Despite being one of the most celebrated entities in the fighting realm, Khabib Nurmagomedov faced quite a bit of embarrassment when he got deplaned from his flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco. Well, Nurmagomedov and the flight attendant got into an argument. It happened when the flight staff asked him to switch seats or get off the plane because she doubted Nurmagomedov’s capability to help during an emergency. Needless to say, the act garnered a boatload of support for the Dagestani. Some netizens joked that it was all because Dana White didn’t pay the former champ enough. Wait, what has that got to do with the incident?

The UFC head honcho tackled this speculation head-on. The topic was brought up during his recent conversation with Eric Sollenberger and Dan Katz, on their talk show, ‘Pardon My Take’ by DraftKings. Frontier Airlines isn’t considered to be an elite one when it comes to flying. It’s cheap, but the public has often trashed the staff for bad behavior. ‘Big Cat’ weighed in on this and claimed that Nurmagomedov flew Frontier Airlines by choice. White had no part in that. 

To this, the UFC CEO responded with a reflection of the kind of money ‘The Eagle’ received following his victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 229. White said, “Not only did Dana pay him, after he won the Conor McGregor fight, he went on like the Muslim World Tour, and Saudi Arabia rained on him, Abu Dhabi rained on him, Qatar rained on him. Yeah, that kid’s got more money that, Putin rained on him. Khabib shouldn’t even know what the f—k Frontier Airlines is, just like most people don’t.” 

UFC veteran Chael Sonnen said the same in a recent Instagram post. “Why was Khabib flying in coach?” he asked.

The UFC bossman stood strong in his claim that Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s pay was never the reason the Dagestani had to face such embarrassment. But what’s Dana White‘s opinion on the action taken against ‘The Eagle’? Let’s find out!

Dana White and others react to Khabib Nurmagomedov getting deplaned

Katz’s co-host pointed out that he did like the fact that Nurmagomedov was sitting on the exit row. He claimed that if he was on that plane, he’d be pretty mad to see ‘The Eagle’ getting kicked out of the flight. He was indeed the perfect choice as an exit row captain. And Whtie had a similar thought. He said, “That’s how dumb they are in Frontier Airlines. If there’s anybody you want in that position, it’s Khabib Nurmagomedov.” Then he went on with a sarcastic “Good job, Frontier Airlines.”

When the news was piping hot, the Palestinian champion, Belal Muhammad, claimed, “He [Khabib Nurmagomedov] could’ve threw everyone off the plane and flew it himself if he wanted.” Taking to the comments section of an Instagram post regarding the incident, Daniel Cormier revealed his thoughts. He wrote, “That’s really bad.” There were multitudes of entities who trashed the airlines and supported the Dagestani.

Soon, the airlines released a statement, following a thorough investigation. Nurmagomedov was initially asked multiple times if he was able and willing to cooperate during an emergency. But he apparently had some issues but said ‘yes’ subsequently. This initial unresponsiveness was what made the flight attendant doubt Nurmagomedov. And the aftermath of the argument was in compliance with the FAA policy. 

But one thing is for certain. Such a thing wouldn’t have happened had the former champion opted for any other airline company. Do you think ‘The Eagle’ should have taken up another airline instead of Frontier Airlines from the very beginning? What are your thoughts on