Russian former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was removed from a Frontier Airlines flight after a seating dispute in Nevada, the United States.
On Saturday, when the incident occurred, Frontier Airlines flight 4401 was preparing to take off from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
Video of the exchange between Nurmagomedov, 36, and a Frontier Airlines crew member has been circulating widely on social media.
The footage, which appears to have been filmed by a fellow passenger, shows the crew member asking the retired fighter to change seats from the exit row before asking him to get off the plane.
“I’m not going to do this back and forth. I will call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane,” the flight attendant is heard saying in the video clip.
“Which one are we doing?”
Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was escorted off a Frontier plane after an argument with a flight attendantpic.twitter.com/34HQp8o9TR
— Laughing Legends (@LaughingLegend0) January 13, 2025
Moments later Nurmagomedov is shown being escorted off the plane
After initial reports said Alaska Airlines was involved, Nurmagomedov clarified the incident happened on a Frontier Airlines flight and questioned if the motive was “racial, national or other one“ in a post to X on Monday.
“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 seat. What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I’m not sure," the X post reads.
“But after 2 minutes of conversation, she called security and I was deplaned from this aircraft, after 1,5 hour [sic] I boarded another airline one and left to my destination.”
Nurmagomedov said he felt the staff could have been more polite. “I did my best to stay calm and respecttul [sic] as you can see on the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients,” he wrote.
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…
In a statement to the Herald, Frontier Airlines said Nurmagomedov was not compliant with rules.
“On Jan 11, 2025, as flight 4401 from Las Vegas to San Francisco was preparing for departure, a flight attendant initiated the customary briefing for exit row passengers,” the statement said.
“Customer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was seated in an exit row, was asked multiple times if he was willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency.
“According to the flight attendant, Mr Nurmagomedov did not respond, despite repeated attempts, which placed him in non-compliance with FAA requirements. As a result, he was asked to move to a different upgraded seat which he refused to do.”
Frontier Airlines was adamant there were no racial motivations behind the decision to remove the UFC icon from the aircraft.
“Therefore, in accordance with airline and FAA policy, he was asked to deplane. The decision to deplane the customer was in no way related to his ethnicity and we have refunded him and his travelling companions for their flights,” it said.
According to the airline, the viral video does not show the initial interaction between Nurmagomedov and the crew member, in which the flight attendant said Nurmagomedov did not affirmatively respond to assist in the event of an emergency.
Frontier Airlines said the video showed a later interaction after a gate agent entered the plane and reiterated the option to be reseated.
In May, all passengers on a Frontier Airlines plane were kicked off their flight after a passenger refused to comply with the exit row safety brief.
Nurmagomedov remained undefeated in his career, holding a perfect 29-0 record before officially retiring from mixed martial arts in 2021. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2022.