Conor McGregor
McGregor’s rise was one of the most exciting fairytale stories ever. He worked as a plumber in Dublin before quitting to focus on his fighting career. This left him collecting unemployment benefits while he was living with his parents. “The Notorious” famously collected his final chek before his first UFC fight (via SPORF).
He became a two-weight champion and also fought Floyd Mayweather for millions of dollars. But the former folk hero suffered a stark fall from grace as he abused alcohol and drugs. He was arrested for various offenses and became a parody of himself. His story was too good to be true because the fame went to his head.