Frontier Airlines explained the recent removal of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov from a plane traveling from Las Vegas to San Francisco.
Khabib Nurmagomedov's final preparations for his UFC 311 coaching gig hit a strange speed bump ahead of Saturday's pay-per-view card. On a recent Frontier Airlines flight scheduled to fly from Las Vegas to San Francisco, Nurmagomedov was forced to leave the flight after the crew began to feel uneasy about his ability to assist in an emergency while waiting in an exit line fed up.
Nurmagomedov has since opened up about the now-viral incident, questioning whether or not his removal from the flight was discriminatory. Fortunately, he was able to board another flight and travel to San Francisco without any further problems.
After footage of the altercation went viral on social media, many criticized Frontier Airlines for removing Nurmagomedov from his seat. The airline has since broken the silence and explained its side of the story.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Frontier Airlines denies that bias led to the removal of Khabib Nurmagomedov
In a recent statement to MMA Fighting, Frontier Airlines addressed the viral incident involving the UFC Hall of Famer.
“On January 11, 2025, as Flight 4401 from Las Vegas to San Francisco was preparing for departure, a flight attendant initiated the usual briefing for passengers in the exit row. Customer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was sitting in an exit row, was asked several times if he was willing and able to assist in an emergency situation,” the company said. “According to the flight attendant, Mr. Nurmagomedov was unresponsive despite repeated attempts, thereby failing to comply with FAA requirements. The flight attendant informed Mr. Nurmagomedov that he could be moved to another upgraded seat or leave the plane.
“Videos circulating on social media platforms do not capture this interaction, but instead show a subsequent interaction after a gate agent entered the aircraft and repeated the option to be reseated. Due to the customer's initial inability and repeated rejection of a seat change, he was asked to deplane, in accordance with airline and FAA policy. The decision to remove the customer from the plane was in no way related to his ethnicity and we have refunded him and his traveling companions for their flights.”
Khabib will corner Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov on the upcoming UFC 311 card in Los Angeles. Makhachev will face Arman Tsarukyan in the main event, and Umar will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight championship.
Khabib Nurmagomedov to corner UFC 311 main and co-main fights
Nurmagomedov is arguably one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time after a Hall of Fame career in the Octagon. He retired from fighting after a win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.
During his fighting career, Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Michael Johnson. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022 along with his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Daniel Cormier.
Following the incident, Nurmagomedov will turn his attention back to UFC 311 and corner two of his top students at the first UFC pay-per-view of the year.
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