Khabib Nurmagomedov was concerned in an exit row dispute on a flight that resulted in him being faraway from the aircraft.
On Sunday, a clip of Nurmagomedov having a disagreement with a flight attendant went viral. The footage reveals Nurmagomedov being requested to vary seats, the fighter refusing, and the attendant telling him {that a} supervisor may be known as to escort him off the aircraft. Nurmagomedov then seems to depart of his personal volition.
Watch a re-upload of the clip beneath, which was initially uploaded to TikTok by consumer @viceplayer28, who initially named Alaska Airways within the footage. Nurmagomedov has since released a statement clarifying that it was Frontier Airways and never Alaska Airways that’s the group in query.
The disagreement seemed to be over Nurmagomedov’s English-speaking expertise with reference to his potential to help different passengers in an emergency, as he was seated subsequent to one of many emergency exits.
“I do know the language,” Nurmagomedov instructed the attendant. “I understand how to assist individuals.”
“It’s not in regards to the language,” the attendant replied.
Nurmagomedov then questioned the supply of the criticism and the dialogue continued as follows:
Attendant: OK, so what we’re going to do is we’re both going to have you ever swap your seat as a result of my flight attendants should not permitting you to sit down within the exit row otherwise you’re going to need to get off this aircraft … as a result of they’re not comfy with you sitting within the exit row.
Nurmagomedov: Who isn’t comfy?
Attendant: My flight attendants.
Nurmagomedov: It’s not honest.
Attendant: It’s honest.
Nurmagomedov: It’s not honest. You guys, after I checked in, they requested me, do I do know English? Sure, I stated.
Attendant: They stated sure, I perceive that, nevertheless it’s additionally off of their judgment. I’m not going to do that backwards and forwards. I’ll name a supervisor. You may both take a special seat or we will go forward and escort you off the aircraft.
Nurmagomedov: It’s not honest.
Attendant: Which one are we doing?
Nurmagomedov made it clear he wished to stay in his seat, however finally departed.
The previous UFC light-weight champion, who retired with a spotless 29-0 report in 2020, is touring in preparation for UFC 311. Two of Nurmagomedov’s teammates, Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov, compete in title fights this Saturday in Los Angeles. Makhachev defends his light-weight championship in opposition to Arman Tsarukyan in the primary occasion, and Umar Nurmagomedov challenges Merab Dvalishvili for bantamweight gold within the co-main occasion.
Replace: MMA Combating acquired a press release from CAIR – Council on American-Islamic Relations in regards to the incident. It needs to be famous that CAIR additionally misidentified Alaska Airways because the group in query.
“We name on Alaska Airways and the U.S. Division of Transportation to swiftly and transparently examine this incident to find out precisely what occurred on this flight and why athlete and Muslim advocate Khabib Nurmagomedov was handled this manner and whether or not non secular or racial profiling performed a task in his remedy,” CAIR Nationwide Govt Director Nihad Awad stated.
“Given how typically incidents of racial and non secular profiling happen on airways, particularly in opposition to vacationers who’re noticeably Muslim, Alaska Airways also needs to publicly launch the outcomes of its investigation and take acceptable motion to deal with any misconduct or errors by its workers.”
Replace: See Nurmagomedov’s statement regarding the incident beneath.
To begin with, I must make clear that it was @FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir.
Girl who involves me with questions was very impolite from the very starting, though I converse very first rate English and might perceive all the things and agreed to help, she nonetheless insists on eradicating me from my…— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 12, 2025
To begin with, I must make clear that it was [Frontier Airlines], not Alaska Air.
Girl who involves me with questions was very impolite from the very starting, though I converse very first rate English and might perceive all the things and agreed to help, she nonetheless insists on eradicating me from my seat. What was the bottom for that, racial, nationwide or different one, I’m unsure.
However after 2 minutes of dialog, she known as safety and I used to be deplaned from this plane, after [an hour and a half] I boarded one other airline one and left to my vacation spot.
I did my greatest to remain calm and respectful as you may see on the video.
However these crew members might do higher subsequent time and simply be good with shoppers.
An earlier model of this story talked about Alaska Airways because the flight Nurmagomedov was in dispute with. That has been corrected. MMA Combating apologizes for the error.
