List of most popular sportsmen (all time)

Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi Cuccittini (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and is the captain for the Argentina national team. By the age of 21, Messi had...

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials, MJ, is an American former professional basketball player, entrepreneur, and principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets. He played 15 seasons i...

Schwarzenegger began weight training at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent presence in bodybuilding and has writte...

Mariusz Zbigniew Pudzianowski (born 7 February 1977), nicknamed Pudzian, is a Polish former strongman and current mixed martial artist. During his career as a strongman, Pudzianowski won five World's Strongest Man titles; more tha...

LeBron Raymone James (born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and weighing 250 lb (113 kg), he...

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (born Floyd Joy Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American professional boxer. He is currently undefeated as a professional and is a five-division world champion, having won ten world titles and the lineal c...

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess Grandmaster, former undisputed World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist. From 1986 until his retirement in 2005 (228 months), Kasparov was having the high...

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, known as Cristiano Ronaldo or C. Ronaldo (born 5 February 1985), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and is the captain for the Portugal...

Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (Russian: Пётр Вениами́нович Сви́длер; born June 17, 1976, in Leningrad) is a Russian chess Grandmaster, author, and commentator...

Wladimir Klitschko (Ukrainian: Володи́мир Володи́мирович Кличко́ [Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko]; born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian heavyweight professional boxer. Klitschko is the former Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, l...

Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player.

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, No. 1 ranked player in the world and reigning World Chess Champion in classical, rapid and blitz. His peak rating is 2882, the highest in history. A...

Cain Ramirez Velasquez (born July 28, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English undefeated professional boxer, fighting in the heavyweight division. He is the current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring unified heavyweight champion.

Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao (born December 17, 1978) is a Filipino world champion professional boxer. At 32 he was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives. He has also been involved in basketball, acting, and is...

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess prodigy, grandmaster, and the eleventh World Chess Champion. In 1970, Fischer "dominated his contemporaries" by winning the 1970 Interzonal Tour...

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; January 17, 1942) is an American former professional boxer and the former undisputed heavyweight champion. A controversial and polarizing figure during his early career, Ali is today...

Fabrício Werdum (born July 30, 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and the current Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is also a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Heavyweigh...

José Aldo (born September 9, 1986) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competes as a Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Aldo was the fourth and final WEC Featherweight Champion and thus, became the first and...

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (born 18 September 1976) commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is one of only four men to have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award three times or more, along with Zin...

Jonathan Dwight "Jon" Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. In March 2011, at the age of 23, he became the youngest champion in UFC history.

Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), best known as Joe Louis, was an American professional boxer. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1937 to 1949.

Ronald Michael Francis, Jr. (born March 1, 1963) is a Canadian former professionalice hockey centre and the current general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Martin Pierre Brodeur (born May 6, 1972) is a former Canadian ice hockey goaltender and the assistant general manager of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). In his 21-season tenure with the New Jersey Devils,...

Sidney Patrick Crosby, (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who serves as captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Crosby was drafted first overall by the Penguins out o...

Carey Price (born August 16, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender

Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 12 seasons, starting with 10 with the Boston Bruins followed by two with the C...

Joseph William "Joe" Calzaghe (born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer. He held the WBO, IBF, WBC, WBA and The Ring magazine super middleweight titles, as well as The Ring light heavyweight title. Calzaghe is the...

Wayne Douglas Gretzky (born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. His nickname is "T...

Rolles Gracie Jr. (born July 14, 1978) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He is a 3rd degree black belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and the son of Rolls Gracie.

Daniel Cormier (born March 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler. He is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division. Cormier was the...

Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko (Russian: Фёдор Влади́мирович Емелья́ненко, tr. Fyodor Vladimirovich Yemelyanenko) is a Russian politician and retired Heavyweight mixed martial artist (MMA), sambist, and judoka. He has won champio...

Conor Anthony McGregor (born 14 July 1988) is an Irish mixed martial artist who competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Cage Warriors Featherweight and Lightweight champion. A...

Kei Nishikori (錦織 圭 born 29 December 1989) is a Japanese professional tennis player.

Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. He debuted on the professional tour in 1988 and finished his career at the 2002 U.S. Open, which he won, defeating rival Andre Agassi...

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player.

Rocky Marciano (born Rocco Francis Marchegiano; September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969) was an American professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only person to...

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American retired professional boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heav...

Alexander Vladimirovich Povetkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Пове́ткин; born 2 September 1979 in Kursk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian professional boxer. Formerly trained by Alexander Zimin and Teddy Atlas, Povet...

David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British professional boxer. As a professional, he has captured numerous world titles in the Cruiserweight and Heavyweight divisions. Haye was known for his quick power punches and combi...

Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a retired professional boxer and the former undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship. By way of rematch, he has beaten every opponent he...

Klitschko was known for his powerful punches and durable chin. With an 87.23% knockout percentage rate, he holds the second best knockout-to-fight ratio of any champion in heavyweight boxing history, after Rocky Marciano's 87.76%...

Hafþór Júlíus "Thor" Björnsson (born November 26, 1988) is an Icelandic professional strongman competitor, actor and former professional basketball player.

William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), also known as "Kid Blackie" and "The Manassa Mauler", was an American professional boxer.

Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, the "Easton Assassin".

Giacobbe "Jake" LaMotta (born July 10, 1921), nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" and "The Raging Bull", is an American retired professional boxer and former World Middleweight Champion. He was portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 1980 film...

Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr.; May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989) was an American professional boxer.

Sugar Ray Leonard (born Ray Charles Leonard; May 17, 1956) is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor.

Lanny King McDonald (born February 16, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played over 1,100 games duri...

Jeremy Shaffer "J. R." Roenick (born January 17, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix C...