Careers Ruined by 'The Curse of Georges St-Pierre'

A loss to Georges St-Pierre is just a missed opportunity to capture a world title for some, but for others, a loss to the UFC champ forebodes an uncertain MMA future full of letdown and disappointment.

In sports, this phenomenon is generally referred to as a "curse".

Professional football has the "Madden Curse," which was created by fans of EA Sports' blockbuster video game franchise. Certain NFL players featured on the cover of the game suffered unfortunate luck over the course of that particular season with injuries and a major decline in performance.

In baseball, there was the "Curse of the Bambino."

After selling "The Great Bambino", Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, one of the most successful baseball franchises, underwent an 86-year championship drought.

Now, MMA joins the bunch with a superstition involving the UFC welterweight champion.

Fighters aren't quite the same after losing to St-Pierre. Legends are forced to contemplate retirement, and other world class fighters find themselves fighting for a job instead of a world title.

Here's a closer look at the careers ruined by "The Curse of Georges St-Pierre."

Thiago Alves

In 2008, Thiago Alves broke out as a serious threat to St-Pierre's title reign.

The American Top Team member was riding a seven-fight win streak and coming off major victories over Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck and Karo Parisyan.

He had the unfortunate luck of running into St-Pierre in June 2009 at UFC 100, where he was defeated in a lopsided unanimous decision.

Since losing to St-Pierre, Alves is 2-3 in his last five bouts.

Granted, he looked much better in his most recent outing against Martin Kampmann, but outside of that bout, "The Pitbull" has been rather sluggish and out of shape.

Jake Shields

Before challenging St-Pierre at UFC 129, Jake Shields was considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

He hadn't lost a professional bout in over six years, but one meeting with St-Pierre changed everything.

Shields was routed in a unanimous decision, and several months later, he was knocked out in 53 seconds by Jake Ellenberger.

He went on to rebound from the consecutive losses at UFC 144 with a decision win over Yoshihiro Akiyama, but the victory was far from impressive.

Shields remains a top-10 welterweight, but he certainly hasn't looked like the same fighter since losing to St-Pierre.

Dan Hardy

When talking about wayward careers, there are none more astonishing than Dan Hardy's.

Heading into his UFC 111 title bout with St-Pierre, Hardy was riding a seven-fight win streak and coming off back to back wins over Mike Swick and Marcus Davis.

Most fans are still baffled by Hardy getting the title shot in the first place.

As cliché as it sounds, anything can happen in MMA, and a few fans were rallying behind Hardy's punching power and the chance he would land the haymaker that could ultimately shock the world.

In the end, the only thing that truly shocked the world was St-Pierre not being able to finish Hardy in five rounds.

After getting routed by the champ, Hardy went on to lose his next three UFC bouts.

Matt Serra

After pulling off perhaps the biggest upset in MMA history, Matt Serra quickly realized he was on borrowed time.

St-Pierre returned and avenged his knockout loss to "The Terror" to reclaim his UFC title in April 2008.

Serra has only competed three times since the loss, and two of those bouts were unanimous decision losses to Matt Hughes and Chris Lytle.

It's been nearly two years since Serra last competed, and he is currently unsure of when or if he'll return.

Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes was still in the prime of his Hall of Fame career when he lost the UFC title to St-Pierre in November 2006.

He was one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and widely considered as the greatest welterweight of all time.

After the loss, Hughes began to decline rapidly.

He managed to stay afloat and maintain his relevance in the division, but his days as an upper-echelon welterweight had come to an end.

At UFC 79, St-Pierre defeated Hughes for a second time in dominant fashion. Since that fight, Hughes has amassed a 3-3 record, with all of his losses coming by knockout.

It's been nearly six years since Hughes has even defeated a top-10 opponent. He is now contemplating retirement.

BJ Penn

BJ Penn was defeated by St-Pierre in March 2006, but he admits it was the loss at UFC 94 in January 2009 that hurt the most.

As UFC lightweight champion, Penn bumped up to welterweight to challenge St-Pierre in a champion vs. champion super fight.

In their first fight, it was a tightly-contested battle that ended in a controversial split decision.

At UFC 94, St-Pierre didn't leave the decision in the hands of the judges as he dominated Penn for four rounds, forcing the Hawaiian's corner to throw in the towel before the start of the final round.

Since the loss, Penn is 3-3-1 in his last seven bouts, which is shocking considering his track record.

In an interview with ESPN.com, "The Prodigy" admitted that he was still "heartbroken" over the UFC 94 loss to St-Pierre.

He is currently pondering his MMA future.