Retired UFC fighter and Hall of Famer, Khabib Nurmagomedov was removed from an Frontier Airlines flight over the weekend after a dispute with a flight attendant over his seating in the emergency exit row. Nurmagomedov was traveling to Los Angeles ahead of the UFC 311 event on January 18.
The incident occurred when the flight attendant questioned whether Nurmagomedov was prepared and able to assist other passengers in the event of an emergency, as required for those seated in exit rows.
A viral video shows a flight attendant ask Nurmagomedov who was born in Dagestan Russia, if he could assist passengers in an emergency. The retired UFC fighter apparently didn't initially understand the flight attendant's question due to language differences.
Things escalated when the flight attendant gave the UFC Hall of Famer an ultimatum: take a different seat or get off the plane, after which a supervisor was called in and Nurmagomedov was escorted off the plane. A Russian passenger unsuccessfully tried to defend Numagomedov and resolve the issue.
In the viral video, Nurmagomedov is seen saying it was not fair, and that he had complied with the flight crew during the check-in process.
Some social media users and Nurmagomedov himself criticized the incident as a case of racial profiling. He also clarified that it was Frontier Airlines and not Alaska Airlines earlier reported.
"First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir," Numergomedov wrote on X. "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 1,5 hour I boarded another airline one and left to my destination. I did my best to stay calm and respecttul as you can see on the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients."
But other critics disagree that it was a case of racial profiling, but instead appears to be a language barrier misunderstanding.
Nurmagomedov was on his way to UFC 311 to support his colleagues, including Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov, and his presence in Los Angeles is still anticipated despite the in-flight incident
