UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov accuses US airline of racism after being deboarded

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend and Russian citizen Khabib Nurmagomedov has spoken out after being escorted off an American airline flight, describing the incident as a case of “racism.”

A video of the former UFC lightweight champion engaging in a tense argument with Frontier Airlines crew members over his seating arrangement went viral on Saturday.

Khabib was traveling from Las Vegas to Los Angeles when the altercation happened.

Initial reports suggested that Khabib was removed from the flight for refusing to vacate his seat in the emergency exit row as instructed by the flight crew.

“We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row...I’ll go call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane,” a flight attendant could be heard telling the 36-year-old MMA icon.

Khabib responded by calling the treatment “unfair” and stood his ground during the heated exchange, before being forced to deboard.

In a statement released early Sunday, Khabib clarified that the airline involved was FlyFrontier, not AlaskaAir, as previously reported by some media outlets.

He said the female flight attendant was “very rude from the very beginning” even though he said he speaks “very decent English and can understand everything.”

The former UFC champion said he “agreed to assist” but the flight attendant insisted on removing him from his seat near the emergency exit of the plane.

“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,” he stated.

He later boarded another airline and left for Los Angeles where he had to join his team.

“I did my best to stay calm and respectful as you can see on the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients,” he added.

The viral video clip created a furor on social media, with many users on X, formerly Twitter, accusing the airline of subjecting Khabib, a Muslim, to racism.

Many users canceled their flight bookings, saying if the MMA legend cannot fly, they too won’t.

Journalist Leyla Hamed, in a post on X, slammed the “racial profiling” of the UFC legend.

“This is 2025, yet racial profiling still occurs because of what Khabib looks like, what language he speaks, or what religion he follows. This is Khabib, now imagine others who are also racially profiled and are not famous. Complete garbage indeed @AlaskaAir,” she wrote.

Khabib is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC lightweight division and remained unbeaten throughout his professional career.

He has the distinction of being the longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion ever, holding the title from April 2018 to March 2021 before retiring from the sport.

He now coaches many young Russian UFC mixed martial artists, including Islam Makhachev, who is the current UFC Lightweight Champion.

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