Khabib Nurmagomedov, the retired Russian UFC fighter, was taken off a Frontier Airlines flight following an altercation with a flight attendant.
Even though it is unclear when the incident occurred, it happened before take-off from the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Nurmagomedov was sitting on the plane’s exit row, and the dispute centred around whether or not he would be capable of assisting other passengers in the event of an emergency.
A video was made of the incident by another passenger on the flight, in which the flight attendant can be heard saying: “We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row… I am not going to do this back and forth. I’ll call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat, or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.” While Khabib Nurmagomedov answered that the decision wasn’t fair, he was still taken off the flight.
In a statement shared on X, the UFC star clarified that the incident occurred on a Frontier Airlines flight, not an Alaskan Airlines flight, as previously indicated by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). They had called for an investigation into the airline’s policies and conduct in support of Nurmagomedov.
First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir.
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 12, 2025
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…
“Some things happen to you maybe in a negative way but Khabib always comes out on top because of his mannerism and his class. This is who he is as a human being,” said Ali Abdelaziz, the fighter’s manager, in a statement.
According to Al Jazeera, Nurmagomedov was flying to California in order to support his teammates Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov during the UFC 311 event, scheduled to take place on 18th January in Los Angeles.
