8. Ricco Rodríguez
When it was at its height, fighter Ricco Rodriguez became the UFC’s heavyweight champion by beating Randy Couture at UFC 39 (event held on September 27, 2002), and he extended his record to 14-1. However, like others who came before and after, Rodriguez began to have trouble staying focused as his fame grew, and he began to party. It was not long before drug addiction had a negative effect on his career. Rodriguez lost three online matches that led him to leave the UFC in 2003.
‘Suave’ kept fighting, but lost form and in later years came to register 350 pounds. In 2006 he was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for testing positive for cocaine and marijuana after a triumph at a regional MMA promotora. Rodriguez had repeated problems with the law, the protection service took his children, and then appeared in the first season of the VH1 program ‘Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew’.
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