Jake Shields Loses: A List of Georges St-Pierre's Former Foes

Jake Shields suffered his second straight loss last night after winning his previous 15 bouts to welterweight up and comer Jake Ellenberger. UFN 25 last night was Shields' first return to action since losing his welterweight title shot to current champion Georges St-Pierre.

This fight meant a lot to Shields not just because he wanted to get back in the win column, but because of the unfortunate and heart wrenching loss of his Father and manager Jack Shields just a few short weeks ago

Having spoke with Shields this week prior to the Battle on the Bayou, one gets the impression that he will bounce back from the loss.

Hopefully, he takes some time off now to fully grieve the loss of his father, spend time with his family and rebuild himself for his next fight.

Credit must be given to Ellenberger, who looked very sharp last night, landing a beautiful a knee from the clinch that dropped the former Strikeforce champion and spelled the beginning of the end and the first time Shields had been stopped in over 11 years and 33 fights.

Ellenberger seems to be positioning himself for his own title shot, and with one more win over a top 10 opponent, he just might get his wish. That being said, with the way things have shaken out for guys after fighting St-Pierre, Ellenberger may want to cross his fingers and hope that he gets his shot against Condit instead of St-Pierre.

I'm not one to believe in curses, but when you look at the careers of the opponents that have faced St-Pierre since he took back the welterweight title from Matt Serra back in April 2008, most have struggled to get back on track.

Let's have a look at the former foes of St-Pierre and how their careers have gone since losing to the champion. 

Josh Koschek 6-4 Since Losing to St- Pierre

Josh Koscheck went 9-1 in his 10 fights prior to his first of two showdowns with St-Pierre back at UFC 74 in August of 2007.

Since his first loss to St-Pierre, Koscheck has a record of 6-4 inside the octagon, respectable considering the level of competition in the UFC, but certainly nothing to write home about.

All was certainly not lost for Koscheck, as he managed to put together a three-fight win-streak that got him on the Ultimate Fighter coaching opposite Georges St-Pierre in 2010.

The second showdown with St-Pierre didn't go any better for Koscheck, as he was thoroughly dominated by the technical boxing of St-Pierre, resulting in a broken orbital bone and nerve damage that has kept him out of the Octagon for quite some time now.

Koscheck's first fight back will be against former welterweight champion Matt Hughes next weekend at UFC 135 in Denver, Colorado.

Although Koscheck is still a great fighter, the pair of losses to St-Pierre seem to have had an impact on his success as a fighter, and it will be interesting to see whether or not he bounces back against Hughes next week, another former foe of St-Pierre.

Matt Hughes 4-4 Since Losing to St-Pierre

Matt Hughes happens to be one of two men that beat the French Canadian St-Pierre, but that loss was avenged back at UFC 65 in 2006 and once again at UFC 79 in 2007. St-Pierre dropped the former welterweight champion with a head kick and followed it up with ground and pound for the technical knockout at UFC 65 and secured the armbar submission at UFC 79.

Hughes had already won the UFC welterweight title twice and defended it on six different occasions, one of which was against St- Pierre. He is a Hall of Famer, and one could certainly argue that Hughes was on the back end of his storied career when he finally lost to St-Pierre.

The fact still remains that prior to losing to St-Pierre, Hughes was an astounding 41-4. Now, the former champion has split his last eight fights.

Hughes is slated to faceoff against Koscheck next weekend, and it will be interesting to see if his post St-Pierre record drops below .500 or not.

Matt Serra Shocked the World Only to Go into Semi-Retirement Shortly Thereafter

Matt Serra's career has been an up and down even when you take St-Pierre out of the equation. Despite that, it didn't stop Serra from ringing St-Pierre's bell and snatching the welterweight title from him at UFC 69 in 2007.

Serra didn't defend the title once, losing in the rematch with St-Pierre by submitting to knees to the body.

Since losing the title, Serra has gone in to semi-retirement and has only stepped inside the Octagon on three occasions in five years with a 1-2 record to show for it.

At least Serra can hold on to the memory of what once was, and that was the day he stole the belt from the current welterweight champion.

Jon Fitch, the Lone Anomaly in the Group

Jon Fitch is probably the best welterweight in the UFC that isn't named Georges St- Pierre.

