UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov ejected from flight after refusing to give up exit row seat in US; watch video

Russian former mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov found himself in an unpleasant situation recently after being forced to vacate his seat and getting kicked out of a flight in the United States without being offered a reasonable explanation. Khabib, the longest-reigning UFC lightweight champion of all time, got into a dispute with airline staff after boarding a Frontier Airlines flight from the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, and was escorted out of the plane after refusing to give up his exit row seat.

A video of the incident has since gone viral on social media, in which a flight attendant is seen arguing with the MMA legend and questioning his ability to help other passengers in the event of an emergency – which is the standard requirement for a passenger sitting on the exit row of a plane.

Khabib, however, refused to move to a different seat, stating that he was well equipped to handle a crisis and was fluent enough in English to be able to communicate with the airline staff and other passengers in such an event. The 36-year-old’s explanation, though, wasn’t good enough for the airline and the clip later showed him walking out of the aircraft.

Watch:

Khabib was initially believed to have boarded an Alaska Airlines flight to Los Angeles. The MMA star, however, would later confirm Frontier Airlines as the carrier in a post on X, in which he accused the flight attendant in question of being “very rude from the very beginning”.

“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 seat. What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure.

“But after two minutes of conversation, she called security, and I was deplaned from this aircraft. After 1.5 hours, I boarded another airline and left for 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,” Khabib wrote on X on Monday.

The incident has since drawn widespread condemnation on social media, with many believing to be the latest incident of racial discrimination in the US which only comes to light when celebrities such as Khabib are at the receiving end.

Here’s are some of the reactions to the incident:

Frontier Airlines, meanwhile, responded to Khabib’s post on X stating they “are aware of the incident and are investigating”.