Khabib Nurmagomedov is not a happy camper after the former UFC champ was given the old ground-and-pound treatment from a flight crew.
The 36-year-old retired Russian MMA legend was reportedly kicked off a Frontier Airlines flight from Las Vegas recently over a language dispute, which he blamed on a “very rude” flight official while questioning whether there was some sort of bias behind his removal.
The incident — reportedly related to Nurmagomedov’s grasp of English while sitting next to an emergency exit — is believed to have happened on Saturday, Al Jazeera reported, while the undefeated fighter was travelling to Los Angeles to support his teammates ahead of UFC 311 next weekend in Los Angeles.
“Lady who comes to me with questions was very rude from the very beginning,” the former UFC lightweight champion said in a statement on X. “Even though I speak very decent English and can understand everything and agreed to assist (in case of an emergency), she still insists on removing me from my seat.
“What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure.”
Video of the altercation at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas went viral, with initial reports claiming that it happened on an Alaska Airlines flight, which Nurmagomedov denied.
The dispute was over whether Nurmagomedov was prepared and able to help other passengers in the event of an emergency, Al Jazeera reported, as he was seated next to a window exit.
“We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row … I am not going to do this back and forth,” a flight official says in the video. “I’ll go call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.”
Nurmagomedov replies that he fully complied with flight staff, but is again offered another seat or to take another flight. He was then escorted off the plane along with his travel companions, Al Jazeera reported.
Numagomedov said he was able to get another flight after a 90-minute wait and hoped the flight crew could learn from the incident.
“I did my best to stay calm and respectful, as you can see on the video,” he said on X. “But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients.”