New Delhi: Khabib Nurmagomedov, a former mixed martial arts champion, was removed from a plane after he refused to get up from his exit seat. Before the Frontier Airlines flight, which was purportedly traveling from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, took off, the 36-year-old Russian got into a fight with a flight attendant. Khabib is instructed to either switch seats or exit the aircraft and be rebooked on a different trip in a video of the event that went viral on social media on Sunday.
The video has not been confirmed by any of the sources, which is just over a minute long, and it is unclear what transpired during the build-up, but Khabib has posted an explanation on social media. When Khabib asked why he was being moved, he was told that the flight attendants were not feeling comfortable with him sitting in the emergency exit row. According to him, that was just unfair and this was excatly what led to the dispute.
The attendant then gave him another warning and threatened to contact a supervisor if he didn’t leave. Khabib responded that he “would like to sit here” before another employee asked him to go. He left peacefully without causing any trouble.
A video of retired UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov being escorted off an Alaska Airlines flight has gone viral.
It appears staff reported feeling ‘uncomfortable’ with his apparent grasp of English as he sat in an exit row seat where he would need to assist in an emergency. pic.twitter.com/Bf7S7jLji6
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 12, 2025
What Khabib had to say regarding this
First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir.
Lady who comes to me with questions was very rude from the very beginning, even though I speak very decent English and can understand everything and agreed to assist, she still insists on removing me from my…— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 12, 2025
Considered one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time, Khabib has won all 29 of his UFC bouts, including defeating Conor McGregor in 2018.
Khabib stated in a statement on X that the woman who questioned him was quite impolite from the start and that despite my ability to understand everything and my ability to speak very good English, she still insisted on taking me out of my seat.
“What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure.”
However, he said that after they spoke for two minutes, she called the security, and he was taken off the plane. Later, he boarded another airline and headed to the destination he was travelling to.
“I did my best to stay calm and respectful as you can see on the video.
“But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients.”
Frontier Airlines responded to Khabib’s X post by saying, “We are aware of the incident and are investigating.” Furthermore, according to BBC Sport, the airline re-funded the customers.
The former UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was escorted off a plane following a dispute over an exit-row seat with one of the flight attendants. UFC Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
