UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov says he was removed from a Frontier Airlines flight after flight attendants determined his strong Russian accent meant he could not remain in his emergency exit row seat. Nurmagomedov says his English was more than sufficient to adequately complete exit row duties in case of an emergency. Is this blatant discrimination or could there be more going on?
UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov Removed From Frontier Airlines Flight Over Exit Row Eligibility
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) organization…I’m not into sports, but my understanding is this organization arranges fights around the world and sets common rules for its matches. Nurmagomedov is a Russian national, born in Soviet Dagestan (today, a predominantly Muslim republic of Russia) and is known for having never lost a fight (he has since retired).
Nurmagomedov claims that he was asked during check-in at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas (LAS) if he was able to understand and follow exit row commands. He said yes. While he does have a strong accent, it appears that he can speak English. He was traveling to San Franicsco (SFO).
Onboard, though, flight attendants decided they felt uncomfortable with him in the exit row and asked him to move. He refused. A supervisor was brought onboard, who warned him:
We cannot allow you to sit in the exit row… I am not going to do this back and forth. I’ll go call a supervisor. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane.
Here’s video:
Racism pic.twitter.com/cZYoYWiVhg
— Brands (@TheModeAi) January 13, 2025
As Nurmagomedov explains it:
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..But after 2 minutes of conversation, she called security and I was deplaned from this aircraft. After 1.5 hour, I boarded another airline and left to my destination. 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.
More commentary:
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…— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 12, 2025
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I was once removed from an exit row on an Avianca flight because the flight attendants believed my Spanish wasn’t good enough…fair enough…it probably wasn’t.
But this situation seems different. My only thought about a potential mitigating factor could be if the flight attendant came over to do the exit row briefing (“Are you able and willing to assist in case of an emergency?”) and Nurmagomedov responded with snark or annoyance or no answer at all, refusing to answer the question or angrily saying that he was already asked at check-in. That will get anyone removed from the exit row…
Absent that, it seems that he was targeted for his accent…which isn’t defendable. I won’t jump to conclusions (yet), but I hope that Frontier clarifies this publicly. If Nurmagomedov was being a jerk…let us know. If the flight attendants were just power-tripping, publicly apologize and retrain them…
Thus far, Frontier has only said:
“The decision to deplane the customer was in no way related to his ethnicity and we have refunded him and his traveling companions for their flights.”
image: @realDonaldTrump / Truth Social // hat tip: View From The Wing
looks like Frontier is being paid for by the evil Zelenskyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Fake news Derek. Khabib had always resisting to support the current Russian government and refused to support publicly the Special Military Operation, the latter which followed the Russian tax force investigation of the tax evasion and he was ordered to pay around 300 million rubles( around $3,000,000) penalty.
Dana White needs to start paying fighters more so they can avoid Frontier.
Thug attitude. Lower your hood and act responsibly. You’re not in the ring.
From what I read elsewhere, he did not respond when the FA asked a few times if he was willing to assist. That would be sufficient to move him.
My question would be – why would a champion athlete be flying Frontier? Why not fly United in first?