NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MAY 09: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia sits on his stool between rounds against Sean Strickland in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 328 event at Prudential Center on May 09, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Khamzat Chimaev lost more than his middleweight title this past weekend, he lost his aura. At least, so says Dustin Poirier and Jorge Masvidal.

On Saturday, Chimaev suffered the first defeat of his MMA career, dropping a split decision to Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328. While Chimaev had tough fights before, this was the first time he ever actually lost, and Poirier believes that’s going to make his return fight all the more difficult because people won’t have the same fear when facing him as before.

“The next fight, whoever he gets matched up with, it’s going to be tough for him to intimidate because his aura took a hit this week,” Poirier said on UFC on Paramount+ Recap show. “With the back and forth, I thought it was real. His whole aura took a hit this week.

“Putting the belt on Sean, come on, man.”

Masvidal took things one step further. While Poirier thinks Chimaev lost his air of invincibility, Masvidal believes Chimaev’s poor performance on Saturday revealed a deeper truth: that Chimaev was never that good to begin with.

“He wasn’t the same guy, either, when he fought [Kamaru] Usman,” Masvidal said. “You could see he had signs of breaking. Same thing with Gilbert [Burns]. It didn’t go his way, he had to stand up with him.

“Like a frontrunner? You think he’s a frontrunner?” Poirier asked.

“I’ve always thought he’s a front-runner,” Masivdal said. “And the Usman fight more than anything. I literally saw Usman like a day or two before he accepted the fight. The man was not training; he was not in tip-top shape. 11 days later, he gets this fight against a guy who has been training, getting ready for somebody else. Me, in my mind, that’s always a big, ‘Damn, I have to cut X, Y, Z pounds, I haven’t been training.’ The pressure’s on me, and it’s not at the same time. The way that he fought Usman, just because Usman could wrestle back, I knew this guy’s a frontrunner.”

And according to Masvidal, that’s not something that’s going to get better. Because for all the success Chimaev has had in his career, “Gamebred” doesn’t believe Chimaev can compete with fighters who he can’t simply overpower.