Dustin Poirier Reacts to Jorge Masvidal's Wildcard Pick for Khamzat Chimaev

Dustin Poirier immediately reacted to Jorge Masvidal's suggestion of a fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Joe Pyfer, highlighting the key detail that could make the matchup competitive.

What did Jorge Masvidal say?

During a recent episode of Paramount+'s 'Deep Waters' show, Masvidal threw his backing behind the idea of a clash between Joe Pyfer and Khamzat Chimaev. "Yeah, I'm going to throw a crazy one [out there]," Masvidal said. "I want to see Pyfer against Chimaev. See what happens. Skyrocket. Pyfer, my boy Pyfer, up there. He has a good wrestling background. He's got good power."

Dustin Poirier's Response

Responding to Masvidal, fellow retired UFC star Poirier added: "Great power. Great power." Poirier's reaction suggests that he believes Pyfer's skills could make the fight competitive.

What does Joe Pyfer think?

Joe Pyfer, who has won 16 of his 19 professional MMA fights, said that his blueprint to beat ex-middleweight champ Chimaev would be built on stopping his takedowns. "I think if you're able to stop the takedown, you have a very fair chance of beating Khamzat," he told Full Mount Media in April. "But it's not like he's not a threat on the feet. Definitely hits hard. He's definitely got some speed. He's definitely complete. It's just he's a lot more uncomfortable on the feet if he can't dictate it, so throw things up the middle and make it chaotic. He doesn't want chaos, he wants control, so if you can make it chaotic, he's going to struggle."

What comes next?

Khamzat Chimaev is currently ranked at No 1 in the Meta UFC rankings for middleweight and remains in contention for a rematch against Sean Strickland. Both Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier were on Paramount+'s 'Deep Waters' show and took a closer look at the rankings after Dricus Du Plessis' latest UFC victory.

The Event

The suggestion of a fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Joe Pyfer comes after Chimaev's first title defense loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 328. Chimaev won the middleweight title from Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 in 2025, but lost the belt to Strickland in a split-decision victory.

The event date was 22 Jul 2026.