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We are all familiar wit the common definition of tragedy; namely when bad shit happens.
The classic definition of tragedy (from a literary standpoint) is where ones greatest attribute is also their downfall. To be specific that attribute is Hubris (or pride) and relates to Greek tragedy, but for the purposes of this thread it would be good to open up the definition to any attribute that is a fighters greatest strength and also their downfall.
In the context of fighting, this is an interesting concept. Some examples that come to mind are:
1) Cormier - Passion - his passion and intensity drove him to Olympic gold and allowed him to master a new sport at a relatively late age. At the same time, it would be hard to deny that his passion was a material factor in his loss to Jones as he allowed his feelings for Jones to overshadow his desire to win
2) Rousey - Hubris - her seemingly unbreakable confidence (in conjunction with brutal finishes and ferocity) allowed her to defeat opponents before even stepping in the ring with them. She was a great example of the "Tyson effect" whereby one's reputation for skilled brutality breaks opponents mentally making it very difficult for them to achieve peak performance. At the same time, her hubris was her undoing; when she started referring to herself as the 135lb champion (as opposed to 135lb WOMAN's champion) I thought she had gone too far. Not long after, she got punched in the face and broke mentally.
3) Lesnar - Freak (for lack of a better term) - Brock's combination of size, speed and athleticism allowed him to compile an impressive NCAA record and then transition into MMA successfully against top level competition almost immediately (I think Mir was his third fight after the Korean guy and Heath?). He was able to brutalize more experienced fighters thanks in large part to this combination. At the same time, these "gifts" appear to have made it difficult for him to become accustom to getting beat up in training, and when he met the wrong fighters this lack of conditioning was exposed.
4) Silva - Cockiness (in Ring) - it would be difficult to deny that his movement, feigns, taunting negatively impacted his opponents for a long time. This was effective in the context of his superior abilities. The penultimate example of this was his fight with Forest in my opinion, but he did it successfully to the point where he made all the top guy in his division look like a lower class of fighters for 7ish years. Ultimately, however, his cockiness proved to be his undoing as Weidman's left hand connected while Silva was caught off guard with no guard doing the same disrespectful defense transcended with.
Honorable Mention
5) Diaz - Attitude - had to throw this one in here as his taunting helped him unnerve many a fighter but at the same time almost cost him his career as the NSAC gave him a markedly disproportionate punishment for an essentially non-performance enhancing infraction(s). It remains to be seen what impact this will have on his career.
Perhaps you agree with the examples above, perhaps you do not... and that is fair.
Regardless, what are some other examples of fighters whose greatest strength was their eventual downfall?
The classic definition of tragedy (from a literary standpoint) is where ones greatest attribute is also their downfall. To be specific that attribute is Hubris (or pride) and relates to Greek tragedy, but for the purposes of this thread it would be good to open up the definition to any attribute that is a fighters greatest strength and also their downfall.
In the context of fighting, this is an interesting concept. Some examples that come to mind are:
1) Cormier - Passion - his passion and intensity drove him to Olympic gold and allowed him to master a new sport at a relatively late age. At the same time, it would be hard to deny that his passion was a material factor in his loss to Jones as he allowed his feelings for Jones to overshadow his desire to win
2) Rousey - Hubris - her seemingly unbreakable confidence (in conjunction with brutal finishes and ferocity) allowed her to defeat opponents before even stepping in the ring with them. She was a great example of the "Tyson effect" whereby one's reputation for skilled brutality breaks opponents mentally making it very difficult for them to achieve peak performance. At the same time, her hubris was her undoing; when she started referring to herself as the 135lb champion (as opposed to 135lb WOMAN's champion) I thought she had gone too far. Not long after, she got punched in the face and broke mentally.
3) Lesnar - Freak (for lack of a better term) - Brock's combination of size, speed and athleticism allowed him to compile an impressive NCAA record and then transition into MMA successfully against top level competition almost immediately (I think Mir was his third fight after the Korean guy and Heath?). He was able to brutalize more experienced fighters thanks in large part to this combination. At the same time, these "gifts" appear to have made it difficult for him to become accustom to getting beat up in training, and when he met the wrong fighters this lack of conditioning was exposed.
4) Silva - Cockiness (in Ring) - it would be difficult to deny that his movement, feigns, taunting negatively impacted his opponents for a long time. This was effective in the context of his superior abilities. The penultimate example of this was his fight with Forest in my opinion, but he did it successfully to the point where he made all the top guy in his division look like a lower class of fighters for 7ish years. Ultimately, however, his cockiness proved to be his undoing as Weidman's left hand connected while Silva was caught off guard with no guard doing the same disrespectful defense transcended with.
Honorable Mention
5) Diaz - Attitude - had to throw this one in here as his taunting helped him unnerve many a fighter but at the same time almost cost him his career as the NSAC gave him a markedly disproportionate punishment for an essentially non-performance enhancing infraction(s). It remains to be seen what impact this will have on his career.
Perhaps you agree with the examples above, perhaps you do not... and that is fair.
Regardless, what are some other examples of fighters whose greatest strength was their eventual downfall?
