‘Not fair’: UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov slams Frontier Airlines after being removed from flight

Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has questioned whether the airline saga was driven by racial or national bias.

UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov has slammed Frontier Airlines after he was kicked off a flight at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on the weekend.

Footage of the incident filmed on another passenger’s mobile phone circulated online on Sunday showing the former UFC champion and a flight attendant involved in a seating dispute.

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Nurmagomedov was asked to move due to concerns about his ability to speak clear and concise English in the case of an emergency due to the fact he was seated in an exit row.

The crew member asked the 36-year-old to move to a different seat, a request he denied.

In the video, the flight attendant was heard saying: “We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row … I am not going to do this back and forth. I’ll go call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.”

Nurmagomedov protested the request saying, “It’s not fair.” He is also heard saying he had fully complied with the flight crew during the onboarding process, adding: “When I was in check-in, they asked me do I know English … and I say yes. Then why you guys do this?”

Security was then called and Nurmagomedov was removed from the plane.

And on Monday, the UFC icon addressed the situation on X, slamming the handling of the incident by Frontier Airlines and demanding that the airline “do better” moving forward.

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was removed from a flight after a dispute with a flight attendant. Image: Getty Images

Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most feared fighters to ever grace the UFC. (Photo by Vasily MAXIMOV / AFP)

Nurmagomedov said he felt like he conducted himself in a civil manner, but still the flight attendant was “very rude” and questioned if the way he was treated was a result of “racial” or “national” bias.

According to Nurmagomedov, he boarded a flight with a different airline to Los Angeles 90 minutes later.

“Those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients,” he said at the end of his post to X.

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…

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 12, 2025

Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz also released a statement saying: “Some things happen to you maybe in a negative way but Khabib always comes out on top because of his mannerism and his class. This is who he is as a human being.”

The retired champion is set to corner teammates Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov in their title fights at UFC 311 this weekend in Los Angeles.

Makhachev will attempt to defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event, while Umar Nurmagomedov challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event.

Originally published as ‘Not fair’: UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov slams Frontier Airlines after being removed from flight