Khabib Nurmagomedov releases statement on airplane incident
01/13/2025 12:07 PM
Video of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov being removed from an airplane spread across the internet on Sunday. The retired fighter was asked to change seats by a flight attendant on a Frontier Airlines flight. "The Eagle" was sitting in the emergency exit row and the flight attendant was concerned with his ability to communicate in English in the case of an emergency.
Nurmagomedov refused to change seats and was removed from the plane without incident. Nurmagomedov released a statement.
"First of all, I need to clarify that it was@FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir," Nurmagomedov 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."
First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir.
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 12, 2025
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…
Nurmagomedov will be in the corners of teammates Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov in their UFC 311 title fights on Saturday. Makhachev faces Arman Tsarukyan in the fight card's main event while Umar Nurmagomedov takes on bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event.
