Khabib Nurmagomedov’s unceremonious flight incident has become the biggest news story in the MMA world. A clip that has gone viral shows the former UFC champion being asked to move from his emergency exit row seat because the flight crew weren’t “comfortable” with him occupying that seat. After a bit of back and forth, the Dagestani was de-boarded from the plane, forcing him to take another flight to California.

Now this has divided fans more than whether or not that was the right call. Some feel that this was a clear case of racial profiling or a particularly rude flight crew, while others are more understanding of the decision. In fact, verbose UFC analyst Chael Sonnen made perhaps the best case for why the crew was justified in asking Nurmagomedov to move or get off the plane.

“So many of the people have blamed the airline and they defended Khabib because Khabib was being polite. It’s a tough one. They call it the emergency row. Have you ever been in that? That person must verbally and physically acknowledge with a ‘yes’. I’ve been in the emergency row enough times to hear this entire speech all the way down to them saying ‘I must have a yes when I ask you do you understand the instructions,’” ‘Uncle Chael’ said on his YouTube channel.

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While some fans have pointed out that Khabib could be heard saying ‘yes’ in the clip that has gone viral, it is important to note that it doesn’t capture the moments when the attendant gave the instructions to Nurmagomedov. In fact, the clip showed a timestamp by which the instructions and ‘The Eagle’s reply had already been made. Sonnen feels that Nurmagomedov must not have given the ‘yes’ required of him, which by law requires him to be moved or de-boarded.

“As annoying as it is to see a hero link. Khabib who while being polite and not being aggressive or angry is getting removed and inconvenienced, but it doesn’t mean it’s still not a consistent rule. As nicely as I’d wanna be, this isn’t a close call. Khabib gotta get off the plane,” he added. Now let us take a closer look at the incident to see whether or not Sonnen is right.

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Was Khabib Nurmagomedov racially profiled in the flight incident?

It is pretty difficult to explain why the crew would ask ‘The Eagle’ to move unless he didn’t give the legally required ‘yes’ to their instructions. Some fans, as we have mentioned, think it was because Khabib was Muslim and see it as a case of racial profiling. This, although possible, doesn’t seem like something that the crew would do. If the racial profiling part is true, then that means the crew member gave Nurmagomedov the instructions, got his verbal assent, and then for no reason just asked him to move or de-board.

The crew did this in the presence of a plane full of people (and cameras), who would be able to tell that Nurmagomedov was being racially profiled since he did everything required of him. That seems pretty unlikely. On the other hand, some people have pointed to the stewardess telling Khabib that “its not about the language… they’re [the crew are] not comfortable with you sitting in the exit row,” as her saying that they don’t feel comfortable with Nurmagomedov because he is Muslim.

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Again, there is no evidence for that either and the uneasiness could have stemmed from Nurmagomedov not giving a ‘yes’ when given the instructions. Or even the fact that he has a strong accent and English isn’t his first language.

After all, communicating clearly and promptly would be essential in an emergency. Especially if ‘The Eagle’ didn’t give a ‘yes’ to the stewardesses’ instructions as the Airline has claimed in an official statement. What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s take on the Khabib Nurmagomedov flight fiasco?

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