Former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was recently kicked off a Frontier Airlines flight, and it made major news. On social media this Sunday, the video of the Dagestani’s argument with an American airline employee, which culminated in his request to leave the plane, went viral. But why did the situation escalate so quickly? Well, Nurmagomedov has provided the answer.

In the clip, fans can see how they asked the UFC Hall of Famer to change seats on the plane. After Nurmagomedov’s refusal, the flight attendant told the Russian that they would call a supervisor to escort him off the plane.

Upon the employee’s arrival, the UFC Hall of Famer gets up from his seat and leaves the venue. Apparently, the conflict began because Khabib Nurmagomedov’s seat was located next to one of the plane’s emergency exits, and due to his lack of communication skills in the English language, they wondered if we would be able to help other passengers on the flight during an emergency. However, according to ‘The Eagle,’ it could be motivated by racism. Taking to his X account, the Dagestani fighter told his side of the story.

He revealed that he was polite from the very start of the conversation, unlike the flight attendant. However, he did not understand whether the basis of the escalation was racial, national, or something else. Narrating his side of the tale, ‘The Eagle’ wrote, “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.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov further added, “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.” 

According to Nurmagomedov, despite being told that language would not be an issue for the former UFC champion, the employee changed her tone and claimed that the other flight attendants were uncomfortable with ‘The Eagle’ sitting in the plane’s emergency exit. Feeling irritated, the Russian maintained his firm stance of sticking to the seat initially planned for his trip. The flight attendant then called the supervisor, who escorted the former MMA fighter off the plane without resistance. This definitely irked fans, as they are now taking to social media to show their frustrations.

Fans back Khabib Nurmagomedov after facing alleged racism

When ‘The Eagle’ tweeted his side of the story, fans quickly expressed their frustrations toward the airline. We have seen in interviews time and again that Nurmagomedov speaks decent English, and the idea of him being removed due to language limitations seemed like a wrong reason to get him off the flight. As a result, his manager Ali Abdelaziz tweeted his support for ‘The Eagle’ for showing his class during the difficult situation by staying calm. “Sometime things happen to people maybe negative, but Khabib always come and talk because his mannerism his class and his respect for others real man ❤”

Many other fans asked Khabib Nurmagomedov to file a lawsuit against Frontier Airlines as it seemed like it was a case of racism or Islamophobia. They tweeted, “Bro you should sue them. These airline workers have been rude for too long 😤” and “You need to sue them. Dont be nice. You are a celebrity if they can do this with you they will probably throw me off from the taxiing plane to the runway.”

But the action won’t be taken just by Nurmagomedov, even fans are planning to play their part by boycotting the airline. Taking to the comments, several fans claimed that they would be boycotting the airline from now on, and other fans of Nurmagomedov should be doing the same as well. They shared, “Boycott for life, I wont everfly with them now,” “@FlyFrontier is the easiest boycott of all time. lmao,” and “Never flying with them ever again.”

Several other fans joined in, with many of them making fun of Frontier Airlines for removing arguably the best man to have in case of emergencies. Even in the worst-case scenarios, the brute strength, MMA skills, and the calmness of the Dagestani are things they could rely on. However, they asked him to get off their plane instead. So, taking a jibe at the airlines for their decision, fans wrote, “Khabib was literally the most fit and qualified person to actually assist in an emergency situation on that entire plane.” “If there is an emergency, @TeamKhabib is the guy you want there to help!” and “You were more polite than I would’ve been. She must not know who she’s talking to.”

However, not everyone was speaking against the airlines. When it comes to emergencies, many passengers do not wish to take any risks. So, some X users online were of the opinion that Frontier Airlines had the right to ask Nurmagomedov to change seats since it would’ve been more convenient to have a native English speaker right next to the emergency door. Taking sides with the airline, the users shared, “Even in this post you are being so respectful. How you can keep this calm is mind-boggling. “Should have moved when you were told to move. You don’t get to make decisions. If you want,” and “you didn’t understand exit row instructions, so she gave you the option to move or leave.” But what do you think? Was the airline responsible for the whole ordeal, or was it the fault of Khabib Nurmagomedov? Let us know in the comments.