Khabib Nurmagomedov was involved in an exit row dispute on a flight that resulted in him being removed from the plane.
On Sunday, a clip of Nurmagomedov having a disagreement with a flight attendant went viral. The footage shows Nurmagomedov being asked to change seats, the fighter refusing, and the attendant telling him that a supervisor can be called to escort him off the plane. Nurmagomedov then appears to leave of his own volition.
Watch a re-upload of the clip below, which was originally uploaded to TikTok by user @viceplayer28, who initially named Alaska Airlines in the footage. Nurmagomedov has since released a statement clarifying that it was Frontier Airlines and not Alaska Airlines that is the organization in question.
The disagreement appeared to be over Nurmagomedov’s English-speaking skills in regards to his ability to assist other passengers in an emergency, as he was seated next to one of the emergency exits.
“I know the language,” Nurmagomedov told the attendant. “I know how to help people.”
“It’s not about the language,” the attendant replied.
Nurmagomedov then questioned the source of the complaint and the dialogue continued as follows:
Attendant: OK, so what we’re going to do is we’re either going to have you switch your seat because my flight attendants are not allowing you to sit in the exit row or you’re going to have to get off this plane … because they’re not comfortable with you sitting in the exit row.
Nurmagomedov: Who isn’t comfortable?
Attendant: My flight attendants.
Nurmagomedov: It’s not fair.
Attendant: It is fair.
Nurmagomedov: It’s not fair. You guys, when I checked in, they asked me, do I know English? Yes, I said.
Attendant: They said yes, I understand that, but it’s also off of their judgment. I’m not going to do this back and forth. I will call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.
Nurmagomedov: It’s not fair.
Attendant: Which one are we doing?
Nurmagomedov made it clear he wanted to remain in his seat, but eventually departed.
The former UFC lightweight champion, who retired with a spotless 29-0 record in 2020, is traveling 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 lightweight championship against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event, and Umar Nurmagomedov challenges Merab Dvalishvili for bantamweight gold in the co-main event.
Update: MMA Fighting received a statement from CAIR – Council on American-Islamic Relations about the incident. It should be noted that CAIR also misidentified Alaska Airlines as the organization in question.
“We call on Alaska Airlines and the U.S. Department of Transportation to swiftly and transparently investigate this incident to determine exactly what happened on this flight and why athlete and Muslim advocate Khabib Nurmagomedov was treated this way and whether religious or racial profiling played a role in his treatment,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said.
“Given how often incidents of racial and religious profiling occur on airlines, especially against travelers who are noticeably Muslim, Alaska Airlines should also publicly release the results of its investigation and take appropriate action to address any misconduct or mistakes by its staff.”
Update: See Nurmagomedov’s statement regarding the incident below.
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
First of all, I need to clarify that it was [Frontier Airlines], not Alaska Air.
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 seat. What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure.
But after 2 minutes of conversation, she called security and I was deplaned from this aircraft, after [an hour and a half] I boarded another airline one and left to my destination.
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.
An earlier version of this story mentioned Alaska Airlines as the flight Nurmagomedov was in dispute with. That has been corrected. MMA Fighting apologizes for the error.
