him. It just doesn’t reflect well.

2. Deontay Wilder

Tyson Fury crushed Wilder in their 2019 rematch. Fury knocked the former champion down several times before Wilder’s trainer, Mark Breland, threw in the towel. However, Wilder’s response to this was terrible. First, he said that his walkout outfit was too heavy and tired him out. Then, he vowed never to work with Breland again because he saw the cornerman’s move as a betrayal. Later, he outrageously accused the man of attempting to poison him.

Meanwhile, he had three months to activate a rematch clause, but he allowed it to expire. However, he then went after Fury and demanded a rematch while also accusing him of running from him. Oh, and he accused ‘The Gypsy King’ of hiding a golf ball in his glove. Needless to say, Fury shrugged his shoulders and told him where to go. It’s been bizarre and sad from one of the most entertaining heavyweights on the planet.

1. Serena Williams

The biggest female athletic superstar of all-time, Williams is a winning machine. Some believe that she is the greatest female tennis player of all-time, she is definitely in the conversation. In short, Williams expects to crush all of her opponents. So when she loses, or something doesn’t go her way, she tends to throw all of her toys out of the pram. This leads to cringe-worthy but entertaining moments from one of the sorest losers in sports.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLcf9YqL8Ek

We’re not hating because the proof is in the pudding. She has an incredible winner’s mentality. However, her 2018 incident with Naomi Osaka demonstrated a total lack of class. Osaka felt obliged to apologize for beating her which was embarrassing for everybody. Meanwhile, Williams has abused umpires on so many occasions that she may as well set up a direct debit to pay all the fines automatically.