“Very rude”
Because of seating? UFC legend thrown from plane
01/15/2025 – 12:03 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Khabib Nurmagomedov always inspired the utmost respect from his opponents. But on a flight, the ex-UFC fighter was involved in an argument that he couldn’t win.
For many years he was perhaps the most feared fighter in the popular martial arts league Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), dominating the lightweight division. But in this dispute Khabib Nurmagomedov lost out – but is still a topic of conversation.
Because footage from a plane operated by the US budget airline Frontier Airlines shows the former UFC champion in an argument with a flight attendant. The reason: The Russian had sat down on a seat in front of the emergency exit.
The seats in front of the emergency exit that offer additional legroom come with an additional charge on Frontier Airlines, which starts at $49 (equivalent to 48 euros) per route. It is unclear whether the 36-year-old had occupied one of these places without a corresponding booking. A flight attendant at least asked him to change seats. As can be seen from published video footage, the former MMA fighter remained calm during the verbal altercation.
In a statement on Instagram, Nurmagomedov described the incident from his perspective. He was polite, spoke English and even offered his support to resolve the situation. Nevertheless, according to Nurmagomedov, the flight attendant, who was “very rude from the start,” insisted on removing him from his seat. The 36-year-old questioned whether his “race, nationality or something else” might have been the reason for the crew’s behavior.
With the help of security personnel, he was finally asked to leave the plane. About an hour and a half later he took another flight to get from Las Vegas to San Francisco.
Frontier Airlines has already announced that it is investigating the incident internally. In a statement to the BBC, the airline said Nurmagomedov had been refunded the price of his ticket.
The ex-fighter himself finally advised the airline in his post: “These crew members could do better next time and just be nice to the customers.”