ESPN’s most famous athletes list (below) is out now and is bound to raise some eyebrows, until you read the fine print that the rankings are based on endorsements, social media followers and the number of searches scored on the internet. We won't tell you who's No. 1.
Forget athletic prowress and ability. These days it's all about popularity, ratings and bucks, explained the Philadelphia Daily News.
So, Ronda Rousey, once a dominant female MMA star and 16 on the ESPN list, tops one of the most dominant figures in MMA and sports today, Conor McGregor.
In fact Rousey, who’s been a shell of herself since being knocked out by Holly Holm in an MMA bout in November 2015, was ahead of every other top women’s sensation in sports, including the likes of Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Simone Biles, according to Forbes.
ESPN has Williams at No. 19, Sharapova at No. 23, McGregor at No. 25, and Biles at No. 48 on the World Fame list.
The list wasn’t full of surprises, though. There were some notable athletes that ranked pretty accurately, including NBA superstars Lebron James (No. 2) and Stephen Curry (No. 11), who are about to meet in the NBA finals for the third consecutive year. Tennis star Roger Federer is ranked No. 4 on the list, while golfer Tiger Woods is at No. 10, according to Sporting News.
The list was fairly diverse in terms of the different sports represented by the athletes selected.
The list includes “10 golfers, 10 tennis players, four cricket players, four auto racers,” a Chinese table tennis star and badminton player.
Here’s a full list of ESPN’s World Fame 100 rankings.
1 Cristiano Ronaldo
2 LeBron James
3 Lionel Messi
4 Roger Federer
5 Phil Mickelson
6 Neymar
7 Usain Bolt
8 Kevin Durant
9 Rafael Nadal
10 Tiger Woods
11 Stephen Curry
12 Novak Djokovic
13 Virat Kohli
14 Rory McIlroy
15 Mahendra Singh Dhoni
16 Ronda Rousey
17 Jordan Spieth
18 Kaká
19 Serena Williams
20 Kei Nishikori
21 Tom Brady
22 Gareth Bale
23 Maria Sharapova
24 Dwyane Wade
25 Conor McGregor
26 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
27 James Rodríguez
28 James Harden
29 Alexis Sánchez
30 Mesut Özil
31 Wayne Rooney
32 Andy Murray
33 Derrick Rose
34 Kyrie Irving
35 Russell Westbrook
36 Antoine Griezmann
37 Andrés Iniesta
38 Luis Suárez
39 Anderson Silva
40 Paul Pogba
41 Carmelo Anthony
42 Stan Wawrinka
43 Dustin Johnson
44 Karim Benzema
45 Marcelo Vieira
46 Radamel Falcao
47 Cam Newton
48 Simone Biles
49 Sergio Agüero
50 Ivan Rakitic
51 Chris Paul
52 Drew Brees
53 David Luiz
54 Cesc Fàbregas
55 Russell Wilson
56 Aaron Rodgers
57 Dani Alves
58 Sergio Garcia
59 Manny Pacquiao
60 Eli Manning
61 Damian Lillard
62 Rickie Fowler
63 Blake Griffin
64 Odell Beckham Jr.
65 Dwight Howard
66 Ning Zetao
67 Ryan Lochte
68 Bastian Schweinsteiger
69 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
70 Javier Hernández
71 Ma Long
72 Toni Kroos
73 Justin Rose
74 J.J. Watt
75 Hope Solo
76 Thiago Silva
77 Raheem Sterling
78 Eden Hazard
79 Theo Walcott
80 Didier Drogba
81 Mario Götze
82 Robert Lewandowski
83 Marco Reus
84 Lewis Hamilton
85 Jason Day
86 Jimmie Johnson
87 Caroline Wozniacki
88 Lin Dan
89 Saúl Álvarez
90 Yuvraj Singh
91 Thomas Müller
92 Felipe Massa
93 Eugenie Bouchard
94 Bubba Watson
95 Suresh Raina
96 Gabriel Jesus
97 Manuel Neuer
98 Adam Scott
99 Aly Raisman
100 Mohamed Salah
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