10 Awesome UFC Fighters Who Went On Terrible Runs

As you're probably aware of by now, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts is not a stable or consistent career choice. Whatever standing or momentum you have coming into a fight - on any given night - can be obliterated in just a few short rounds... or fewer.

Champions of days gone by and seemingly unbeatable entities have quickly found themselves on the receiving end of a shock defeat, that in turn sends them into a career spiral - one that sometimes can't be overcome.

Of course, this is one of the major selling points of the likes of UFC and Bellator.

Your favourites aren't thrown in the ring with cannon fodder in order to protect their standing as a draw - as we see time and time again in the sport of boxing - and this only fuels the anticipation for every new card that is put together.

So, you can see how even the most talented fighters can very quickly find themselves in a slump, off the back of multiple losses in a short period of time.

Some of these stars found a way to buck this potentially career-killing trend, whereas others weren't as fortunate...

As he currently plies his trade as one of the top pundits under UFC employment, it may have slipped your memory just how good Dan Hardy actually was in the Octagon.

Before his career was rudely interrupted by Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, Hardy had put together a 25-10 record.

Yet - after he'd enjoyed a near perfect 4-0 start to life in UFC - Hardy soon found himself slipping down that losing slope.

His first defeat in the company came to Georges St-Pierre for the Welterweight Championship, but losing to an icon like GSP could happen to anyone. It was his following three fights that led to some cause for concern.

Hardy would be knocked out cold by Carlos Condit, lose a decision to Anthony Johnson and be submitted - via guillotine - by Chris Lytle.

In the space of 17 months, Hardy had gone from title contender to whipping boy and his time on the payroll looked to be coming to an end.

Then - after nearly a year away - Hardy returned to fight Duane Ludwig and knocked out his opponent in the first round.

Another win followed before he was devastatingly forced onto the shelf by his illness. Hardy looked to have crawled back out of the pit of defeat and, had he kept this momentum up, he surely would have been considered a title contender again before long.