In the aftermath of UFC 328, Khamzat Chimaev's first career loss is sparking serious debate—and two of the sport's biggest names believe "Borz" lost more than just his middleweight title. Dustin Poirier and Jorge Masvidal both weighed in on Chimaev's split-decision defeat to Sean Strickland, and their verdict is clear: Chimaev's aura of invincibility is gone.

Poirier, a former interim lightweight champion, sees this as a turning point. "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 the UFC on Paramount+ Recap show. "With the back and forth, I thought it was real. His whole aura took a hit this week." For a fighter who once steamrolled through the welterweight and middleweight divisions, that psychological edge was a key weapon—and now, it's been dented.

Masvidal, never one to mince words, took things even further. While Poirier sees Chimaev's mystique fading, "Gamebred" believes the performance revealed a deeper flaw. "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." The conversation quickly turned to whether Chimaev is a "frontrunner"—a fighter who thrives when everything goes his way but struggles under pressure.

"I've always thought he's a frontrunner," Masvidal 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."

For Masvidal, this isn't a problem that will fix itself. He questions whether Chimaev can truly compete with the division's elite when the fight gets tough. And for fans and fighters alike, that question now looms large over Chimaev's future. One thing's for sure: the next time "Borz" steps into the Octagon, his opponent won't be shaking in their boots the way they used to.