Khabib Nurmagomedov, the former UFC lightweight champion, found himself at the center of a viral incident this past Sunday after being kicked off a Frontier Airlines flight. The confrontation between the Dagestani fighter and an airline employee sparked a heated debate on social media, drawing attention to both the circumstances of the event and the implications of the interaction.

The footage from the flight shows the UFC Hall of Famer being asked to move from his assigned seat. The situation escalates when Nurmagomedov refuses to comply, at which point the flight attendant calls a supervisor. The video shows Nurmagomedov calmly getting up and leaving the aircraft without further resistance.

Nurmagomedov’s explanation

According to Nurmagomedov, the conflict stemmed from an issue with the seating arrangement. The former champion’s seat was located next to one of the plane’s emergency exits and airline staff raised concerns about his ability to assist other passengers in the event of an emergency.

However, Nurmagomedov‘s grasp of English was apparently not an issue, as he clearly communicated his willingness to cooperate.

In a post on X, Nurmagomedov shared his side of the story. The UFC star clarified that the interaction started off calmly, with him being polite and cooperative, but things quickly took a turn when the flight attendant insisted that he move.

“First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir,” he wrote.

“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 respectful as you can see on the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients.”

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