Prior to his title shot, Fitch amassed an 8-0 record in the UFC.

Despite being thoroughly dominated and beat up by St-Pierre in a five round decision, Fitch has since built a 5-0-1 record, which has many people wondering why he isn't getting his second crack at the belt.

Although Fitch hasn't gone on to mediocrity like some of St- Pierre's former foes, he hasn't been the most exciting fighter to watch, as his last nine fights have gone to the judges' score cards. This is part of the reason why many people think the UFC brass have been reluctant to give Fitch his rematch.

BJ Penn Performed Wonderfully After the First Loss to St-Pierre, But...

BJ Penn lost on not just one, but two occasions to St-Pierre.

In their first encounter, Penn beat St-Pierre up in the first round, but went on to lose what some people say was a controversial decision.

In the second encounter, St-Pierre utilized his wrestling and ground pound to force Penn's corner to throw in the towel at the end of round four.

Although Penn has remained near the top of the heap and will be regarded as one of the best fighters ever to have graced the Octagon, his record prior to fighting St-Pierre for the first time was 10-2-1, and since then. has gone a mediocre 6-5-1.

Of course, Penn has been fighting top competition the whole time, and there are constant questions surrounding the Prodigy's heart and dedication. However, he is just another guy on the list of guys who have fought St-Pierre and struggled since. 

Thiago Alves 1-3 in His Last Four

The next two guys, Thiago Alves and Dan Hardy, are probably the two guys who were most impacted by their losses to St-Pierre.

Prior to his title shot, Alves looked like an absolute monster in the Octagon. The Brazilian was on a seven-fight win streak that saw him putting guys away in devastating fashion.

Everybody thought that Alves' explosive striking and thick frame would pose problems for St-Pierre, but once again, St-Pierre was able to utilize his striking to set up his take-downs and grind Alves out for the decision victory. Alves didn't land one strike of significance during their encounter.

Since then, Alves had to pull out of a UFC 107 fight with Jon Fitch due to a knee injury. The fight was re-scheduled for UFC 111, but Alves was forced to withdraw once more, this time due to a malformation inside his brain that required corrective surgery.

Alves and Fitch finally threw down at UFC 117 in August 2010, where he lost to the former contender in a fashion similar to the way he lost to St-Pierre.

Since losing to St-Pierre, Alves is 1-3 in the UFC.

Dan Hardy 0-4 in His Last Four

Nobody has suffered more after losing to St-Pierre than English fighter Dan Hardy.

Prior to losing to St-Pierre at UFC 111 in March 2010, Hardy was riding a seven-fight win streak. Everybody knew St-Pierre was going to be able to exploit Hardy's wrestling and ground game, and that is exactly what happened. The three fight loss streak that ensued was a little less expected.

Hardy was knocked out by Carlos Condit, something that had never happened to the Englishman in 31 fights.

That was followed up by another loss to Anthony Johnson, who put on another wrestling clinic similar to St-Pierre's.

Most recently, he lost to a late third round submission attempt against Chris Lytle who retired from the sport after the victory.

Many are surprised Hardy hasn't been cut from the UFC yet, but one thing is for sure; No one fighter seems to have been impacted by a loss to St- Pierre more than Hardy has.

Is Losing to Georges St-Pierre Really a Curse?

Believing in curses and superstitions is often frowned upon by many, including by myself.

Losing to Georges St-Pierre and then having trouble getting back in the win column thereafter has less to do with being a curse and more to do with it being a simple fact of life.

St-Pierre seems to break something in the mentalities of his foes that was previously unbreakable. The proof is in the numbers.

The combined winning percentage of St-Pierre's foes prior to losing to the champion was 87 percent. The combined winning percentage after and including their losses to the champion is meager 47 percent.

St. Pierre's next challenge was supposed to be against former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Diaz was pulled from the fight when he failed to show for two promotional press conferences. Former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit is taking Diaz' place.

Condit has won his last four fights inside the octagon in spectacular fashion, and it will be interesting to see if Condit will suffer the same fate as many of St-Pierre's former challengers have suffered.

Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report, Follow @Leon_Horne