Was it r-cism, bias, or just standard protocol from the flight attendant? These are the questions stirring up discussions within the MMA community, as Frontier Airlines did something with former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov that cannot be undone. The 29-0 record holder will corner his protege Islam Makhachev and his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov at the UFC 311, moreover, the Dagestani is ready to give his best to make sure that his team wins the battle but unfortunately; he found himself in a rather unexpected controversy.

Social media has been flooded with videos featuring Khabib Nurmagomedov, his friend, and a rather rude flight attendant quarreling on a plane reportedly headed to Los Angeles. The footage showcases a calm Khabib Nurmagomedov talking to the crew member, who eventually got her supervisor to handle the situation, but what was the conclusion? The former UFC champ had to be escorted out of the airplane due to a disagreement

Khabib gets kicked out of Frontier Airlines

So what actually happened during the flight? Khabib and his friend were seated and suddenly a flight attendant approached the emergency exit row passengers, as it was a part of the protocol to ask them to verbally confirm their willingness to assist other passengers in case of an emergency. As the flight attendant asked the question, ‘Eagle’ didn’t clearly understand what she had to say. The flight attendant repeated the question multiple times, which forced the former champion to reply with a single ‘Yes’.

However, the attendant was not pleased by such an answer and asked Khabib to relocate from his seat, which forced the former champion to argue with her a little bit. The flight attendant then called her manager to assist her in the situation and as the manager came, he asked the former champion to change the seats, as this is a general protocol. A Russian lady sitting beside them raised her voice against such biases. However, the manager explained that since the flight attendant had doubts about Nurmagomedov’s ability to assist in an emergency; it was best to move him to an identical seat elsewhere and reassign his current seat to someone else.

Khabib Nurmagomedov expressed his objection, stating that it wasn’t fair, and insisted on remaining in his seat. When the manager inquired whether he would move or if they should involve the supervisor, ‘Eagle’ firmly reiterated that the seat was his, and he intended to stay. Ultimately, the supervisor arrived, and the former UFC champ was escorted off the plane, accompanied by his friend, who chose to follow him.

Regardless, a day has passed since that incident, and ‘Eagle’ has come forward to give his side of story to his fans.

Khabib Nurmagomedov Makes Official Statement; UFC fighters & fans react

In his latest confession, Khabib Nurmagomedov gave us further clarity on the situation. He took to his X handle to add a huge message for his fans, “First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier, not AlaskaAir. The lady who came 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 insisted on removing me from my seat. What was the basis for that—racial, national, or another reason—I’m not sure. After 2 minutes of conversation, she called security, and I was deplaned from this aircraft. After 1.5 hours, I boarded another airline and left for my destination. I did my best to stay calm and respectful, as you can see in the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice to clients.”

The airlines also gave their take in the comment section as they wrote, “We are aware of the incident and are investigating.” Well, the flying company should make it clear that there were no bad motives behind such action, as the entire MMA community has been fuming since the incident. As soon as the post was shared by various pages on social media, Daniel Cormier came forward to add a comment, “That’s really bad.”

Welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad had a very funny comment about the incident: “He couldve threw everyone off the plane and flew it himself if he wanted.” Well, the airlines will have to take some action before the MMA community starts their boycott. Regardless, what’s your take on the situation? State your thoughts in the comments below.